Original Tender Description
Four North West Fire and Rescue Services (Greater Manchester FRS, Cheshire FRS,
Cumbria FRS and Lancashire FRS) operate from a combined North West Fire Control room
(NWFC) at Lingley Mere, Warrington. NWFC mobilise on behalf of the four FRS.
It should be noted that the NWFC contract is not within the scope of this document and
therefore this contract relates to the mobilising message once it “clears” the firewall at
NWFC, any mobilising faults on the NWFC side will be diagnosed and resolved by the NWFC
contractor. In addition to this if the site is a shared site with other emergency services or
stakeholders then these partners and their associated equipment are not in scope. Only Fire
Service equipment is to be supported and maintained by this contract.
It is envisaged that the successful tenderer will manage the mobilising message across the
FRS networks to receipt and successful mobilisation at station end.
The successful bidder will be expected to manage any third party faults such as network
failures in resolving any incidents.
Each FRS has provided a list of equipment that they wish to be maintained with an option for
preventative maintenance
It is envisaged (but not confirmed) that the following FRS’s will be utilising this contract;
• Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service
• Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service
• Cumbria County Council
• Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service.
Cumbria is currently undergoing a local government reorganisation and the Government has
announced that Cumbria County Council is to be replaced by two unitary authorities with
effect from 1 April 2023. This Contract is for use by Contracting Authorities identified in the
contract notice and any body (or bodies) which may succeed those Contracting Authorities
in substantially performing fire and rescue functions. Cumbria County Council shall be
entitled to transfer its rights and obligations under the Contract to any such successor.
A list of stations, along with the list of equipment per FRS to be included within the scope of
this contract is attached – see doc ref. GMFRS 407 FRS Equipment2022.xlsx
The contractor shall be responsible for the “Mobilising function” without technical recourse,
or assistance from all participating FRS’s, for clarity we define the “Mobilising function” as:
Once a mobilising message is passed across the NWFC Firewall and on to the relevant
bearer, the responsibility for the mobilising function becomes the contractor’s responsibility,
this includes:
1. Diagnosis of Data Network related faults interrupting mobilising messages.
2. Interrogation, when required, of station end log files to complete root cause analysis of
faults. Reports of findings would be required.
3. Passing them to the current circuit provider for resolution.
4. Diagnosis of network switch/router failure, and informing the relevant contractor.
5. Station end failure such as mains outage.
6. Liaising with the appropriate FRS point of contact.
7. Provide a single point of contact (Service Desk)
8. Provision of Management information and metrics