Regionalisation of Emergency Fire Controls – Letter to Prime Minister David Cameron

CIRCULAR: 2010HOC0336MW 14 May 2010 TO: ALL MEMBERS Dear Brother / Sister REGIONALISATION OF EMERGENCY FIRE CONTROLS – LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER Members will be aware from our long running lobbying and campaigning that the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties have both expressed very clear opposition to the Regionalisation of Fire Controls in England. The two parties now form the new Government. Attached is a letter to the Prime Minister seeking a commitment from the Government to honour the pledges made on this issue prior to the election; the text of the letter also appears below. Yours fraternally MATT WRACK GENERAL SECRETARY  Download the letter to the Prime Minister as a PDF Text of letter…

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…

Public Safety Fiasco FiReControl

999 centres under fire A project to build two regional control centres to answer 999 fire calls from across the south has been poorly executed and badly managed. The Communities and Local Government Select Committee warned that the future of an efficient system for the fire service had been put at “substantial risk”. 46 fire control rooms in England will be replaced with nine new regional centres which the government says will  provide a more robust service. Emergency calls from Dorset will be answered in Taunton and calls from Hampshire, Isle of Wight and West Sussex will be answered in Fareham. The MPs said that given the investment of public funds already committed, and the benefits that…

Call to Scrap Regional Fire Controls

Call to scrap regional fire plans The Fire Brigade Union (FBU) for the South East has called on the government to scrap plans for regional fire centres after criticism from MPs. The select committee said the project to replace control rooms put the future of an efficient fire service system at “substantial risk”. A centre in Hampshire will cover Kent, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Isle of Wight, Surrey, Sussex and Oxfordshire. The government said the centres would cut costs and improve response times. The communities and local government committee said the programme to replace fire control rooms has been “poorly executed and badly managed” but said it should still go ahead. Paul Watts, regional FBU officer, said:…

Select Committee report Shows FiReControl Project should be abandoned

The Government cannot meet the Select Committee’s six conditions for continuing with FireControl, says Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack. Mr Wrack said: “The Select Committee Report on the government’s FireControl project supports our long-held view that public money is being wasted and public safety compromised. The Select Committee sets out six conditions for the continuance of the project, and in our view these conditions cannot be met, so the project must be abandoned. We recognise that this will mean that public money has been wasted, but to continue with the project means throwing good money after bad. “The Select Committee’s view that “the project has been beset by a lack of openness and…

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…

Fire centre delay costs mounting: BBC News Online: Politics Show

BBC Politics Show: 13:30 GMT, Sunday, 14 February 2010 The delayed regional fire control centre is costing taxpayers £5,500 a day even though it is not open yet – watch the video on the link below: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/politics_show/regions/west_midlands/8515048.stm

Government admits to bungling FiReControl project

Government admits to bungling FiReControl project £350m scheme to overhaul fire and rescue service technology “didn’t start off too well” says minister. The government has admitted that its plan to overhaul the technology behind the Fire and Rescue Service has run into problems because of “insufficient” planning. The controversial £350m FiReControl programme aims to replace 46 individual fire brigade control centres with nine regional ones. But the scheme is now running almost two years late and the government is paying £40,000 a day to maintain the regional control centres, which are currently empty because the technology is not ready. Local government minister Shahid Malik told a communities and local government committee yesterday: “The truth is…