Fire control centre firm accused of wasting time

A string of problems with the project means a new control centre at Wakefield is costing taxpayers 5,000 a day but will sit empty until 2012, and Ministers claim a satellite navigation system is unable to recognise vast swathes of Yorkshire.

Now Fire Minister Bob Neill has accused EADS – the company responsible for delivering the scheme – of taking on former senior fire officers to lobby Government over the scheme.

"I have myself been presented with speculative ideas from EADS that are not in the Fire Control project agreement," he said. "However, at the time I made it absolutely clear to EADS that my sole focus for the project was on them delivering the system specified in the project agreement to time, to cost and to quality.

"To this end, we activated a key milestone in their contract to deliver the main IT system in three control centres by mid-2011. I recommended to EADS that this should be their sole focus on the project too, rather than spending time and money on lobbying."

Despite vast amounts already being invested in the project – which would see the region's four control centres closed and all four brigades using the Wakefield base as 46 centres around the country are replaced with nine regional rooms – union leaders want the Government to cut the losses and scrap the scheme.

MPs on the Communities and Local Government Select Committee have also been damning about the project, although a report shortly before the General Election said the Government should carry on with it because of the vast sums which would be wasted by scrapping it.

Ministers have been highly critical of EADS, although it is thought concerns over the cost of cancelling the scheme may stop the Government from ditching it altogether.

Mr Neill said: "The Fire Control project, initiated by the last Government, is over budget and behind schedule.

"As with all major Government projects it is being reviewed to ensure value for money for the taxpayers.

"We have been clear that this Government are not prepared to pour any more taxpayers' money into funding EADS's further delays, nor can they cut any corners in the quality of the system they deliver.

"This Government are committed to ensuring value for money for the taxpayer, improving resilience and stopping the forced regionalisation of the fire service."

An EADS spokesman said: "EADS has not spent any money on lobbying CLG. We have brought in several ex-Fire Service employees to allow us to understand better the end-users' operational requirements."