IT Issues Compound Fire Service Spending Row

Problems in developing a new computer system have been linked to millions of pounds of overspend as part of scheme to revamp the UK’s Fire Service.

Detailed in the BBC Radio’s Face The Facts: Money To Burn programme, which airs today, the Fire Service has been accused of wasting millions on unused facilities and mismanaged fire engine upgrades.

According to the report, nine regional centres were built to replace 46 local fire control rooms across the UK. The consolidation plan was estimated to cost £70 million when it was proposed in 2003 but would save £20 million a year when up and running. By June 2007 the costs had risen to £340 million and this has now spiraled to £423 million, with the cost savings dwindling to just £6 million per year.

Problems with the roll-out of the new computer systems for the centres has meant that they have stood empty for around three years. The fire service is still waiting for the time when the facilities can be used, despite an original completion date of 2009. The BBC puts the monthly rent of the centres at around £1 million a month with the facilities not set to be completed until 2013.

Delays Till 2013

The company responsible for installing the system, EADS, was hired back in 2007. The contract involved installing networked computer systems at the nine centres, as well as 1400 fire stations and around 3400 fire engines. But according to the BBC, the company only had a viable plan for the roll-out signed last year despite being signed up two years before.

The BBC quoted EADS as admitting the project had “birth pangs”, but maintaining it was now back on course. The company has recommended cutting the number of centres to save costs. “We believe the number can come down significantly, saving maybe hundreds of millions of pounds,” EADS chief executive Robin Southwell told the BBC. “Any of those buildings not being used could be adapted for other uses.”

Despite being pushed by the BBC, Southwell would not comment on how many facilities may be scrapped from the project.

In May, George Osborne promised to cut £95 million from the IT budgets of public sector bodies, while making other cuts to reduce the UK’s budget deficit. The Cabinet’s chief enforcer, Francis Maude, has told civil servants to re-evaluate all IT contracts in order to meet this target, and all contracts worth £1 million or more have been frozen until they can be re-assessed.