New company to handle fire calls

The company will take over duties from nine local control rooms

The new company which will handle all fire and rescue services in the South East of England has been set up.

The move is in response to the government's plan to close 47 county-based control rooms and replace them with nine regional call centres.

Buckinghamshire Fire Service said it and forces in Berks, Oxon, Surrey, Hants, East and West Sussex, Kent and the Isle of Wight objected to the plan.

It said each fire and rescue service wanted to handle 999 calls locally.

'Major concerns'

In a press statement, Buckinghamshire Fire Service said: "All nine services opposed the plan to regionalise fire and rescue control centres, preferring to keep the service more local.

"However, the government decided to press ahead with the project and it was agreed that a joint company was the best way to run the centre."

The company will also be able to take on other work and that will impact on the public if they have a fire or rescue emergency. Graham Noakes, Fire Brigades Union

It said the new company would operate from a building in Fareham, Hampshire, from May 2010.

All existing fire and rescue authorities will be represented on the company's board of directors, with the chairman from West Sussex and the vice-chairman from Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority.

The move has sparked concern from the Fire Brigades Union.

Graham Noakes, the regional secretary for East Anglia, said: "We have got major concerns over it because this is a private company.

"There are issues about the people employed and also, the company will also be able to take on other work and that will impact on the public if they have a fire or rescue emergency."