To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the cost to date of the FiReControl project in the (a) South West, (b) South East, (c) East of England, (d) West Midlands, (e) East Midlands, (f) Yorkshire and the Humber, (g) North West and (h) North East regions. (303722)

Estimated costs to date of the FiReControl Project in each of the regions are set out in the following table:

This includes costs associated with the Regional Control Centre buildings up to end of November 2009. It also includes funding provided to Fire and Rescue Authorities and local authority controlled companies for local and regional implementation activity up to the end of financial year 2009-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding his Department has allocated for the purposes of meeting new burden costs associated with the implementation of regional fire control centres since 2002; and for what activities such funding has been allocated. (305401)

[holding answer 9 December 2009]: We are committed to meeting all the upfront costs of implementing the regional control centre network. A total of £68,753,000 has been provided to fire and rescue authorities for implementation of regional control centres. This funding has been allocated in recognition of the costs of all local and regional implementation activities including project management and coordination, transition activities such as data capture and migration and preparation for new ways of working. This includes funding to cover regional control centre staffing and accommodation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost to the public purse was of the report by Mott McDonald on the (a) Future of Fire Service Control Rooms and Communications in England and Wales, April 2000 and (b) Future of Fire and Rescue Service Control Rooms in England and Wales 2003; what the cost, including value added tax has been of all consultants’ fees in respect of the FiReControl project; what his most recent estimate is of his Department’s total expenditure on such fees in respect of that project; and when he expects all contracts for consultancy services in respect of that project to have ended. (305402)

[holding answer 9 December 2009]: The Department does not hold individual figures for the reports referred to at (a) and (b).

Estimated fees reflecting support provided in a range of specialist areas such as procurement, contract management, building services and system development, up to end of October 2009 is £43 million. Current estimates of remaining fees up to the end of 2012 are around £6.2 million. Specialist support is expected to be needed up to various different points in the project and some until the end of the project.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent on bonuses paid to officials of his Department who have worked on the FireControl Project team in each of the last three years for which figures are available. (305403)

[holding answer 9 December 2009]: Bonuses paid to officials who have worked on the FiReControl Project team in the last three years are

2006-07: £733.00

2007-08: £8,600.00

2008-09:£9,505.00.

These payments have been made in line with the department's pay and reward policy.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding his Department allocated to each fire authority in each region for the purposes of meeting (a) new burdens and (b) other costs in respect of the FiReControl Project in each year since 2002. (305404)

[holding answer 9 December 2009]: All local and regional costs associated with the implementation of FiReControl are met under the New Burdens principle. No funding was provided prior to financial year 2005-06. The following table indicates funding provided to meet local costs:

The following table indicates funding provided to meet regional costs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what (a) staffing, including civil servants, temporary and agency staff, (b) secondment and (c) travel costs his Department had incurred in respect of the national FiReControl project team on the latest date for which figures are available; and what his most recent estimate is of such costs on completion of the project. (305405)

[holding answer 9 December 2009]: The FiReControl project latest figures and recent estimate of the cost of the completion of the project is: