County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service has been informed that the Regional Control Centre project (FireControl) has been cancelled.

The project was intended to provide a network of nine control centres to replace the existing local arrangements that are in place across England.
The cancellation of the project is disappointing given the amount of time, effort and resources that have been expended in reaching this point. Our existing control room facilities will however continue to provide a first class 999 call handling service to our residents in county Durham and Darlington. The Service will now consider a range of contingency plans that have been developed.
John Hewitt, Director of Corporate Services said “Our control room staff do a superb job dealing with members of the public who are often distressed and in danger.  They are very dedicated and have dealt with the uncertainties around this project over many months and even years with tremendous professionalism.  The cancellation of the project means that we will now put in place our plans to ensure we continue to have a resilient command and control system. Our existing system provides us with the capability required to mobilise our appliances and staff efficiently and effectively – the cancellation of this project will not impact on our existing mobilising capabilities.
 We will be looking at the options that are available to ensure we maintain an effective command and control function that keeps pace with modern technology. Our Control Room staff are fundamental to providing an effective service and we will be working closely with them over the coming weeks and months as we consider how we develop our existing systems.”
20-12-2010