Outsourcing firm Capita runs ‘catastrophic’ dispatch system that delays firefighters

Last Updated: June 15, 2017By

Capita, the private company that runs Vision 4DS, was awarded a £19.6m contract to provide the system in March 2012 [Image: London Fire Brigade].

Here’s another triumph for Theresa May and the free-marketeering so beloved of her party.

The Tories outsourced the fire and rescue service dispatching system to outsourcing profit-maker Capita in 2012. As a result, it doesn’t work.

I’ll just leave this here:

Firefighters are delayed in getting to emergencies due to a “catastrophic” dispatching system, the BBC has found.

According to sources, the system used by London Fire Brigade regularly crashes and often fails to dispatch the closest fire engine.

“There’s no doubt that the safety of firefighters and the public has been compromised as a result,” the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said.

Capita, which runs the system, said there were “very occasional problems”.

The Vision 4DS system has crashed at least five times and once remained offline for three hours since its implementation in November 2015, publicly available documents show.

Control room workers were forced to use a pen and paper to take details and mobilise fire crews.

“It was like going back 40 years,” one worker told the BBC.

Capita was awarded a £19.6m contract to provide the system to London Fire Brigade in March 2012.

Source: ‘Catastrophic’ dispatch system ’causes fire engine delays’ – BBC News

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6 Comments

  1. Joan Edington June 15, 2017 at 11:11 am - Reply

    Just another of Crapita’s long list of total failures. I don’t understand why governments of both persuasions keep on dishing our more and more money to this shower of incompetents.

  2. Jeffrey Davies June 15, 2017 at 12:26 pm - Reply

    But they don’t delay those fixed parking charges they send out ouch

  3. Barry Davies June 15, 2017 at 12:38 pm - Reply

    Not the first time capita has failed http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-38796692 No doubt Lessons will be learned was intoned then completely forgotten What is more worrying is that Capita actually run the Fire brigade college in London.

  4. NMac June 15, 2017 at 12:39 pm - Reply

    Does anyone know if the Directors of this Capita company just happen to be Tory Ministers/MPs etc?

  5. Brian June 15, 2017 at 6:51 pm - Reply

    ‘Funny’ that such systems work in the private domain, (UBER), but not for public services.

  6. Dez June 15, 2017 at 7:44 pm - Reply

    Why would anyone with half a brain outsource anything to Crapita especially essential public emergency services where loyalty and dedication are key ingredients. Cheap skating does not work in these environments so why even start such a mission unless you have lots of greedy friends in low places looking for what always seems easy money until the real facts finally come out as the contract rolls on. Then you just screw the customer for more money having burnt their boats and sold the assets…… really is a can’t lose situation but the Cons keep falling over themselves to give it all away ….. it really does not matter its only the public that will suffer until the big screw up comes that hits the press.

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