THE Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire "has much bigger issues to tackle than taking over the fire service", according to the vice chair of the Police and Crime Panel.

The North Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel - made up of councillors from the county and City of York councils and community members - met on Thursday and rejected proposals put forward by Julia Mulligan to scrap the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority and give her responsibility for both fire and the police.

The panel prefer the Representation Model, which would see Mrs Mulligan made the 17th member of the Fire Authority, and Hambleton District Councillor Peter Wilkinson, vice chair to the panel and chair for the meeting on September 14, said more collaboration between police and fire would be welcome, but said Mrs Mulligan's preferred Governance Model was not appropriate.

Cllr Wilkinson said: "The Commissioner’s proposal goes too far. She is asking the public – and we as partners – to agree to a proposal which is very high-risk, lacking in any detailed assessment of what it would achieve and which, critically, cannot be reversed if things go wrong."

City of York Councillor Ashley Mason, vice chair of the panel, said: "The PCC did present some very compelling reasons and explained why she didn’t think that the representation model would work. The panels main concerns are around the amount of scrutiny the PCC would get due to the increased burden on the panel as we wont get any extra money from the home office. We also have no knowledge or expertise in the fire sector and the size of the panel will not increase.

"I hope the PCC listens to us, the PCP, City of York Council and North Yorkshire county council who have all recommended she adopts the representation model. I believe this is the best option to ensure the OPCC is accountable and that the police and fire services both have democratic oversight and input. The PCC also has much bigger issues to tackle than taking over the fire service at this time."

Mrs Mulligan declined to comment on the latest decision.

The public survey about the options for change in how the fire service is run ends next Friday (September 22), and can be completed online at telljulia.com