Western Morning News (Saturday)
Shock at proposal to merge 999 fire control operations
CONCERNS have been raised about a proposal to close the 999 control room for Cornwall’s fire brigade.
Staff at Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service, which is overseen by Cornwall Council, were said to be shocked to be told on Wednesday that the control centre could be merged with another service.
Fire control takes 999 calls, processes what needs doing, and mobilises fire crews, engines and other resources to emergencies in the same way as ambulance or police control rooms. Currently, Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service is entirely based within the county and independent of neighbouring county services – unlike the police and ambulance – with its control centre at Tolvaddon near Camborne.
A person close to service personnel told WMN sister website CornwallLive that he had heard staff were left worried after a meeting with Cornwall Council. In the meeting, the council’s chief fire officer (CFO) Kathryn Billing told them the control room could be closed or merged.
The staff were told, if the plan was followed through, that it would happen by March 2023 and there would be redundancies. Cornwall Council was asked about the proposals, but insisted that “no decisions have been taken”.
The person told CornwallLive: “I am told there is utter shock within Cornwall fire service with people from the bottom to the top of the chain”. He went on to question whether the county would be safe if local knowledge of Cornwall inside the control room was lost. “This is a big mistake for Cornwall Fire Service, and a huge mistake for Cornwall,” he said. “Cornwall residents, regardless of what CFO says publicly, will pay the price for this with a drop in fire safety.
“What [would the] August wildfires have looked like? How would the Malpas fire service have developed, if they are being managed and controlled by people hundreds of miles away with absolutely no Cornish knowledge? We are such a unique area of the country geographically.”
Guy Herrington, Fire Brigades Union South West regional secretary, said yesterday: “This proposal is purely a financial decision. Cornwall Council must fund the service properly to ensure that the residents, and visitors to the county, receive a service that is fit for the 21st century.”
He added: “Highly specialised skills and knowledge are required to handle fire and rescue calls. The ability of control staff to assist in identifying incident locations, while mobilising resources at the same time, cannot be underestimated.”
Chief Fire Office Kathryn Billing said on Thursday: “Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service has been looking at all
This has already been done successfully in other regions and could lead to Cornwall benefiting KATHRYN BILLING, CFO
areas of the service to make sure we are making the best use of public money, continually improve the service and ensure sustainability for the future. There is an ongoing project to review fire control (the function of taking 999 calls and mobilising fire engines to emergencies). Yesterday staff were talked through the scope of the project for the first time and made aware that one option the service is exploring is to move into a partnership with other fire services to deliver the call handling and mobilising function of control.
“This has already been done successfully in other regions and could lead to Cornwall benefiting from enhanced mobilising technology. No decisions have been taken, but staff will be kept fully informed.”