Millions Were Wasted on Regional Fire Control Centre Says MP

Following news a planned regional fire control centre in Wakefield is to be scrapped, Graham Stuart, MP for Beverley and Holderness, has welcomed the decision by the coalition government but called for an immediate apology from those responsible for building it in the first place.

The news came just days after Graham met with Frank Duffield, Humberside Fire and Rescue chief fire officer, to discuss the situation.

Graham said: “It makes my blood boil to think how many tens of millions have been wasted on this ridiculous idea. Everyone told the last government that regional centres were a bad idea but they ignored all the advice and, just like every Labour government before them, poured taxpayers money into a black hole.

“All the pain of the cuts today were caused by arrogant and wasteful expenditure on projects like this. The brigades did not want them, the frontline firefighters unions did not want them, the fire authorities did not want them and the public could certainly see no benefit in them.”

And he added: “It is great news this government has put a stop to the waste and will now allow fire brigades to provide more local, more informed and more effective fire control.”

In the five years the Wakefield control centre stood virtually empty it has cost the taxpayer a reported £25 million. This included the £5,000-a-day rental, more than £230,000 in heating and lighting and even £6,000 for a deluxe espresso coffee machine.

Graham said: “Regional control rooms were supposed to improve the country’s ability to respond to terrorism, major industrial accidents and natural disasters such as flooding, but in truth the project has done nothing but lurch from one expensive disaster to another.

“Maybe the worst has been the tripling of costs from £120m to £423m. That is wasted money because Labour would simply not listen to the people who really knew.

Even Labour MP John McDonnell, secretary of the Fire Brigade Union’s (FBU) parliamentary group, said as much as £1.3bn may have been wasted in costs and lost staff morale across the country.

“Labour needs to admit that this was nothing more than an expensive folly, one which has made the job of the coalition government that much harder. Labour needs to apologise,” said Graham.

As part of a wider reform of the service, the FiReControl project was launched at the end of 2003 with the aim of improving efficiency by closing the 46 fire service control centres and concentrating their functions into nine regional centres.  The scheme was, however, widely criticised by fire chiefs and trade unions for being costly, over specified and unnecessary.

Now local government minister Bob Neill has announced the abandonment of the regional control centre project which would have seen call receipt, handling, mobilising and command and control functions being transferred from Hull to Wakefield.

In a statement to the House of Commons, the minister said: “Following extensive discussion with contractor Cassidian, we have jointly concluded, with regret, that the requirements of the project cannot be delivered to an acceptable time frame.

“Therefore the best outcome for the taxpayer and the fire and rescue community is for the contract to be terminated with immediate effect.

“The department will cease funding activities directly associated with the project as quickly as is compatible with organising an orderly closing down of the project.”

And he added: “We recognise fire and rescue authorities will now wish to review their control arrangements. This government does not intend to impose any solution for the future of control room services.”