Hectors House Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 A Regional Fire Service Control centre for the East Midlands sits unused (and some say not fit for purpose) after the coalition government under Cameron scrapped its use. However the Government still has to pay over £100,000 a month for 25 years for the building which was built under a PFI agreement. Coming at a time when there are Fire Service cuts in both Derbyshire and Leicestershire. The control centre was built in Castle Donington which desperately needed a Fire Station due to deficient coverage. Leicestershire FRS had wanted to build one in the village (pop: 7000) but the costs were prohibitive so have converted an industrial unit three miles away at East Midlands airport. I seem to remember a similar control centre near Cambridge being built which wasn't used, how many of these white elephants have been built? http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Derbyshire-dismay-HQ-costing-public-100-000-month/story-20250084-detail/story.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
subspace Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 Reminds me of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eyf97LAjjcY Quote Link to post Share on other sites
moneyfornothing Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 What sort of people are benefitting from these sort of returns - the banksters, landowners , pension funds ? somebody is making a killing .. how can the man on the street invest in schemes that produce these sort of returns ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Freeholder Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 A quick google finds this http://www.huntspost.co.uk/news/latest-news/under_fire_regional_control_centres_for_fire_service_1_1028258 apparrently a c0ck up from day one courtesy of that oaf Prescott. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Democorruptcy Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 It's a pity our taxes weren't used to employ a better legal team to suggest an exit clause for lack of use etc. At least our interests are better looked after now. Oh wait.... what's this.....? A £353m hospital is to be built in the West Midlands. The Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has announced approval for the 670-bed Midland Metropolitan Hospital to be built on land in Smethwick. The building will be funded by both the public and private sector through a private finance deal, he said. Under PFI 2 guidelines the taxpayer takes a share of up to 49% in new projects with the rest coming from private investors. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-28289741 Isn't that unlucky that we are handing the 51% controlling interest to the private sector? Of all the numbers we only get 49%!! Taxpayers could be stuck with another bad deal and just have to go along with it? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Venger Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 A quick google finds this http://www.huntspost.co.uk/news/latest-news/under_fire_regional_control_centres_for_fire_service_1_1028258 apparrently a c0ck up from day one courtesy of that oaf Prescott. Too depressing isn't it. And some here want Gubbermint to create more debt, to spend hard to make up new schemes to create employment, rather than leaving it to private sector/free-markets. Gubbermint who decide wages and problem is too much in savings, not enough debt, apparently. Prescott's £500m fire station folly: MPs slam plan that saw super-centres stand empty for yearsBy Jason Groves Updated: 23:03, 20 September 2011 Lord Prescott’s dream of creating a network of regional fire stations ended in a ‘complete failure’ that cost taxpayers almost £500million, MPs said yesterday. In a damning report, the Public Accounts Committee described the FiReControl plan, dubbed ‘Prescott’s folly’, as one of the most disastrous projects it had ever seen. Part of the former deputy prime minister’s dream of creating a new layer of regional government, it aimed to replace 46 local fire control rooms in England with nine regional centres. Yesterday’s report said it had been ‘flawed from the outset’ and suffered from ‘an extraordinary failure of leadership’. When the project was launched in 2004, it was forecast to cost £72million and take four years to complete. It was finally terminated when the Coalition took power last year. The report found that hundreds of millions of pounds had been wasted, with eight of the purpose-built centres remaining empty – and costing taxpayers £4million a month to maintain. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2039737/John-Prescotts-500m-station-folly-MPs-slam-plan-super-centres-stand-empty.html World traveller now. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2720903/Prescott-flies-40-000-miles-s-nearly-twice-world-five-months-lecture-climate-change.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Corruption Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 (edited) Crony capitalism at its finest, makes one proud to be British. Still i do think when we go running to the IMF these contracts will end. Edited August 21, 2014 by Corruption Quote Link to post Share on other sites
200p Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 (edited) A Regional Fire Service Control centre for the East Midlands sits unused (and some say not fit for purpose) after the coalition government under Cameron scrapped its use. However the Government still has to pay over £100,000 a month for 25 years for the building which was built under a PFI agreement. Coming at a time when there are Fire Service cuts in both Derbyshire and Leicestershire. The control centre was built in Castle Donington which desperately needed a Fire Station due to deficient coverage. Leicestershire FRS had wanted to build one in the village (pop: 7000) but the costs were prohibitive so have converted an industrial unit three miles away at East Midlands airport. I seem to remember a similar control centre near Cambridge being built which wasn't used, how many of these white elephants have been built? http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Derbyshire-dismay-HQ-costing-public-100-000-month/story-20250084-detail/story.html The building is currently owned by the Control Centre Limited Partnership – with its registered office at 26 New Street, St Helier, Jersey. --- directs to here, http://www.bedellgroup.com/office.aspx?Location_ID=10000&FriendlyID=Jersey Edited August 21, 2014 by 200p Quote Link to post Share on other sites
