FiReControl
Encyclopedia
FiReControl was a project, initiated in the UK in March 2004, to reduce the number of control rooms used to handle emergency calls for fire services and authorities. Presently there are 46 control rooms in England that handle calls from the local public for emergency assistance via the 999
system. A new radio network—FireLink
—is being developed and built that will be compatible with FiReControl.
The original plan was for 46 current control rooms to be combined into nine regional control centres (RCC), but this plan was thrown into doubt in May 2010 when the government announced that fire services would not be forced to reorganise.
The plan was formally scrapped in December 2010.
Fire and rescue services can support each other with additional resources. Although the control rooms rely on different technologies and operational procedures and are not physically networked, they support each other by taking calls and giving advice to callers from outside their area. Then the information is passed to the relevant fire service via telephone, fax or radio, whichever is quickest. There are about 1500 control staff employed in England, with 350 on duty at any one time under the current county system. All staff are able to take emergency calls for their neighbours during busy periods such as severe flooding or multiple grass fires during droughts.
However much of the technology is said to be becoming obsolete before it has even been installed due to progress in technology and delays to the project. Some fire services already have some of the proposed equipment some three years before the final RCC goes live.
In support of the new control rooms an additional government project called FireLink
is delivering a new digital radio system called "Airwave".
Defence & Security Systems (now renamed to Cassidian) had been awarded an eight-year £200m contract to supply the IT infrastructure for the RCCs.
As of April 2008 regional local authority controlled companies have been set up in the North East, North West, East Midlands, West Midlands, South West and the South East. London does not need to set up a local authority controlled company because of its unique arrangements.
and Cllr James Pearson
from the Local Government Association. Also giving evidence Matt Wrack
from the Fire Brigades Union
and John Bonney Chief Fire Officers Association. The second session heard evidence from Shahid Malik
MP Fire Minister, Sir Ken Knight
Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser
, Shona Dunn Director for Fire and Resilience Department for Communities and Local Government
, Robin Southwell CEO and Roger Diggle Project Director EADS
. The committee was chaired by Dr Phyllis Starkey
MP and attracted significant media attention.
which represents firefighting personnel and control staff at all levels within the fire and rescue service across the UK, has launched a campaign against the regionalisation of emergency fire control rooms. The union has stated that the project has virtually no acceptance amongst the workforce, which is of major concern to the directors and ministers. Members of the fire brigades union have grave concerns about the diversion of vital money to this unpopular project, and question the feasibility of having 30% less control staff available to answer emergency calls across the country during spate conditions. There are fears that the RCC 999 system will become swamped with calls and come to a complete standstill, and the loss of local knowledge amongst call takers is also a significant risk. Chief Fire Officers may have less control over service delivery in their county, which may be a concern to fire authorities around the country.
The Conservative Party
published a policy green paper in April saying that they would cancel the regionalisation of fire control as part of their decentralisation/localisation policy, and confirmed following the 2010 general election that forced reorganisation was to be abandoned.
In December 2010, the centre was officially scrapped.
999 (emergency telephone number)
999 is an official emergency telephone number in a number of countries which allows the caller to contact emergency services for urgent assistance....
system. A new radio network—FireLink
FireLink
FireLink or Firelink is a new wide area radio system being introduced in England, Wales and Scotland for the fire service. The system which supports both voice and data communication will replace a patchwork of analogue systems with a modern wider area digital system...
—is being developed and built that will be compatible with FiReControl.
The original plan was for 46 current control rooms to be combined into nine regional control centres (RCC), but this plan was thrown into doubt in May 2010 when the government announced that fire services would not be forced to reorganise.
The plan was formally scrapped in December 2010.
Current arrangements in existing control rooms
Each fire and rescue service in England is responsible for accepting and processing emergency fire calls in its own local authority area and, with agreement, emergency calls from other fire and rescue service areas. These are answered by dedicated fire control staff who use computer-aided mobilising systems to locate the nearest available, appropriate resources and mobilise them to the incident. The control staff maintain contact with the fire crews, in most cases by voice radio, whilst on their way and during the incident to provide current information and respond to critical requests.Fire and rescue services can support each other with additional resources. Although the control rooms rely on different technologies and operational procedures and are not physically networked, they support each other by taking calls and giving advice to callers from outside their area. Then the information is passed to the relevant fire service via telephone, fax or radio, whichever is quickest. There are about 1500 control staff employed in England, with 350 on duty at any one time under the current county system. All staff are able to take emergency calls for their neighbours during busy periods such as severe flooding or multiple grass fires during droughts.
