Fife’s former fire convener has expressed major concerns over the process that could see the region’s local emergency contact centre close.
Kirkcaldy councillor Neil Crooks says that the possible closure of Fife’s fire control centre in Thornton is being mismanaged and that staff are being left in the dark as a result.
Councillor Crooks, himself a former firefighter, also fears that staff in Fife are being sidelined due to not being located in a city, despite the quality of the facility in Strathore Road.
His words follow a visit by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s chief fire officer, Alasdair Hay, and chairman, Pat Watters, this week.
Mr Crooks told The Courier: “The decision of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service board to reduce the number of control facilities in Scotland from eight to three resonated across the service.
“Decisions have still to emerge (over) which controls will survive the cull along with the Strathclyde facility at Johnstone, but from the feedback it seems clear the closure of Thornton has already been decided.
“The board are pursuing a savings agenda similar to the Fife Council strategy that its better to reduce the number of buildings they have than reduce the number of staff.
“However, they have a duty of care to their employees and a requirement to ensure fairness and equality of opportunity when managing these changes and communications to our staff has certainly not been good enough, according to my feedback.”
Five control rooms across Scotland are set to close, with Thornton widely expected to be among those axed. As Scotland’s busiest centre, Johnstone in Renfrewshire is certain to stay open, while facilities in Tollcross in Edinburgh and MacAlpine Road in Dundee are also expected to be spared.
The decision to reduce the number of control centres was taken when the new single fire service came into existence back in April, mainly as a way of saving money.
However, Mr Crooks says that the major investment in the Thornton facility means that it should be maintained.
He added: “Fife Council, as a fire authority, invested around £5 million in the Thornton complex, which has a unique combination of offices, control centre and training modules on one site.
The Fife training facilities are probably only bettered by the new Strathclyde centre of excellence at Cambuslang, in a Scotland perspective, so this is a no-cost option for the board to retain in the east of Scotland.
“There is also interest from Police Scotland and Fife Council to rent office space at Thornton, which would be an income generator, so the plan to completely close the Strathore Road site needs further explanation.
“Maybe it’s that Fife is deemed too rural and the draw of the cities is too powerful, even if taxpayers’ money will be needed to recreate what already exists at Thornton.
“The preferred options for a control centre in Edinburgh and Dundee are no secret. Staff deserve to be informed individually of the closure timetable at the earliest opportunity so they can make informed choices about their own future.”
“I have written to chairman Pat Watters to voice my concern and to reiterate my view that spending taxpayers’ money on recreating in Dundee and/or Edinburgh facilities which exist on one site in Fife at the moment needs further explanation and hopefully he will take that opportunity with the new safer communities committee of Fife Council in the near future.”
An announcement on the future of the control centres is expected at the end of November.