76zedfour Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 £500 million folly! And we have firefighters striking because their pensions agreements have been ripped up to save a fraction of this cost. How do stupid ideas get to the point where 500million quid is squandered? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Freeholder Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 £500 million folly! And we have firefighters striking because their pensions agreements have been ripped up to save a fraction of this cost. How do stupid ideas get to the point where 500million quid is squandered? This one wasted £2.7 billion http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/waste/2011/08/system-failure-11-billion-nhs-system-finally-abandoned-slamming-high-bill-taxpayers.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tinker Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 (edited) Hard to decide which it is - stupidity or corruption? Someone had the big idea that PFI was a good idea and the looting began. It still hasn't been stopped, so we can assume they are all in on it. A government with our best interests at heart could pass a law and that would be that. They don't seem to have a problem with laws that affect the little people. Edited August 21, 2014 by tinker Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Corruption Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 (edited) Hard to decide which it is stupidity or corruption. Someone had the big idea that PFI was a good idea and the looting began. It still hasn't been stopped, so we can assume they are all in on it. A government with our best interests at heart could pass a law and that would be that. They don't seem to have a problem with laws that affect the little people. Its corruption, they just thought of a really clever way to launder it so it looks like stupidity. Edited August 21, 2014 by Corruption Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Corruption Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 £500 million folly! And we have firefighters striking because their pensions agreements have been ripped up to save a fraction of this cost. How do stupid ideas get to the point where 500million quid is squandered? We have firefighters who think they should do what in essence a part time job and after 30 years get paid tens of thousands a year for the remaining 30 years of their life. Just because the govt are financially illiterate doesnt mean firefighters should get a free ride. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sour Mash Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 Hard to decide which it is - stupidity or corruption? Someone had the big idea that PFI was a good idea and the looting began. It still hasn't been stopped, so we can assume they are all in on it. A government with our best interests at heart could pass a law and that would be that. They don't seem to have a problem with laws that affect the little people. Corruption is usually presented as incompetence when it comes to the public's attention. It's easy to believe that there could be such outright stupidity in the public sector but most people would baulk at the notion that kickbacks are rife .. and that's the way that those running the system like to keep it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hans kammler Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 What sort of people are benefitting from these sort of returns - the banksters, landowners , pension funds ? somebody is making a killing .. how can the man on the street invest in schemes that produce these sort of returns ?Barclays are big players in the PFI game, I had a look into it awhile ago, I don't doubt other banks are up to their eyeballs in it too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SickofRenting Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 A Regional Fire Service Control centre for the East Midlands sits unused (and some say not fit for purpose) after the coalition government under Cameron scrapped its use. However the Government still has to pay over £100,000 a month for 25 years for the building which was built under a PFI agreement. Coming at a time when there are Fire Service cuts in both Derbyshire and Leicestershire. The control centre was built in Castle Donington which desperately needed a Fire Station due to deficient coverage. Leicestershire FRS had wanted to build one in the village (pop: 7000) but the costs were prohibitive so have converted an industrial unit three miles away at East Midlands airport. I seem to remember a similar control centre near Cambridge being built which wasn't used, how many of these white elephants have been built? http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Derbyshire-dismay-HQ-costing-public-100-000-month/story-20250084-detail/story.html Just refuse to pay up, it is the scheme of the last government, reason, it is a financial detriment to the UK. But the PM is too weak to do this. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fishbone Glover Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 I don't know how many of them there are in total, but there's one in Taunton that is also unused and probably costing us a fortune. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
billybong Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 (edited) In Derby, fire stations at Kingsway, Nottingham Road and Ascot Drive all face closure and the service wants to create a single new station to serve the whole city. Yet there's already an empty "single new station" capable of serving the whole city? It sounds as if it's another story with a lot of undisclosed background and details. Unless they're going to convert the empty one into flats. Edited August 22, 2014 by billybong Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RentaBear Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 Yet there's already an empty "single new station" capable of serving the whole city? It sounds as if it's another story with a lot of undisclosed background and details. Unless they're going to convert the empty one into flats. Why doens't the government just Rent-to-Rent it to French firemen at a massive profit? Got to get with the times! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Democorruptcy Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 If the Governbankment had taxpayer's interest at heart, instead of the people who are siphoning our money off, it could stop this sort of thing easily. It can pass laws. "100% tax on rental income from empty fire stations" Job done. Deficit reduced. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Executive Sadman Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 (edited) One in waterbeach, north of Cambridge too As of December of last year, it had eaten up £30million in costs...for what looks like in the pictures a fairly modest 3 story office block costing a million or two. Admittedly it has got some metal sunshades on one side, which must be worth another £20million. Must be getting into the hundreds of millions, nationwide. Edited August 22, 2014 by Executive Sadman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Executive Sadman Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 Just refuse to pay up, it is the scheme of the last government, reason, it is a financial detriment to the UK. But the PM is too weak to do this. More like the people who make out of this happen to be cosy with both the blue tories and the red tories. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sellotape Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 It looks awfully well specced for a fire control centre. Designed with high security in mind no doubt. Double fencing, clear area between fences, camera, what looks like backup gens and gatehouse. And all for what is supposed to be a call centre. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Willow+Farm+Business+Park/@52.8551588,-1.3370677,145m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xe0548aedf2927be9 Still maintained and with several cars outside. Looks like a regional MI5 office to me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Venger Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 We need Gov to spend loads more on similar projects. The problem isn't that deficits are too high. On the contrary is far more plausible that deficits are too low. Western countries need to allow debt to rise rather than attempt to cut it. Get them creating employment. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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