Inquiry panel to consider all evidence on future of Cornwall's 999 fire control centre
The Duchy's Chief Fire Officer has been asked to draw up a full business case
Last updated 7th Oct 2022
Cornwall councillors have backed firefighters' calls to keep the service's 999 call centre in Cornwall, saying that lives are more important than money.
The council's neighbourhoods overview and scrutiny committee met on Thursday to discuss proposals to change how fire service 999 calls are handled, including the possibility of handing control to a centre outside Cornwall.
Ahead of the meeting at New County Hall in Truro, dozens of firefighters gathered outside to speak to councillors as they entered the building to give them their views on the proposals.
In the meeting, there were 19 questions all about the future of the control centre.
Cornwall Council has said that it is reviewing the control centre in order to make the service more effective and more efficient and says that rising costs have led to the move. But the Fire Brigades' Union has slammed the move saying that it could risk people's lives.
Guy Herrington, FBU regional secretary, was in Truro and said: "Since this news was released to staff a fortnight ago, we have been campaigning to get a new option on the table to fund the service properly and keep the control room in Cornwall".
Mr Herrington paid tribute to the many messages of support which have been sent to the fire service and firefighters since the possibility of closing the control centre was first revealed: "Without the public and political support that we have seen over the last two week the closure of the control centre could have gone through this morning", he said.
The FBU rep said that it was Cornwall Council which could help by finding the funding required to not only keep the control centre but to improve equipment and facilities for the service.
He highlighted a recent report that Cornwall Council had lent troubled Thurrock Council in Essex £20million – the equivalent of the entire budget of Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service.
Mr Herrington said: "If they have that money available to give to another council – which they might not get back – then they must surely have money for the fire service? That is not a decision to be made by the fire and rescue service, that is for the council to decide".
In the meeting firefighters shook their heads and, at times, laughed at some of the responses to their questions, which they considered to be inadequate.
One of the questions highlighted that following the Manchester Arena inquiry serious failures were found with an outsourcing arrangement used by Manchester fire service to handle its calls and, as a result, was now having to leave that partnership and establish its own control centre once more.
Chief Fire Officer Kathryn Billing said that it was important that in order for the council to make a decision about the future of the service it needed all the information.
She said that the scrutiny committee should learn all about the control centre and also about how the service is provided elsewhere.
She said that a business case for the future provision of the service would be produced between October and January which would be presented to the scrutiny committee for consideration. That would then lead to final proposals for a decision to be made in February or March 2023.
Committee member Dominic Fairman was concerned about the safety of any proposals: "A lot of the evidence that I have heard from the questions from the public and firefighters and emails we have had is around the safety aspect of it. We have a strategic case, a financial case and management case but I would like to see more emphasis on safety. I want to know how we as a committee are going to evaluate safety".
Andrew Long highlighted that Cornwall Council was currently seeking more powers and responsibilities from Westminster in a county deal: "It would be ridiculous to close or potentially close our control centre. We should not be giving up control of any of our public services as once lost you can never get them back".
He added: "We would appeal to all members to reject any proposals to take away Cornwall’s fire control centre. Please show solidarity with the staff at Tolvaddon and the wider fire service".
'This service is about saving lives'
And he said: "What this service is about is about saving lives, it is not about pounds and pence, that can’t be the first issue on this. We must make sure that we have a service fit for the people of Cornwall and those who come down here, we need to make sure it is safe for the people who work there (at the fire service) as well".
Loveday Jenkin raised concerns about the loss of local knowledge if the control centre is moved out of Cornwall – she highlighted that there are many areas which do not have street names, are not easily found on maps and that there are several locations in Cornwall which have the same or similar names.
And Matt Luke said that the safety of people in Cornwall should be paramount: "The fire control centre is the heart of our fire service, if we lose it, we lose the heart of our fire service. It is not just about money".
The committee agreed that the proposal to find the safest, most effective and most efficient critical control centre for Cornwall should continue.
They also said that all options should be considered including improving and retaining the current control centre in Cornwall.
They also agreed that a full business case should be drawn up by the Chief Fire Officer regarding the future options and that the scrutiny committee hold an inquiry panel to consider all the evidence about the future provision of the service so that an informed decision can be made.
The committee voted unanimously in favour of the recommendations.