MSPs call for retention of Inverness Fire Control Room
14th November 2013
Highlands and Islands Labour MSPs, David Stewart and Rhoda Grant, have written to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service calling on them to retain the Inverness fire control room. The call comes following the proposal, detailed in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s Strategic Intent document, to reduce the number of fire control rooms in Scotland from eight to three. Mr Stewart recently met with the staff and Fire Brigade Union reps at the Inverness control room and discussed the consideration being given to retaining the control room in Johnstone and two others from a list of Inverness, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Dundee.
Ehe SFRS Board has “decided that the report on the proposed location of two further Fire Controls will be discussed in January rather than at the November Board. This will allow further time to consider the detail of the submissions from the SFRS and preparation of a final report to be presented to Board members. The final report will be considered at the 30 January meeting of the Board in Perth when members will take a decision on the location of the further two Controls.”
David Stewart said “Community safety is paramount and I first and foremost seek an assurance that any reduction in control room numbers will not impact on present emergency call response times. However if the decision is taken to reduce the control rooms to three throughout Scotland, I believe it is imperative that Inverness is retained. It is crucial that a key footprint is maintained across the whole of Scotland, not just in our more urban areas. The Inverness control currently mobilises and supports the largest geographical area of Scotland with various service needs including domestic, farm, forest, moorland, airports and harbours.
Mr Stewart continued “The Inverness based staff have considerable experience, most have over 20 years experience of call handling, mobilising and incident support in the area. Inverness control has strong links with estates and forestry owners in the area and are working to build forestry plans in the event of forest and wildfires, as was experienced earlier this year.
Rhoda Grant said “The Inverness control room supports the second largest number of stations in Scotland (101 stations). There are a great number of retained fire fighters in the Highlands and Islands area and local knowledge about how to deploy them is so important. Staff at the Inverness control room also use their combined experience and knowledge of the area to ensure the correct emergency transportation is deployed immediately (for example in areas where there are no roads alternatives of boat or helicopter will be deployed). Inverness control is one of only two in Scotland that currently manages call handling, mobilising and incident support for island communities, some where Gaelic is the prevalent language and have a recognition of the Gaelic place names which they can quickly translate to retrieve a match on the system.
David Stewart continued “Both the Scottish Ambulance Service and Police Scotland have emergency control rooms in Inverness and I am aware that The Highland Council has submitted a proposal to the Board of SFRS promoting the creation of a multi-agency control centre hub in Inverness, a move that could also bring about a workable solution for all and retain the detailed knowledge and experience of the Highlands and Islands which staff in the Inverness control room have built up over many years. The creation of a single fire service for Scotland should not automatically mean that everything is centralised – there is nothing to stop consideration being given to siting the new Scottish Fire and Rescue Service headquarters in the Highlands and I have asked the Scottish Government if Inverness is in the running for the new HQ.
