Government 'Fire Control' Plans Get Thumbs Down
'FireControl' is estimated to require a cost of £1 billion by Government, although the Fire Brigades Union believes this is a serious under-estimate.
Frontline fire crews say they have little confidence in the system and that the £1 billion the government is spending on the system would be better spent on more frontline personnel, training and equipment.
The government plans to close all 46 emergency control rooms in England and replace them with just 8 regional centres outside of London which will keep its brigade control room.
Emergency fire control rooms are the command and control centres for all fire brigades; they handle 999 calls, send appliances to all incidents, assist crews and manage each brigade's emergency response resources.
Similar plans are being suggested for Scotland with proposals to close the current 8 control rooms to 3 or even just 1 for the whole country.
In a nationwide poll of Fire Brigade Union Members conducted by YouGov, 95% of firefighters said the proposed regional centre would damage their ability to respond to incidents. 90% said it would also question the safety of firefighters.
The level of confidence firefighters have in the government's ability to build a new system was extremely low with 69% giving a mark of zero out of 10.
The Fire Brigade Union general secretary, Matt Wrack said:
'Frontline crews want to see the £1 billion being wasted on this project being invested in more frontline fire services, better equipment and training. We fear the spiralling costs of this project will lead to cuts in frontline services and a worse service to the public'.
YouGov interviewed 1,876 FBU members across the UK between 22nd March and 3rd April 2007. Data are underweighted.
For further information please visit www.fbu.org.uk
© Copyright 2011 Means Of Escape Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2011 Think Agency - Website Designers Kent