AFTER months of uncertainty, the location of the new fire control centre for the South East was announced on Tuesday by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). It is to be located in Fareham, Hampshire.

The new regional fire control centre will serve the fire and rescue services in Surrey, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, West Sussex, East Sussex, Kent and Buckinghamshire.

Operating from Kite's Croft Business Park in Fareham, the centre will cover an area of 7,336 square miles and serve over eight million people.

The "Fire Control" project sees the replacement of the region's nine individual control rooms with one central control centre. It is part of a government proposal affecting the whole of the national fire and rescue service.

There will be a total of nine regional centres across the country, eight of which were announced earlier this year, which will replace the existing 46 control rooms.

Surrey County Council's Fire and Rescue Service has worked on an ongoing basis with the ODPM, neighbouring fire and rescue services and other stakeholders throughout the decision-making process.

"The government's aim in making these changes is to improve resilience to a terrorist attack and to provide better value for money," said the Surrey County Council's executive member for community safety, Jim Smith.

"However, there are significant outstanding questions to be answered about operational capability and the resulting financial implications, but now a decision has been taken we will be working to make a successful transition into the new arrangements.

"We will seek to ensure the Surrey taxpayer does not have to meet any increase in costs, nor does the county council's fire and rescue service suffer any reduction in its ability to respond to accidents and fires.

The chief fire officer of Surrey Fire and Rescue, Steve Myers, commented; "If the government's plans for regional control centres deliver services in the way they describe, then this must be a positive step forward.

"However, we will be looking for assurances about finance, governance and technology in the new ways of working.

"As an employer, we are prioritising the needs of our staff at this time who may be affected by the geographical location of the South East region control centre."

The chief officer of Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, John Bonney, said he welcomed the announcement of the location of the control centre.

"Clearly I am pleased the regional control centre is to be in Hampshire, as it will bring jobs and new investment to the area. I am also pleased for staff, as the announcement removes an element of uncertainty and will allow them to make decisions about their futures."

The chairman of the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority, Michael Cartwright, added:

"We understand and appreciate that replacing the nine existing fire control rooms in the South East region with a single centre has been unpopular with some staff and representative trade unions – but the government has made it clear this project will happen.

"The Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority will continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure the project is delivered in such a way that it maintains and improves, where possible, the high standard of work the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service delivers every day to make Hampshire safer."

Minister Jim Fitzpatrick said the new control centres would provide a modern and efficient infrastructure, and a more effective system to protect the public.

"They will use the latest proven technology, which will not only enable firefighters to respond more quickly to incidents, but improve their safety by providing accurate information before they reach the scene," he said.

However, the government shake-up of the system has sparked criticism that the move could be detrimental to the service and could be potentially life-threatening.

Local MP Jeremy Hunt has expressed his concern about the move saying changes to local fire services have occurred without the input of local people. He also pointed out that 999 calls will not longer be answered by people based in the same county, which removes the utilisation of local knowledge.

He said the restructuring process will cost a massive £72 million, diverting resources away from front-line protection.

"Despite the rejection of regional government at last year's November's North East regional referendum, John Prescott is moving ahead with expensive plans to create new regional fire quangos. This will mean the local fire control room at Reigate will shut down," Mr Hunt continued.

"A regional structure will put lives at risk since 999 operators will have less knowledge of South West Surrey. Civil resilience could also be damaged by placing all our eggs in one basket. If the regional centre is forced off-line, the whole emergency response will go down.

"Conservatives oppose this damaging regional agenda. We believe the fire and rescue authorities must remain close and accountable to local people. I fear local fire stations could be next if distant regional politicians continue with their cuts. John Prescott's regional empire building is playing politics with fire safety."

West Sussex chief fire officer Martin Burrell said that he was also unconvinced that the fire control project will be as beneficial as the government has laid out.

"In West Sussex, we already use advanced technology and our call out response time is 45 seconds. It is difficult to see how a regional control centre can improve this. There is an overall lack of evidence to support the government's case for such a drastic consolidation," he said.

Mr Burrell has raised his concerns on a number of occasions which have been brought to the attention of the ODPM and discussed at West Sussex cabinet level. He also supported the concerns expressed by fire authority leaders in the South East that a potential increase in costs may have to be carried by the taxpayer.

"The picture is still unclear on what functions will form part of the new regional control centre and that the county council will be responsible for," Mr Burrell said.

"In addition we have to consider the current investments that have already been committed and which could now turn out to be wasted resources. These will not be refunded by government."

The government announcement of the location of the control centre in the south- east has been delayed as negotiations with developers were drawn out.

The new regional control centre was originally planned to be opened at the end of 2007 however it is now scheduled to open in 2008/ 9.

In the meantime, all nine fire control rooms throughout the South East will continue to operate in the same way ensuring that each fire and rescue service responds as effectively as possible to emergency calls.