To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many fire authorities (a) have formally committed to moving to regional fire control centres, (b) are awaiting a final business case before formally deciding, (c) have formally committed not to move to regional fire control centres and (d) have agreed to join local authority controlled companies, but with caveats that they may withdraw if the full business case does not provide evidence of value for money. (133678)

[holding answer 24 April 2007]: As yet no fire and rescue authority has been asked to commit to formally moving to a regional fire control centre although all have been asked to make preparations for doing so in accordance with the fire and rescue national framework. The business case shows that FiReControl provides good value for money and we expect every fire and rescue authority should see savings on current spend.