Question reference: S6W-20985
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 5 September 2023
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Current status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 20 September 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-19318 by Siobhian Brown on 5 July 2023, whether it will provide an update on what the total spend by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) was on the contract with Systel for a new national command and control mobilising system, broken down by (a) in-house costs to the SFRS, (b) all costs to Systel or associated companies for (i) design, (ii) installation and (iii) trialling, (c) legal and other costs associated with the cancellation of the contract and (d) legal costs incurred to date since the cancellation of the contract.
Answer
The costs and implementation of the SFRS Command and Control Mobilising System are operational matters for the Service, who would be the appropriate source for this information. SFRS has provided assurances that it has had appropriate governance arrangements in place throughout the project. Throughout implementation, SFRS has worked within budgets with key targets built in and milestone payments only paid if satisfactorily reached. All public sector bodies in Scotland are expected to adhere to the public sector finance manual to ensure that value for money is applied to each spending decision. Public safety is paramount and SFRS has existing software and back-up systems in place at all times to ensure an effective service.