Memorandum by Lynne Harding (FRS 51)
My place of work is Essex County Fire and Rescue
Service SHQ, where I am a Group Manager (Control)/Group Fire Control
Officer, as a member of the Operational Control Management Team,
responsible in the main for Operational Training, Control Database
Management and Operational Flexi Cover for Control.
I am pleased to see that a new inquiry has been
set up to examine the effects of the passing of the Fire and Rescue
Services Act in 2004, in particular the reference to Regional
Controls.
First let me say that I am proud to be a member
of the British Fire and Rescue Service, and have had a very long
career in ECFRS, and am certainly no stranger to being both proactive
and reactive to the needs for change to make progress in the service
according to circumstances at the time, however I fail to see
where we as a service, have not managed to keep abreast of upgrades
and trends in the mobilising and communication equipment, procedures
and policies, as they have either been planned for or occurred
year on year. The manner in which each authority has operated,
has always been within the Local Authority, Central Government
and Service, financial and operational constraints, which would
be a guiding factor in any organisation. The facts of the business
case usually have to be proven beyond any doubt, before they occur,
and the assets of any organisation would or should include the
expertise of those who have been running an efficient service.
In response to the: "The committee has
agreed to undertake an inquiry to examine
1. The implications for Citizens and the
Fire and Rescue Service of (a) the introduction of Regional Control
Centres."
1. The move forward is the high profiling
of the "Community Fire and Rescue Service", with the
involvement of all, Operational Control has always been the central
point, the first point of contact in an emergency when the call
is handled. Although this may not change, it most certainly would
not be Community-based.
2. The teamwork between the Operational
Firefighters at Station, the Flexi Officers, and Support Services
will not be community based, which will undo all of the excellent
working practices, rapport and expertise built up with regard
to Fire Safety, Fire Investigation, Community-based activities,
Community based integrated Operational Training Exercises for
Risk-Based Premises, such as Oil Refineries, Airports, Docks and
named risks, and scenario incidents such as a Nuclear transport
incidents, major incidents will all be lost.
3. The Operational Control in each Service
being a focal point, for familiarisation visits for members of
organisations, such as Rotary Clubs, Scouts and Guides, Children
and Juveniles who attend as part of a Probation Officers programme,
or as part of a Duke Of Edinburgh's Award Scheme, or Education
Programme, to name but a few, plus Operational training visits
from the Officers and Station Personnel in order for them to be
up-to-date on the latest functionality of Operational Control
will no longer be available.
4. The work that is currently carried out
by Control Staff, such as compilation of data, updating and verifying
of accurate information to be placed on the Operational Control
Database, or in handover, hardcopy or updating of Service Information
files in Operational Control will require some other department
or personnel to centralise the information for operational use
in the service. I am very aware that the level of this will vary
from the size and structure of the service. In fact this is the
very reason that the costing of the incident handling in each
Fire Service is not worked out on a level playing field, as the
present Operational Controls fall into three categories, with
higher or lower levels of other work to be carried out besides
the call taking.
5. The Operational Control in each Fire
and Rescue Service will no longer have a central point of contact,
or communication centre and will have to make other arrangements,
for varying levels of service, from accepting out of hours defects
to appliances, sending out messages from the CFO or Officers to
the stations, or giving out fire safety advice over the telephone
etc.
6. As your committee must well be aware,
the morale in Operational Controls across the Country is very
low, as Control Staff are still uncertain of their future, I have
not yet met a member of Control who is enthusiastic about a Regionalised
Control, and the majority are actively seeking other employment
or working out how best to move on after Regionalisation. They
feel very let down, and are not prepared to talk about the subject,
although they are able to update themselves either by the website,
or hard copy information in the Control. The situation is most
certainly not as described in the Parliamentary debate on Emergency
Services (Regionalisation), 12th October 2005, when the Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister,
stated "We know that the majority of posts will be maintained,
and we are confident that most control room staff will want to
avail themselves of the new opportunities for better career paths
in the new control rooms". This most certainly is not the
case. How could there possibly be better career paths, when 46
Control Rooms are being reduced to 9, running on a third less
staff. without the recognised rank/role structure that we operate
with now.
7. With regard to the introduction of and
implementation process for FireLink radio services no-one in Control
would disagree with compatible systems working across the UK Fire
Service provided the resilience of individual Fire Service Operations
were not compromised by cross contamination of software or hardware
failings.
8. With regard to promoting diversity within
the Fire and Rescue Service the fact that approximately two thirds
of the workforce in Operational Controls are women and the fact
that their careers are now compromised and jeopardised has left
them completely demoralised and only the fact that the vast majority
came into the Fire Service to perform a public service keeps them
in their present positions. Notwithstanding this, as I have previously
stated the vast majority have no intention of relocating. The
question the enquiry should be looking at is how a second to none
Service is being allowed to lose such professional expertise.
There may even be a case to answer under sex discrimination with
regard to constructive dismissal in an organisation.
There are so many issues and questions to be
answered with regards to the Regional Control Centres being a
viable business case and a better proposition to each Fire and
Rescue Service having its own Operational Control which is integrated
into the Incident Command System of the Service that I very much
would welcome the opportunity to speak to the Select Committee
direct.
Even as I submit this response I would remind
you that like myself all Operational Control Officers in the UK
already have extensive workloads and take the future of the Service
to the Public very seriously. The standards that we have and are
improving upon have only come about by dedication and hard work
of those involved. We have responded to every dictate of the Government
of the day in order to progress the service that we provide.
I would ask that the cost and on cost of the
consultancy work carried out over the last decades with regard
to Operational Fire Controls be taken into account, also that
the recommendations of the majority of individual Officers in
the Service for status quo to be maintained and cross border collaboration
between other Fire Services and Emergency Services be continued
as much work involving resilience and best practice is being continually
improved and should not be lost.
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