Meeting documents

The Executive
Tuesday, 11 December 2001

EX111201-19

There is a national requirement to transfer from the present emergency radio frequencies by 2005 due to the commercial sell-off of the existing frequencies and changes in technology globally. This has resulted in a regional procurement approach being recommended by the Home Office for the purchase of new systems. Her Majesty’s Fire Service Inspectorate has now set up a special project team and is developing a national radio strategy to support such initiatives.

The two latest publications from the Home Office develop a framework of Memorandum of Understanding and a model for regional apportionment of costs for the replacement scheme. The model Memorandum of Understanding has been designed to provide identified review points where individual participants must decide either to proceed with the project or withdraw. It acknowledges that brigades do not have delegated decision-making powers to bind each other within a group and that project decisions to progress the procurement process will need to be referred to elected members in each individual Fire Authority. (Oxfordshire is a member of the South East Region with eight other brigades.) The stated aim of this approach is to facilitate the objectives of the national radio strategy and to encourage partnering as an option for local government service delivery and for securing best value.

The regional approach has been to appoint a project manager and board together with individual user groups to examine the implications of adopting any particular technological solution. Oxfordshire Fire Service has already appointed a Board member to the regional project group and will continue to support this approach. The Brigade will also ensure that it has a fall-back position by utilising its own county-wide GSM telephone system which it has progressed in the last 3-4 years, based on some of the network of telephoning masts sited on fire station drill towers.

Within the cost apportionment model, several alternative models are given which will cover capital and operating costs of new equipment, maintenance rental and on-going service charges etc, together with the project running costs (Annex 1 attached). The four alternatives provide different options according to weightings based on such parameters as the number of Control Room operators per brigade, area of brigades, incidents and number of fire stations. The percentage spread of costs between the alternatives for Oxfordshire range from 8.74 to 9.72. At this stage, it is too early to determine the scale of final project costs. This is because on a national basis no replacement scheme has yet been developed. One region (the South West) has now completed its tendering process but the contract has yet to be awarded.

The cost apportionment for Oxfordshire is in the scale from £87,400 to £97,214 per million pounds cost of the project. This is a differential of £9,814 between best and worst case per million pounds.

To date the best estimate of the capital purchase cost to this Council is approximately £1.8m. This has previously been reported to Committee and included in the capital preparation programme. It should be emphasised that this estimate may need to be revised in the light of the cost of the first contracts being awarded in the rest of the country.

Within the next few months it is anticipated that the Project Board will be reconvened in order for discussion and agreement to be reached on which cost apportionment model will be applied to the project. As there are nine brigades involved, it is anticipated that this will be a difficult process, particularly given the potential differentials for the other eight brigades which are considerably greater than that faced by Oxfordshire.

Both the Memorandum of Understanding and apportionment of costs framework documents have been referred to the Solicitor to the Council for validation. Assuming these are in order, it will then be necessary to progress the project which will be set against tight timescales if all brigades in the region are to have their replacement schemes in being before 2005. It will therefore be necessary for the officers of the brigade to progress the project whilst referring back to the Executive at relevant milestones. In order to progress the project to the next stage, the Chief Fire Officer therefore seeks authority to negotiate Oxfordshire Fire Service’s position within one of the four cost apportionment models illustrated in Annex 1.

It should be noted that initial project costs (to develop the specification for the new system) will shortly start to accrue. There is current provision of £120,000 in the main capital programme with £60,000 in the preparation pool (this is in addition to the £1.8m referred to above). This provision will be reviewed as the project details and application of cost apportionment is progressed.

The Executive is RECOMMENDED to authorise the Chief Fire Officer to negotiate and (subject to consultation with the Executive Member for Community Safety) agree Oxfordshire’s share of the costs of the radio replacement scheme project, within the parameters of the four options in the apportionment of costs model summarised in the Annex to the report.

JOHN PARRY
Chief Fire Officer

Background Papers: Nil

Contact Officer: John Parry (tel: Oxford 842999)

November 2001