FIRECONTROL PROJECT

That this House notes the continued concerns of the Fire Brigades Union that the FiReControl Project should have been completed by the end of 2007; further notes that the Government claimed it would make considerable savings, paying for itself within five years, and improve on the current system; further notes that the project is considerably over budget and will make no savings, continues to face considerable technical challenges and is now facing further delays which means the full national network may not be in place and rigorously tested in time for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games; further notes that the Chief Fire Officers' Association is not assured that the project will not face further delays and that in September the Local Government Association echoed the concerns of the Fire Brigades Union, stating that fire and rescue authorities have expressed deep concerns; and therefore calls for the project to be stopped and for existing control rooms swiftly to be upgraded as necessary to ensure the communications benefits sought by Government are delivered by local fire brigade control rooms as they will be in Scotland and are in Wales without the need for regionalisation.