THE police forces which cover Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire have decided to merge two more services.
The counties’ police authorities have given the go-ahead for the establishment of a joint ICT department, from December.
They also agreed to set up a join police pensions administration function from November, in preparation for delivering the service across both forces from next April.
The phased implementation of the joint ICT function will initially save the two forces a total of �350,000 per year – a figure expected to rise to around �1.7m within five years.
The pensions admin service will bring further efficiency savings of around �105,000 a year.
The two forces are already running a number of successful collaborative departments, including major crime, firearms support and dog units.
However, a proposed full merger of the two forces remains on the back burner after being voted against earlier this year.
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