What does the future hold for Cornwall Fire's 999 centre?

Dozens of firefighters and control room staff protested outside New County Hall to keep their 999 call centre in Cornwall Credit: ITV News

Cornwall councillors have backed firefighters’ calls to keep the service’s 999 call centre in Cornwall - saying lives are more important than money.

Proposals have been raised which could see the control room combined with another emergency service, with calls being handled as far away as Cumbria.

Firefighters gathered outside County Hall ahead of a council meeting in Truro on Thursday 6 October to protest against the possible closure.

Cornwall Council is reviewing the control centre to try to make the service more effective and more efficient. It says rising costs have led to the move.

But the Fire Brigades’ Union has slammed the proposals - saying it could risk people’s lives.

Speaking ahead of the meeting Guy Cotton, secretary for the Cornwall Fire Brigade Union branch, said: "This isn't a question about where the hatchet should fall. This is about stopping the hatchet from falling altogether.

"We've had a diminishing budget for decades now in Cornwall.

"We're on the lowest number of operational whole-time staff that we've ever had.

"We've had real difficulty recruiting and obtaining on-call firefighters. We're now having our fire control centre attacked just to save money, without any thought about safety and security."

  • Guy Cotton speaks to ITV News West Country

Chief Fire Officer Kathryn Billing said it is important for the council to have all the information before it decides on the future of the control room.

She said that the authority's scrutiny committee should learn all about the control centre - and about how the service is provided elsewhere.

She said that a business case for the future provision of the service will be produced between October and January, which will then be presented to the scrutiny committee for consideration. That will then lead to final proposals for a decision to be made in February or March 2023.

Committee member Dominic Fairman said he is concerned about safety should the site close.

He said: “A lot of the evidence that I have heard from the questions from the public, firefighters and emails we have had is around the safety aspect of it. We have a strategic case, a financial case and a management case - but I would like to see more emphasis on safety.

"I want to know how we as a committee are going to evaluate safety.”

Andrew Long highlighted that Cornwall Council is seeking more powers and responsibilities from Westminster in a county deal.

He said: “It would be ridiculous to close or potentially close our control centre. We should not be giving up control of any of our public services as once lost you can never get them back.”

He added: “What this service is about is saving lives, it is not about pounds and pence, that can’t be the first issue on this. We must make sure that we have a service fit for the people of Cornwall and those who come down here, we need to make sure it is safe for the people who work there (at the fire service) as well.”

Others joined the firefighters to say they feared an out of county control room could put people in more danger Credit: ITV News

Loveday Jenkin raised concerns about the loss of local knowledge if the control centre is moved out of Cornwall – she highlighted that there are many areas which do not have street names, are not easily found on maps and that there are several locations in Cornwall which have the same or similar names.

The committee agreed that the proposal to find the safest, most effective and most efficient critical control centre for Cornwall should continue. They also said that all options should be considered including improving and retaining the current control centre in Cornwall.

They also agreed that a full business case should be drawn up by the Chief Fire Officer regarding the future options and that the scrutiny committee hold an inquiry panel to consider all the evidence about the future provision of the service so that an informed decision can be made. The committee voted unanimously in favour of the recommendations.

Guy Herrington, the South West secretary for the FBU, said it is "very happy with the outcome" and it will be "waiting to fight for the funding requirements as identified in the business case".

  • Additional reporting from Richard Whitehouse/LDRS