The Daily Telegraph has reported yet another Labour waste of public money, and yes it is our money!

The previous government announced grand plans to build nine regional “super control centres” to replace the existing smaller units but they have now been empty for up to three years partly because of problems with IT systems.

Taxpayers have been left footing a rent bill of more than a £1 million a month.

The nine control centres were constructed as part of a government project, known as FiReControl, to revamp and regionalise the fire service and reduce the number of centres that handled emergency calls.

The scheme was originally announced by the then Local Government Minister John Healey, and at the time in November 2008 the former Liberal Democrat Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary, Julia Goldsworthy said:

“This supposed cost-cutting measure is behind schedule and the budget is rising fast.

“Now that the Government has conceded that the new Fire Control Centres will not open on time, shouldn’t they also admit that the project was doomed from the start?

“Closing dozens of local control centres will not improve fire safety and it now looks like it’s not going to save money either.”

Scheduled to cost around £340 million, now the costs have since swollen to £423 million.

The centres were established after concerns were raised about the lack of capabilities for authorities to react to major disasters.

However, some problems with computer systems, installed by European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) mean certain new centres may not be in operation until 2013.

It is believed the delays have been caused by a combination of factors including government negotiations and problems with the IT systems.

It is understood the number of centres were built due to “political reasons”.

One source said: “You can save money by having less centres.”

A spokesman for EADS said:

“The control centres are now being properly populated with kit and IT.

“The centres are not empty simply because of problems with the IT systems. It goes beyond that.

“Between now and 2013 they will be up and running.”

It is understood that at least three centres will be ready for testing by the end of the year.

Earlier this year two senior Liberal Democrat MPs Nick Harvey and Adrian Sanders said the entire project should be scrapped.

Liberal Democrat MP for North Devon, Nick Harvey said:

“As costs have more than tripled over the course of this project, with overruns of over £200 million, it is time we cut our losses before even more public funds are squandered. While the Government has been dumping copious amounts of money into this project, Devon’s fire and rescue services have been forced to make do with cuts. This cannot continue.”

Liberal Democrat MP for Torbay, Adrian Sanders added:

“It seems ridiculous that throughout this process the Government has completely ignored the views of professional firefighters. They have told me that this system will be inefficient and could cost lives. That alone should mean the Government turns its back on this ill fated scheme.”