Incident response times boosted by new agreement

Highways England and emergency services across the West Midlands have signed a memorandum of understanding to ‘see incidents on roads dealt with more swiftly’. The 52-page document sets out collaboration between the services, with clear roles designed to improve efficiency at the scene of an incident, with less disruption for drivers caught up in the aftermath.

Warwickshire and West Mercia Police and the Central Motorway Police Group have signed up to the agreement, along with Highways England, Kier, the West Midlands Ambulance Service and the Fire and Rescue Services for the West Midlands, Warwickshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands and Hereford and Worcester.

David Yates, Highways England service delivery manager, commented: “With so many organisations often on scene, good collaboration and communication is essential. These agreed protocols ensure our roles are set out beforehand and better enable us to deal with incidents smoothly, swiftly and effectively.”

West Midlands Fire Service Area Commander, Steve Vincent, added: “Our aim is to get to all serious incidents within five minutes. By signing this agreement we can work even more closely with Highways England and our emergency service partners to continue to provide a first-class service.”

The Memorandum of Understanding is set to be reviewed annually, and covers the roles and responsibilities of each service, consistency of approach, information sharing and includes procedures in the National Operating Agreement for smart motorways.