EMERGENCY services in West Yorkshire will work closer together as part of a pilot scheme to avoid mistakes made after the Manchester Arena bombing.

The scheme would see the emergency planners from the local police, fire and ambulance services working in the same office to improve responses to any potential major incidents in West Yorkshire.

The plan will be discussed by the West Yorkshire Fire Authority’s Executive on Friday, where members will be told that the pilot is an attempt to “learn the lessons of the tragic incident”.

Each organisation currently has a separate team to handle emergency situations, focusing on the individual services. They say the interactions between teams from each service are “informal” and ad hoc.

At the authority meeting, at the fire service’s headquarters in Birkenshaw, members will be asked to choose the best direction for the pilot to take.

The review, which looked at the emergency services’ reaction to the arena bombing, criticised the response from Manchester’s fire service, saying they had little knowledge of what was happening at the arena.

A report to the West Yorkshire Fire Authority says: “The Kerslake Report produced following the Manchester Arena terrorist attack has focussed the requirement for effective, collaborative emergency planning. The West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Co-Chairs, DCFO Dave Walton and ACC Tim Kingsman, are driving the work locally to ensure West Yorkshire learn the lessons from this tragic incident.”

It gives a number of options, including adopting a more formal collaboration between the services, co-locating staff emergency planning staff at Elland Road Station in Leeds, or maintaining the status quo.

The authority will be asked to support the co-locating plan, which will see the forces’ emergency planning teams working together in the same office. Staff roles would likely remain the same.

Referring to the importance of the pilot, the report says: “It gives greater strength and resilience across the emergency services to respond more effectively to emerging threats and operational incidents.

“Sharing of information and intelligence would be a seamless process resulting in improved communication, trust and more effective service delivery.

“Utilising a six/twelve month trial would allow for a full evaluation of the process and would steer the future direction of this project. Implementation, financial cost and impact on staff are minimal.”

An evaluation of the trial will then be conducted and the outcomes presented to the committee for approval before any final decisions are made.