Future arrangements in regional control centres
The regional control rooms were expected to improve on the current arrangements by:- Networking each of the nine centres so they will be able to automatically back each other up in times of increased call pressure or failure.
- Providing purpose built, secure and resilient modern facilities.
- Ensuring each RCC will have access to the same information and the ability to manage and deploy resources on a local, regional or national level.
- Providing each RCC with caller identification location technology – which means the location a call is coming from will be identified automatically.
- Providing satellite positioning equipment – which will monitor the whereabouts of each vehicle.
- Mobile data terminals – will be installed in cabs so firefighters have constantly updated information.
- Rationalise mobilising policies and procedures across all existing Fire and Rescue Services in England.
However much of the technology is said to be becoming obsolete before it has even been installed due to progress in technology and delays to the project. Some fire services already have some of the proposed equipment some three years before the final RCC goes live.
In support of the new control rooms an additional government project called FireLink
FireLink
FireLink or Firelink is a new wide area radio system being introduced in England, Wales and Scotland for the fire service. The system which supports both voice and data communication will replace a patchwork of analogue systems with a modern wider area digital system...
is delivering a new digital radio system called "Airwave".
Delivering the technology
In March 2007, then Fire and Rescue service minister Angela Smith announced that EADSEADS
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V. is a global pan-European aerospace and defence corporation and a leading defence and military contractor worldwide...
Defence & Security Systems (now renamed to Cassidian) had been awarded an eight-year £200m contract to supply the IT infrastructure for the RCCs.
Regions and locations of regional control centres
| Region | Location | Control rooms it will take over | Cutover date | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East of England (E o E) | Cambridge Research Park, Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west... |
Essex, Norfolk, Cambridge and Peterborough, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Luton and Suffolk Fire and Rescue Services. | September 2011 - May 2012 | |
| East Midlands (EM) | Willow Farm Business Park, Leicestershire Leicestershire Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire... |
Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Services. | May 2011 - January 2012 | |
| London | Merton Industrial Estate, London London London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... |
London Fire Brigade | September 2011 | |
| North East (NE) | Belmont Business Park, Durham Durham Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county... |
Durham and Darlington, Tyne and Wear, Cleveland and Northumberland. | May 2011 - November 2011 | |
| North West (NW) | Lingley Mere Business Park, Warrington Warrington Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens... |
Cumbria, Cheshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Services. | January 2012 - May 2012 | |
| South East (SE) | Kite's Croft, Hampshire Hampshire Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force... |
Hampshire, Royal Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Kent, East Sussex, Buckinghamshire, Isle of Wight, Surrey and West Sussex Fire and Rescue Services. | March 2012 - November 2012 | |
| South West (SW) | Blackbrook Business Park, Taunton Taunton Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset.... |
Devon and Somerset, Dorset, Avon, Cornwall, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Services. | May 2011 - March 2012 |
|
| West Midlands (WM) | Wolverhampton Business Park, Wolverhampton Wolverhampton Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region... |
Staffordshire, West Midlands, Shropshire, Hereford and Worcester and Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Services. | May 2011 - March 2012 | |
| Yorkshire and Humberside (YH) | Paragon Business Village, Wakefield Wakefield Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001.... |
West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Humberside and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Services. | July 2012 - November 2012 | |
Cut over to regional control centres
Cut over was planned to happen gradually with groups of Fire and Rescue services moving from local to regional controls in batches. This was intended make it easier to identify, isolate and address any problems that arise without affecting the quality of service provided to the public. It was planned that the first regional control centres would go live in spring 2011 with the full system expected in place by the end of 2012, but the May 2010 announcements put these plans in doubt.Management of regional control centres
Each regional control centre will be run by an organisation known as a local authority controlled company. This company is jointly owned by all the fire and rescue authorities (FRAs) in that region.As of April 2008 regional local authority controlled companies have been set up in the North East, North West, East Midlands, West Midlands, South West and the South East. London does not need to set up a local authority controlled company because of its unique arrangements.
