Delayed regional fire control room scheme ‘a money pit’

The previous government planned to replace 46 service control rooms with nine regional centres, giving each fire service the same computer system and using satellite navigation to direct firefighters.

The Fire Brigades Union this week called for the scheme to be abandoned after Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said main contractor EADS could not meet its June 2011 delivery date and while it could deliver the project, this was only with “reduced functionality”.

In 2005 the total cost of the project was estimated at £988 million and a completion date of 2008 given, but the scheme may not now be ready until 2013.

The union’s regional secretary Chris Downes said £3,773 per day was spent renting the empty building in Wolverhampton while stations were being closed.

He added: “The Secretary of State should now end this doomed waste of money and use the massive savings to prevent unnecessary cuts in front line services in the UK fire service.”

Control staff national committee member Sasha Farley said: “Every hour that ticks by with EADS still maintaining they can deliver Fire Control is costing taxpayers money. Let’s stop this money pit once and for all.”.

Warwickshire’s Chief Fire Officer Graeme Smith said he was “increasingly concerned” about the future of the project and its deliverability, explaining the continued delay had cost the service money it would not otherwise be spending.

Cllr Richard Hobbs (Con, Aston Cantlow) shared the union’s concern about the cost, but said there was a need to continue with the scheme to make fire control systems “fit for the 21st century”.

Cllr Hobbs, who is chairman of FireControl for the West Midlands and is the Local Government Association’s advisor to the national project board, said fire service minister Bob Neill would be holding the contractor EADS to its contract and that an announcement was due in the next four to five weeks.

He explained it was important services shared the same system and could take over from each other if necessary.

He said: “My concerns are when it is going to be delivered and whether it will give us the functions we need.

“It needs to work 99.99 per cent of the time - 95 per cent of the time is not good enough.”

The scheme is currently being paid for by central government but a share of the cost of running the control room will be passed to Warwickshire County Council once it is handed over.

An EADS spokesman said the firm’s defence security unit Cassidian is on track to provide the final system and is investigating providing equipment ahead of schedule, with the original contracted cost unchanged.