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Search forShock at cost of 999 plans
Tuesday, August 19, 2008, 07:00
The staggering cost, which could have paid for 300 new fire engines, was revealed to MPs by the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Nationally, the controversial project will see 46 existing fire control centres replaced with one centre for each of nine English regions. Devon's dedicated control room will close and move to a regional headquarters in Taunton.
It has been admitted that the extra work involved in setting up the regional centre is set to cost more than £8 million, and now MPs have been told that as of the end of June, £38.5million had so far been spent on consultants for the scheme nationally, with a further £16.9million due to be spent on "advice".
The estimated cost of a fire engine is about £180,000, which means an extra 308 appliances could have been bought for the same amount – and union leaders say the sum is enough to run a large metropolitan fire brigade for a year.
Continuing concerns have been raised at Westminster over the regionalisation plans, with a cross-party group of MPs voicing concerned that the new centres will be able to handle fewer calls at peak times than existing control rooms.
The costs have been defended by the Government, which says it is meeting all the set-up costs of the project, and insists the new nationally-linked regional network will offer better protection for the public and make firefighters' jobs safer and more effective. It says the new centres will be able to track appliances and immediately identify the location of a caller.
Fire engines will be fitted with computers that can show building floor plans and maps.
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