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Lakoma, K 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2583-3813,
2024.
The implications of governance changes on understandings of accountability: the case of fire and rescue services in England.
PhD, Nottingham Trent University.
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Abstract
Reforms to the governance of public services invariably promise improved accountability, yet relatively few studies have examined their impact empirically. This thesis shows how a range of reforms to Fire and Rescue Services in England affected understandings of accountability within the sector, and draws on these empirical findings to develop a new conceptualisation of how different accountabilities relate to each other in public services. In particular, it argues that governance reforms tend to focus on certain types of accountability (specifically bureaucratic, political, legal, or professional), while often de-emphasising or accentuating others, and this changes the balance of different types of accountabilities within an organisation.
Empirically, the thesis focuses on a range of reforms introduced by the UK Government’s Policing and Crime Act 2017, which sought to address alleged accountability deficiencies within the fire sector. These included the introduction of an alternative governance model, in which Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), locally directly-elected politicians overseeing local police forces, could take on responsibilities for the governance of their local Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs) and become Police, Fire and Crime Commissioners (PFCCs). The 2017 Act also recreated an external inspectorate for Fire and Rescue Services and encouraged greater collaboration between the emergency services. Adopting a qualitative case study approach to examine both accountability to whom and accountability for what, the study examines six English Fire and Rescue Services, three of which adopted the PFCC governance model and three of which did not, and shows how and why accountability changed as result of the reforms. It concludes with multiple recommendations to improve governance and accountability in Fire and Rescue for the individual services, for the sector and for the government.
| Item Type: | Thesis |
|---|---|
| Creators: | Lakoma, K. |
| Contributors: | Name Role NTU ID ORCID |
| Date: | November 2024 |
| Rights: | The copyright in this work is held by the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the author. |
| Divisions: | Schools > Nottingham Business School |
| Record created by: | Melissa Cornwell |
| Date Added: | 31 Jan 2025 11:25 |
| Last Modified: | 31 Jan 2025 11:25 |
| URI: | https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/52951 |
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