Monday, September 19, 2011

Failed fire project wasted £469m says committee of MPs

Fire engine The project aimed to replace 46 fire control centres with nine state-of-the-art regional centres
A project to introduce nine regional control centres for the fire and rescue services was a "complete failure" and wasted £469m, MPs have said.
The Public Accounts Committee said the FiReControl scheme had achieved none of its objectives and that eight of the centres were empty "white elephants".
The plan to replace 46 smaller control rooms was scrapped in December 2010.
Margaret Hodge, the chair of the committee, said the project was "flawed from the outset" and one of the worst wastes of public money for many years.
"The taxpayer has lost nearly half a billion pounds and eight of the completed regional control centres remain as empty and costly white elephants." said Mrs Hodge.
She said the project - launched in 2004 by the Labour government - had been terminated in 2010 "with none of the original objectives achieved and a minimum of £469m being wasted".
FiReControl aimed to abolish 46 local fire and rescue control rooms around the country and replace them nine with state-of-the-art centres linked by a new IT system.
It was hoped the project would provide a better co-ordinated response to emergencies, such as terrorist attacks, floods and rail crashes.
However, the report says the IT system "was simply never delivered" and that the Department for Communities and Local Government "fatally undermined" the project by not working properly with local fire services.
"The department excluded them from decisions about the design of the regional control centres and the proposed IT solution," says the report.
'Extraordinary failure' The cross-party committee - which heard evidence in July - also said the project was "rushed" and got Treasury funding without proper scrutiny of feasibility and costs.
Those involved with FiReControl also showed a "an extraordinary failure of leadership", said the committee.
No one had been made accountable, said the MPs, and senior staff "have carried on as if nothing had gone wrong" while continuing to work on other government projects.
Out of the nine buildings constructed, only the London centre has so far been transferred to the local fire and rescue service.
However, negotiations are ongoing for another four to become occupied.
The empty buildings cost the taxpayer £4m every month to maintain, the committee heard.
Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said he welcomed the report, but added that the fallout from the project was still being felt.
"[It] failed because ministers failed to listen to the voice of control staff and their professional representatives.
"We argued that the project was not resilient and there was insufficient scrutiny of costs and contracts," said Mr Wrack.
"Now the present government is leaving it to local fire and rescue services to clear up the mess, making ad hoc arrangements without an overall view of national resilience.
"There needs to be proper oversight, not the closure and merger of control rooms."
The Department for Communities and Local Government has yet to respond to the criticism.

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