The opening of a regional fire control centre covering the west country has been delayed until May 2011.
The centre, which is opposed by the the Liberal Democrats, Avon Fire Authority and the Fire Brigades Union, will handle emergency calls from Gloucestershire in the north to Cornwall in the south.
It was supposed to open two years ago, but has been delayed again because of problems with the IT system.
The government said it was a complex project which would deliver benefits. Cllr Shaun McGall, a member of Avon Fire Authority said:
The project is over budget and will not deliver either cost savings or more importantly improved service to local residents and the emergency services. It’s time the Government pulled the plug on the scheme.
Responding to the announcement the Fire Brigades Union said the project was
“like Monty Python’s Dead Parrot sketch with everyone knowing it was dead apart from government which insists it is still alive”.
This project is a total waste of tax payers money, at a time when fire authorities are facing severe financial constraints and cutbacks in public spending it’s absolutely immoral the government is throwing huge amounts of tax payers money that’ s going nowhere.
The money would be better used on frontline services throughout the south west.
Regionally the union said the additional 10-month delay will cost a further £1,548,930.
The South West Regional Control Centre has cost a total of £2,066,107 in rent and other building costs from the date it was completed until February 2009. The government estimates that on-going monthly costs are £154,893 from February 2009 until the date the first fire brigade moves into the building in July 2010.
Based on those costs, the price from February 2009 to July 2010 will be £2,478,288, making a grand total of £4,544,395 in rents and other costs from completing the building to becoming operational under the old timetable.
The control room at Blackbrook Business Park, Taunton, will cover Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, the Bath and Bristol area, Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall. The facility is one of the government’s nine planned regional control centres for England replacing the current 46 control centres.