Select committee
On 8 February 2010, the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee heard evidence on the fire control project. Called to give evidence were Cllr Brian ColemanBrian Coleman
Brian Coleman FRSA is a Conservative Party politician and member of the London Assembly for Barnet and Camden, England. He is a Councillor in the London Borough of Barnet, and was Mayor for 2009-2010....
and Cllr James Pearson
James Pearson
James Pearson VC was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....
from the Local Government Association. Also giving evidence Matt Wrack
Matt Wrack
Matt Wrack is a British firefighter and trade unionist. He was elected General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union in May 2005.Matt Wrack was born Matthew D Wrack in Manchester on 23 May 1962...
from the Fire Brigades Union
Fire Brigades Union
The Fire Brigades Union is a trade union in the United Kingdom for wholetime Firefighters , Retained Duty System and Emergency Control Room staff...
and John Bonney Chief Fire Officers Association. The second session heard evidence from Shahid Malik
Shahid Malik
Shahid Rafique Malik is a British Labour Party politician who became the Member of Parliament for Dewsbury in 2005 after defeating Conservative Sayeeda Warsi, now Conservative Chair Baroness Warsi and remained so till 2010 when Conservative candidate Simon Reevell won Dewsbury...
MP Fire Minister, Sir Ken Knight
Ken Knight
Sir Ken Knight, CBE, QFSM, DL, MIFireE is the current HM Chief Inspector of Fire Services and Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser in England & Wales.The position of "Chief Fire & Rescue Adviser" is a new government role created in 2007....
Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser
Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire Services for England and Wales, is responsible for the inspection and auditing of all Local Authority Fire Services in England and Wales to ensure they meet strict performance criteria and targets laid out by the Government ....
, Shona Dunn Director for Fire and Resilience Department for Communities and Local Government
Department for Communities and Local Government
The Department for Communities and Local Government is the UK Government department for communities and local government in England. It was established in May 2006 and is the successor to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, established in 2001...
, Robin Southwell CEO and Roger Diggle Project Director EADS
EADS
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V. is a global pan-European aerospace and defence corporation and a leading defence and military contractor worldwide...
. The committee was chaired by Dr Phyllis Starkey
Phyllis Starkey
Phyllis Margaret Starkey is a British Labour party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Milton Keynes South West from 1997 to 2010. She had previously served as Leader of Oxford City Council....
MP and attracted significant media attention.
Opposition to regional control centres
The Fire Brigades UnionFire Brigades Union
The Fire Brigades Union is a trade union in the United Kingdom for wholetime Firefighters , Retained Duty System and Emergency Control Room staff...
which represents firefighting personnel and control staff at all levels within the fire and rescue service across the UK, has launched a campaign against the regionalisation of emergency fire control rooms. The union has stated that the project has virtually no acceptance amongst the workforce, which is of major concern to the directors and ministers. Members of the fire brigades union have grave concerns about the diversion of vital money to this unpopular project, and question the feasibility of having 30% less control staff available to answer emergency calls across the country during spate conditions. There are fears that the RCC 999 system will become swamped with calls and come to a complete standstill, and the loss of local knowledge amongst call takers is also a significant risk. Chief Fire Officers may have less control over service delivery in their county, which may be a concern to fire authorities around the country.
The Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
published a policy green paper in April saying that they would cancel the regionalisation of fire control as part of their decentralisation/localisation policy, and confirmed following the 2010 general election that forced reorganisation was to be abandoned.
In December 2010, the centre was officially scrapped.
External links
- Fire Service on Line http://www.frsonline.fire.gov.uk
- Department of Communities and Local Government http://www.communities.gov.uk
- Fire Brigades Union http://www.fbu.org.uk
- EADS Defence & Security Systems http://www.cassidian.co.uk/
- Airwave Solutions http://www.airwavesolutions.co.uk
- Mott Mac Donald http://www.mottmac.com
- National Audit Office: The failure of the FiReControl project http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/1012/failure_of_firecontrol.aspx