Hopes grow for joint 999 call room in Highlands
Two former Highland councillors - who serve on Scotland’s police and fire services’ governing bodies - have made encouraging noises about the prospect of a shared 999 control room.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) will decide in January whether its Inverness base, which employs 19 staff and handles thousands of calls from all over the Highlands, will shut.
The regional fire base is competing against 999 bases in Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh.
But Highland Council has mounted a campaign to retain the jobs in the north and suggested a merged emergency call centre with police, fire, health, local authority and ambulance staff could be created.
It has suggested the public authorities could team up and open a hub in Inverness, where each would have their own space within a single building.
Michael Foxley and Ian Ross, board members of SFRS and the Scottish Police Authority respectively, sounded their support for the idea and said they were keen to find out more.
Council leader Drew Hendry told the latest meeting of the community safety committee that he had sent two letters to Pat Watters, the SFRS board chairman, including a "fairly detailed" paper outlining the case for the Highland 999 emergency centre.
"I am aware of no good reason why Inverness would not be a suitable location for such an opportunity," said Councillor Hendry, who added Highland communities would be hugely reassured if the 999 base was to stay in the region as staff enjoyed significant local knowledge.
The council leader said he was keen to hold talks with Mr Watters as soon as possible.
Dr Foxley, the council’s former leader, pointed to the emergency services working together "magnificently" to deal with the helicopter crash tragedy in Glasgow as an example of shared working.
"I will certainly support the council writing to the chairman looking for a meeting to explain the detail behind it," he said.
"A co-located [building] has serious merit which needs to be investigated."
Dr Foxley added there was little difference in the estimated cost of shutting Inverness with any of the other command rooms.
Mr Ross said the police had been in talks with the council about the idea and it was "very open" to the proposal.
"There are a number of IT infrastructure issues that need to be looked at but I think there is a recognition that we need to move that forward," he said.
