REGIONAL FIRECONTROL PROJECT SCRAPPE
Dear Brother/Sister ENGLISH REGIONAL FIRECONTROL PROJECT SCRAPPED On Monday 20th December the Westminster Fire Minister issued a written Ministerial Statement to the House of Commons which terminated, with immediate effect, the contract with Cassidian (formerly EADS) to deliver the FiReControl Project. For the past seven years our members in Emergency Fire Controls across the Services in England have had to live with uncertainty and Governmental incompetence as the project has stumbled on from one crisis to another. The FBU were the only voice within the Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) that consistently opposed the regionalisation of our Fire Controls: not for self-serving reasons, but because we saw no evidence to suggest that this was going to improve in…
General Election and Regional Control Centre’s
On Thursday this week FBU members will be casting their votes in what’s being billed as one of the closest ever General Elections. Members will quite rightly be looking to vote for a party which will protect their own interests. One subject which has been raised during debates on stations is the Conservative Partys pledge to “Scrap regional Control Centres where they have not gone live”. This has been quoted by all Conservative MP’s in response to FBU members written concerns, including by David Cameron. This has given members a clear ‘local’ (single) reason for choosing a political party to vote for. However the regional office is in possession of a letter from Stewart Jackson MP, the…
FiReControl just keeps on delivering…disappointment
After the latest condemnation of FiReControl from an influential committee, the Fire Brigades Union’s Sharon Riley, executive council member representing fire controls, tells Mike Lowe why FiReControl is such a bad idea and how easy it is to do it better The FBU’s Sharon Riley didn’t know where to start when I asked her what was actually wrong with FiReControl – the government’s plan to modernise Fire Service technology. She explains: “It was never something that they consulted upon. It’s something which ministers and civil servants embarked upon without first consulting fire services or the professionals working in fire controls. So it’s a government driven project, top-down, with very little understanding of what it is…
Regional Control Meeting: Weds 7 April 2010
REGIONAL CONTROL MEETING 1230 WEDNESDAY 7 APRIL 2010 THE HAWTH HOTEL, CRAWLEY Please put the date above in your diaries – we have organised a joint Region 11 & 12 meeting for Control Room staff to update you on the current position on RCC’s and to give you a chance to ask any questions at this critical point in the RCC process. The meeting will be 1230 for lunch – 1300 start, hope to finish by approx 1600. Travel arrangements will be made for you depending on final numbers. Please contact your Brigade Chair or Sec to confirm your attendance. Alli Burrows …
FiReControl: Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Mr. Malik – incorrect answer?
It appears the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Mr. Malik is being economical with the truth when when questioned on the FiReControl project: Stewart Jackson (- Shadow Minister, Communities and Local Government; Peterborough, Conservative) On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I wish to seek your guidance having already given you prior notice in writing. On 15 March, the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Mr. Malik, issued an answer to this written parliamentary question from me: “To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the regional fire control rooms in London will be operational and live by September 2011.” The Minister’s reply was as follows: “Under…
Region 12 Control Section Newsletter, March 2010
Region 12 Control Section Newsletter, March 2010 The proposed Reasonableness Criteria was issued at the SEFRCC Consultation Forum held at the RCC in Fareham on February 18th. It is advised that you read it and provide feedback on any issues or observations you may have for your FBU Rep to take forward to the FBU regional control meeting on 8th April where responses will be collated and taken forward to next consultation forum. In essence if your journey time to the RCC from your home address is greater than 60 minutes then you are outside the reasonableness criteria and you would not be expected to transfer to the RCC. Should you be outside the distance…
