THE north was dealt a double blow yesterday as its fire control room was axed – just hours after the Press and Journal revealed the police emergency centre in the Highland capital was facing closure.
It is understood staff at the new single nationwide brigade’s Inverness base believed it would survive the controversial shake-up of the country’s 999 centres.
But their hopes were dashed when the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) revealed its preferred options for reducing the network from eight to three centres.
The control room at Johnstone in Renfrewshire is the only one that will definitely be retained.
The proposal that will be put to fire board members next week involves retaining the centres at Dundee and Edinburgh and closing those at Inverness – which covers the whole of the Highlands and islands – and Aberdeen.
Campaigners believe lives will be put at risk because of the loss of local knowledge and described the closure of both the police and fire service 999 rooms as a “dark day” for the region’s emergency services.
Senior UK Government minister Danny Alexander said the decisions “struck at the very heart of localism” in the Highlands.
The Liberal Democrat MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, who is chief secretary to the Treasury, added: “The SNP have done their best to hide the fact that this is a major blow for our area.
“The announcement of a national major-incident centre for the police in Inverness is welcome, but it does nothing to replace what we are losing for both our fire and our police.”
Just a couple of hours before the SFRS plan was unveiled, the Press and Journal revealed the police control room in Inverness and the one in Aberdeen, are earmarked for the axe.
However, the Highland capital is in line to be the base for a national database co-ordinating the response to major emergencies and providing round-the-clock support to officers.
Thurso councillor Donnie Mackay said: “Everything is being centralised – going farther away from the people – and it’s not right.
“What’s going to happen is that there’s going to be a mistake and somebody’s life is going to be put at risk.”
Dave Thompson, SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, still hopes the fire board will pay heed to his suggestion for Inverness to be retained as one of four control centres.
He said: “I would hope if the fire board do decide to go for Edinburgh, Dundee and Johnstone, that the 19 highly skilled staff would have the option to go and work with police command centre.”
The Liberal Democrats’ justice spokeswoman, North East MSP Alison McInnes, described it as a “dark day for Scotland’s emergency services”.
The decision on the future of the fire and police control rooms will be taken on the same day. A detailed paper weighing up all the options for the fire and rescue service will be put to the board in Dundee on Thursday.
The SFRS says it needs to rationalise property assets it inherited with the amalgamation of Scotland’s eight fire and rescue services in April.
Chief Officer Alasdair Hay said the creation of the national fire service provided the opportunity for three fire control rooms offering a “much better service with the highest levels of technology and interoperability”. “This provides the opportunity for real enhancement to service delivery, whilst at the same time making efficiency savings,” he said.
SFRS board chairman Pat Watters said: “The report reiterates the board’s commitment to no compulsory redundancies, with a range of policies in place to support affected staff.”
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