PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS
Lords Hansard
Written Answers
Tuesday 18 December 2007
Fire and Rescue Service: FiReControl
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty’s Government: What is the current estimated total cost for the delivery of the FiReControl
project; how this figure compares to estimates made in (a) 2004; (b) 2005; and (c) 2006; and what are the reasons for any variance between these figures, other than annual inflation. [HL843]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local
Government (Baroness Andrews): The 2007 FiReControl business case estimates
total costs for the delivery of the FiReControl project to be £1.4bn over
15 years (2004-05 to 2019-20). The outline business case published in 2005 had
previously estimated total costs to be £1 billion over 13 years (2004-05 to
2017-18). This variance is due to increased certainty on costs following the
award of the IT contract and signing of the lease agreements, the addition of a
further two years of running costs and annual inflation.
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty’s Government: What is the current estimated total cost for the delivery of information technology contracts required by the FiReControl project; and how this figure relates to the earliest-made estimate. [HL844]
Baroness Andrews: The current FiReControl full business case estimates the cost of procuring information technology at each regional control centre to be £11.5m at 2006-07 prices. This compares with a figure of £9 million at 2005-06 prices in the outline business case published in 2005. The scope of the IT procurement expanded between the outline and full business case to include furniture, training, station-end equipment and implementation of an integrated risk management tool for the fire rescue and service.
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty’s Government: When each of the nine regional fire control centres will become operational; what is the anticipated start date for each centre; and whether each start date differs from the earliest-made estimate for each centre. [HL845]
Baroness Andrews: The forecast go-live dates for each of the nine region control
centres are:
October 2009—east Midlands, north-east and south-west
January 2010—West Midlands
May 2010—south-east
September 2010—north-west
November 2010—London
January 2011—Yorkshire and Humberside
May 2011—east of England.
Estimates for the regional rollout order and earliest achievable dates for all
the nine regions were first published in November 2004. When this information
was published, it was made clear that it was indicative and there was a high
degree of uncertainty around the dates. The rollout dates have been refined as
the technology and accommodation procurements have progressed.
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty’s Government: What is the present estimated capital cost required for the creation of each regional control centre; and how this figure relates to the earliest-made estimate for each centre.
Baroness Andrews: There are no capital costs required for each regional control
centre because the land and buildings for the RCCs have been procured under the
private developer schemes and will be leased by the local authority companies.
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty’s Government: Whether they will publish a detailed list of the capital assets realised to date from the implementation of the FiReControl project. [HL848]
Baroness Andrews: The FiReControl project will produce two types of capital assets: the buildings, which will be leased by the regional control centre companies, and the infrastructure, which will provide the networked call-handling and mobilising functionality. Three buildings have reached practical completion: east Midlands, north-east and south-west. We are currently working with EADS Defence & Security Systems Ltd in developing the infrastructure, and the first element—the data migration toolki