Memorandum by Dorset Fire Authority (FRS
20)
Dorset Fire Authority is supportive of the direction
of travel which the modernisation agenda has brought to the fire
and rescue service, although it does have concerns over the pace
of change, which linked to capacity and the Authority's financial
ability in progressing the modernisation agenda is bringing about
tensions in the Service.
During the CPA process carried out in 2005,
Dorset Fire Authority received a rating of "Good" and
was placed fifth out of all fire authorities. This position shows
the determination of the Authority of taking on the challenges
of the modernisation agenda where its officers strive for continuous
progress.
The Authority has particular concerns over the
FiReControl and FireLink projects and these are described below.
It feels that it has little choice other than to go along with
the project due to the powers that the Secretary of State has
under the Fire and Rescue Service Act 2004 which can order a fire
authority to participate in the project. As a consequence, officers
of the Authority are actively involved in progressing towards
the full implementation of the project.
As required by all fire authorities, Dorset
carried out a Best Value Review of its Fire Control in 2000-01.
Discussion took place with neighbouring fire authorities and other
"blue light" services in Dorset the outcome of which
resulted in Fire Control remaining in Dorset but with a change
of its command and control software. The new software has been
operational since May 2002 and is regarded as one of the most
modern and up to date systems in the country, providing call location
and the ability to mobilise on vehicle location. In addition to
the advantages of a modern command and control system the Authority
has been able to make significant year on year savings on the
software maintenance contract. The report of the Best Value Review
was forwarded to the responsible Government department within
the original time frame, however, the Authority has never received
a formal response to its review.
Since the new software has been installed into
Dorset's Fire Control it has proved its robustness and resilience
on numerous occasions by dealing with both major incidents and
spate conditions. The robustness of Fire Control was tested most
recently by an incident in November 2005, which resulted in a
nationwide interest. A major fire in a scrap yard in Poole brought
down overhead high voltage power cables, causing large areas of
the Bournemouth/Poole conurbation to suffer power failure. Dorset
Fire Control were handling the primary incident but also taking
emergency calls brought about by the sudden electrical power failure.
During a period of just over three hours Dorset's Fire Control
handled 130 emergency calls alone, with half of these occurring
in a 30 minute period just after 9 am. Whilst Fire Control was
stretched, the professionalism of the staff showed they were able
to maintain the resilience of the centre during these spate conditions.
It also shows how a local Fire Control are able to deal with wide
scale incidents and at the same time maintain control of a major
primary incident.
Dorset Fire Authority first registered its strong
opposition to the FiReControl project with ODPM in June 2004 for
which it has received a response to its letter.
In December 2004, fire authorities were provided
with a commercially censored version of the Outline Business Case
(OBC) for the FiReControl project. At the time Elected Members
were concerned with the lack of detail of the project and remained
unconvinced at that stage that Regional Control Centres were deliverable,
within the intended timescales and would provide the savings suggested
in the OBC, particularly at local level.
During 2005 Members have attended several Fire
Control seminars organised by ODPM but still remain very sceptical
over the project for the following reasons:
FINANCE
— The financial effect on fire authorities
of operating a Regional Control Centre is still unknown, and the
Authority is still waiting to see the full business case.
— Fire Authorities medium term financial
plans and in particular the 2007-08 budgets cannot be forecast
without knowing the costs of the project. It is not clear whether
the additional costs of maintaining existing Fire Controls with
replacement staff (to cover existing staff who will take up appointments
in Regional Controls) will be covered by any "New Burdens"
funding.
— It is still unclear how much data
transmission will cost the Authority, and whether the costs of
FireLink prior to regional controls will be borne by individual
fire authorities.
— It is understood that ODPM have spent
some £45 million on consultant fees on this project, the
Authority is concerned that these costs will be passported on
to fire authorities.
— The Authority understands, that it
is likely that Regional Control Centres will be built during the
next twelve months and these could be left empty for up to three
years. There is concern over these costs and who will pay for
them.
— ODPM have introduced "out of
scope" work, this is work currently carried out by Fire Controls
that will not be carried forward into Regional Controls but will
be expected to be picked up by fire authorities. The Authority
is concerned that these costs do not appear to have been considered
in the outline business case and will fall to fire authorities.
SERVICE DELIVERY
— In Dorset we carry out a regular
customer satisfaction surveys that has raised concerns over a
Regional Control Centre. These surveys show a high customer satisfaction
rating for the effectiveness of local mobilising of fire crews
to incidents. The Authority is concerned whether this level of
rating will be achieved by a Regional Control Centre.
— The Authority is concerned that it
will lose managerial control over its resources which could impinge
on its ability to deliver an Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP)
that is flexible and meets the needs of its area.
— Dorset Fire Control have set a high
standard in mobilising, achieving 99.99% of mobilisations in less
than one minute. The Authority would expect an equally high standard
from the Regional Control Centre.
— The Authority is concerned over the
IT based system. Whilst it understands that technically such a
system is feasible, past experiences have shown serious problems
with new and major IT programmes and therefore thorough proving
trials will need to take place if the public are not to lose confidence
in the system.
— The Authority is very concerned on
its ability to maintain continuity of service in its existing
Control, right up to handover to a Regional Control Centre. There
is a need to appoint to all the positions in the new centre very
early on so that authorities can plan for replacements. These
costs will depend on the number of replacements required, which
could be significant and there is no indication whether this will
be borne by fire authorities or picked up through "New Burdens".
THE PROJECT
— The Authority is concerned over how
ODPM will ensure that the project will eventually be delivered
in line with the OBC and the original scoping documents. This
concern is based on the work currently going on in deciding what
is "in scope" and what is "out of scope" which
must lead to a change in some of the original scoping concepts.
— The SW Regional Control Centre will
be one of the first centres to "go live" and originally,
the Authority was advised this would happen in November 2006,
it has since been delayed to Spring 2008. The Authority has learnt
from those with experience of major IT projects that we could
expect this to be further delayed until 2010. This does not fit
well with the PRINCE 2 project management that ODPM are using
and the Authority is concerned the effect these delays will have
on the financial case of the project.
— The delay in timescales of the project
and the prospect of further delays is having an adverse impact
on our staff as it provides them with uncertainty for the future
and the ability to plan their lives ahead.
At its meeting in January 2005 Dorset Fire Authority
made the point that they did not consider the case for the project
to be robust enough for firm decision making and were not satisfied
that deliverability, affordability and value for money had been
established by ODPM. They were concerned that it had not been
demonstrated that the proposals would be in the best interests
and safety of the people of Dorset. A year has gone by and sadly
the Authority has received no further information to change its
view and still remains with exactly the same concerns that it
had this time last year.
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