THE fire service’s court battle to avoid coming under the police commissioner’s control won’t get its next hearing until March at least, its governing panel has heard.

Fire Authority clerk Jonathan Eatough blamed the Home Office for the delay, saying the Whitehall department hadn’t submitted its evidence together.

Earlier this year, then Home Secretary Amber Rudd approved West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion’s proposal to take Shropshire’s fire and rescue service into his remit.

The Shropshire and Wrekin Fire and Rescue Authority last week asked for a judicial review of that decision, and Mr Eatough gave the 17-member panel an update on its progress.

“The Home Office has submitted its statement of case, but it hasn’t included the exhibits that go with it, which means it doesn’t trigger the next part of the process,” he said.

“It’s a fat lot of good to have the statement without the exhibits. It can’t progress. We wait for our counsel to receive that.

“The case is in the ‘ward list’, which means it could be listed for trial but, effectively, it won’t be because we don’t have the evidence.

“If I was a betting man, I would say I can’t see this being heard in the next three months.”

Later in the meeting, the panel – which consists of elected members of both Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin councils – discussed a recent inspection report written by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Police and Fire and Rescue Services about the Shropshire service.

Authority chairman Eric Carter said the subject of governance had come up with the inspectors.He said: “I made the point that we have strong governance; why would we want to change it? We are a very well-performing fire authority.”

Kuldip Sahota, who represents Malinslee and Dawley Bank on Telford and Wrekin Council, referred to Mr Campion’s decision to pull West Mercia Police out of its strategic alliance with Warwickshire Police.

Cllr Sahota asked: “What is the likelihood of the PCC withdrawing his offer to take over governance of the fire authority?”

Tracey Onslow, Mr Campion’s deputy, was at the meeting, and said: “No. There is no plan for him to withdraw in the middle of a judicial review. Not that I’m aware of.”