The Policing and Crime Bill, which recently received its first reading in Parliament, places a clear duty on emergency services to collaborate. More broadly, it is envisaged that policing will be a big and visible part of devolution along with criminal justice and education. But what will be the challenges in integrating policing and other emergency services into devo deals?

There is already a very busy agenda around these services. Theresa May recently indicated she wants police and crime commissioners (PCCs) to have the ability to set up free schools for troubled children, on the basis of the Northamptonshire example at police headquarters.