The Government’s controversial plans to close England’s 45 Fire Control centres and replace them with 8 Regional Controls received a blow today at a meeting of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Fire Services Management Committee. Leading Fire Authority Councillors voted to oppose the centres on the grounds of cost.

Liberal Democrat national Fire Spokesperson Cllr Paul Shannon successfully moved an amendment asking LGA officers to develop alternative options in the event of project failure.

Cllr Shannon, who is Deputy Chairman of the LGA’s Fire Services Management Committee, said:

“This jinxed project was doomed from the start. The Government have not listened to the many Fire Service leaders who warned that the project was unlikely to succeed.”

“The Regional Control Centres project has consistently failed to meet deadline after deadline, and is millions over-budget.”

“These latest delays mean that Regional Controls will not handle a single emergency call or mobilise a single fire engine till 2011, at the earliest, whilst all the centres would not be up and running until the end of 2012.

It is a scandalous waste of public funds that 8 massive empty buildings stand idle across the country.”

“That’s why the Committee today passed a Lib-Dem amendment asking officers to prepare a contingencies paper setting out some alternative options in the event of project failure.”