"This IT project is now very late, hugely over budget and has still not been subjected to operational testing," FBU General Secretary Matt Wrack said.
That IT project is part of FireControl, an ambitious project to reorganize British firefighters after several reports commissioned by the government indicated the need for it.
Further, there is wide variation across control rooms in terms of functionality and the information available to fire control staff and firefighters, the government said.
Moving to regional control will ensure that each RCC is networked to the other eight centers and able to automatically back each other up in times of increased call pressure or failure. The buildings will be purpose built, modern facilities supported by advanced technology. Each RCC will have access to the same information and the ability to manage and deploy resources on a local, regional or national level. These elements combined, will enable control centers to deliver a more robust and responsive emergency service than the current arrangement of 46 stand-alone control rooms.
Technology Components
Caller identification location technology - the location a call is coming from will be identified automatically, screening hoax calls and saving valuable time.
Mobile data terminals - will be installed in cabs so firefighters have constantly updated information (including maps and hydrant locations).
Networked solution - the FiReControl network will make sure each RCC is able to provide automatic back-up if one region is too busy or unable to operate. The use of one common control system and procedures will enable FRSs to work together more effectively.
Accommodation - the RCC locations and the building designs adhere to strict security and resilience standards.
Union Opposition
However, the Fire Brigade Union opposes FireControl on several grounds including ballooning costs and missed deadlines, the need for flood-response training and more adequate equipment for responding to floods, the need to retain local knowledge of the areas in which incidents occur as vital to the response, as well as a lack of a statutory requirement that firefighters respond to floods that acts to limit the funding fire stations may be appropriated for flood response.
The costs of FireControl have climbed from an estimated 100 million pounds at the start to over 1.4 billion pounds as the project grew to include other items such as renting new purpose-built premises. The project will now result in the building rent costing twice as much as
the technology, the union said in a statement.
Originally planned to be complete in 2007, it is not now scheduled to finish until late 2011 and even that date may not be hit, according to the FBU.
"It is a scandal that scarce resources, time and effort are being thrown at a project that has scant support within the fire service," Wrack said.
Wrack called the government's plan to provide firefighters with equipment outfitted with SatNav "ridiculous" and said it wouldn't be relied on by fire crews responding to flooding. "Last year [it] would have been pointless during the flooding as many of the main roads were under water," he said.
He said firefighters would be better served by investment in training and gear that would better equip them to respond to floods. "Firefighters and officers are in desperate need of safety critical training, personnel and equipment at a time when firefighter deaths have reached a 30-year high."
The union is campaigning against the planned introduction of regional control centers in England. Under the plans, the service's current 46 control centers would be replaced by just nine. Under the consolidation plan, staffing levels would be cut to below adequate levels and the dispatch centers would lose critical knowledge of the local area which those staffers would have, the union has said.
According to the government's own figures, the new regional centers would only be able to handle 35,505 calls over 24 hours -- around half of the 72,000 which were routed towards Hereford and Worcester fire control center over 24 hours at the height of the 2007 floods.
"It is a matter of concern for the FBU that for 17 hours from 11pm until 4pm the following day there would be no more than 76 control officers -- and for most of the time only 59 -- on duty across the whole of England," Fire Minister Parmjit Dhanda in a written answer to a parliamentary question included in a report released regarding the 2007 floods in England. "This is simply not enough to respond to an emergency such as the floods."
The FBU has argued that local knowledge is crucial in dealing with calls quickly and efficiently. This was underscored by crews' experience in the 2007 floods, which showed the benefits of local controls and highlighted the weaknesses of plans for huge regional control centers.
Gloucestershire's chief fire officer said his brigade's response to future flooding would have been hampered if the new system had been in place. Under the plans, Taunton would serve the whole of the South West. Crucial expertise would be lost in the proposed new regional centers. "Control is one of those jobs where technology is no substitute for people," he said.
The Department of Communities and Local Government has to ensure that fire and rescue services get the funding they need to meet the increased risk of floods, with adequate staffing levels to meet growing demand without eating into budgets for other emergencies.
"These plans are a disgraceful attack on the very people who played the critical role in organizing and managing the fire service response to last year's floods and many other major incidents. To insert a regional level of command and control will effectively tear the heart out of local fire services and create confusion.
"The call handling capacity of the proposed regional controls is well below the number of calls the current brigade controls handle during busy periods. The public don't want to be left held in a queue when they need urgent help from the fire service, but that is what will happen.
Neither the police nor ambulance services are being subjected to similar plans, according to Wrack. Scotland abandoned similar plans on costs and other grounds earlier this year and Wales has made no announcement it is
looking at similar plans. "The police and ambulance deal with the same major incidents but are not being forced to accept similar plans. If our command and control systems need to be on a common national network, then why no similar plans for other 999 services?" he asked.
Additionally, a report from the FBU titled 'Lessons of the 2007 floods - the perspective of fire crews', produced by the Labor Research Department charts how British ministers performed a 'U-turn' only three months before last summer's downpours when they decided not to include response to major flooding in the Fire and Rescue Services (Emergencies) Order for England. The lack of a legal duty means fire and rescue authorities in England are still prevented from applying for new funding for the extra equipment, training and personnel needed to deal with the increased risk of flooding climate experts predict.
The Government now faces mounting pressure to make responding to floods a statutory duty as both the FBU and leading fire chiefs say it is needed to prepare for and respond to future flooding. Scotland already has a statutory duty in place and Northern Ireland is considering one.
The FBU is urging the Department or Communities and Local Government to issue critical national guidance on safety for fire crews working in major floods. This should cover equipment, protective clothing, inoculations, and accredited training to ensure crews can carry out flood rescues without needlessly endangering themselves, the FBU recommended.
Health surveillance, better welfare provision and inoculations should also be provided, the union said. This should be backed up with increased investment in specialist equipment to ensure fire and rescue services are better prepared for further flooding, made more likely with the advent of global warming.
