Alarm bells 999 system over delay Wait for new operating system set to go on
details of incidents including location and other vital information.
“They date back over 10 years to before the formation of the single national SFRS when we used to have eight control centres rather than just three. “A French company was supposed to be delivering a replacement but that has not bbeen delivered after six years and nnow nobody seems interested in ttaking on the job.
“The service is desperately ununder-resourced in all sorts of waways. We can no longer reretain staff in control rooms, people are stressed out and feel undervalued.”
The Sunday Mail revealed in 2022 that a severely delayed new 999 IT system hasn’t been delivered four years into a 10-year contract.
At the time the pandemic was blamed on the delay, but that deal appears to have now been abandoned and a new contract tendered.
Then last week ACO Lockhart informed union officials in an email: “The tender process has now ended following a six-week notice period through Public Contracts Scotland. On this occasion we have received no bids and cannot progress with a preferred contractor, however as per our contingency plans, the procurement process will now be extended to allow us to consider the options available to us.
“We are committed to ensuring we procure a single solution for all three of our operations control rooms as quickly as possible.”
In 2022, Scotland’s top firefighter Martin Blunden quit amid a probe and was later replaced by Ross Haggart who currently holds the £190,000-a-year role. Staffing levels within the SFRS have decreased from 8313, when it was split into eight regional fire sections, to about 7700 today.
People are stressed out and feel undervalued
FIRE BRIGADE UNION SPOKESWOMAN ON SITUATION