Fire and resilience

FiReControl Business Case

FiReControl Full Business Case version 1.1 2009

Communities and Local Government's (CLG) 2009 FiReControl Full Business Case makes the detailed case for Government investment in networked Regional Control Centres (RCC) in England to enhance the country's resilience and reflects feedback from the public consultation on the 2008 Business Case.

The headline messages are:

  • FiReControl will provide vastly enhanced capability to the FRS which will benefit the general public, fire fighters and control room staff at no additional cost to Fire Rescue Authorities (FRAs).
  • Total project costs to be met by CLG have stabilised at £380m.
  • Once the new network is established, a significant number of FRAs are expected to make savings as a result of the implementation of FiReControl. These are to be retained by the FRA and may be reinvested in local priorities.
  • Central government will pay £8.2m per annum to the remaining FRAs in the form of FiReControl payments.  This will ensure that all the FRAs break even and that no FRA will bear an additional cost as a result of FiReControl implementation.

Public Consultation

The 2009 Business Case responds to feedback from the consultation on last year's Business Case which was published in two parts:

  • Nine regional cases which set out FRS benefits and the financial implications at a regional level were published in July.
  • The national case which set whole project costs was published in November to coincide with the announcement of the new schedule.

To build stakeholder confidence, Communities and Local Government undertook a formal consultation between November 2008 and February 2009, asking three questions:

  • Should the Business Case cover any additional issues or material, and if so what?
  • Does any of the content of the Business Case require revision or updating?
  • Is the Business Case clearly communicated and easily understandable?

FRAs and other interested parties from all regions in England responded to the consultation. Communities and Local Government initiated a series of detailed studies to understand their issues and assess the need for changes to the Business Case. The Business Case Assumptions Review Group was reconstituted to provide external review to this process. This group was chaired by the Local Government Association Senior User, and also included FRS principal officers, Regional Control Centre (RCC) Directors, FRA treasurers, lawyers and human resources professionals. Following careful scrutiny of the Department's response, the group concluded that it was satisfied that a robust review had been undertaken and that the costs and savings set out in this Business Case reflect the best information and assumptions available at this time.

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