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COMMUNITIES and Local Government (CLG) has issued a regional business case for the new network of fire control centres in England. It sets out the business benefits of the nationally linked FireControl network – due to start going ‘live’ from 2009 – while also illustrating the limitations of existing fire control rooms.
One business case has been issued for each region of England, giving an assurance that the FireControl project is affordable and deliverable. A further business case will be issued shortly, providing a national perspective.
To underline the benefits, the regional case explains the shortcomings of the existing 46 fire control rooms, which the FireControl network will replace.
For example, it says that only 20 of the existing controls have facilities for mobile data terminals, which enable operators to communicate through ‘in cab’ computers that provide building and risk information to attending fire crews. In addition, only 10 use the automatic vehicle location system, and only 17 employ systems that identify the location of the emergency caller, whether landline or mobile phone.
The new network of regional centres will have all these key capabilities, says CLG, bringing better and more joined-up call-handling and resource management.
The FireControl Business Case Part 1: Regional Benefits is available via the ‘Fire and resilience’ section of: www.communities.gov.uk
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