Fire authorities from across the country held a summit to forge the future of control centre arrangements in England following last month's decision to scrap the £423 million FiReControl project.  

Brian Coleman, Chairman of the Local Government Association's Fire Services Management Committee, said: "The LGA called this major summit to work out how we can move on from this regional white elephant and focus on how to best upgrade the control system locally to respond to major emergencies in a more cost effective way.  

"This controversial project has been in jeopardy for sometime, so it should be no surprise to know that fire and rescue authorities have been working responsibly on local arrangements to continue keeping residents safe. 
"The Government has issued a consultation on the future of regional fire control and the message I heard from colleagues was 'trust us to do it ourselves'.  

"FiReControl was beset by delays and spiralling costs causing huge frustration to fire and rescue authorities across the country.   

"Many fire authorities put a lot of money into the project and we must now ensure they can make the most of that investment, continue to offer essential emergency services and don't suffer any additional financial burdens, especially considering the tough grant settlements announced last year."  

 

Date posted: 26.01.11