A GOVERNMENT plan to swap the country's 46 fire service control rooms for nine hi-tech regional centres has led to fierce criticism from the Fire Brigades' Union (FBU).

The union says a leaked report highlights concerns that the FiReControl project will lead to cuts in services, rises in council tax and put lives in danger.

The North-East will be part of the first wave of change, with a new centre replacing control rooms in Cleveland, County Durham, Tyne & Wear and Northumberland by the end of 2006.

But the union claims that hidden figures show the project is expensive and precarious, saying that savings can only be found by slashing staffing levels. It also fears that 999 calls could be routinely handled by centres at opposite ends of the country.

The union's general secretary, Andy Gilchrist, said: "It's expensive, it's risky, it won't save a single life and could end in total failure.

"It won't be benefits or tax credits being delayed, as happened after other Government foul-ups, it will be a front line 999 service," he added. "If the Government presses ahead with this folly they will have taken leave of their senses."

But John Burke, who is director of support service for Cleveland Fire Brigade and is the regional project director for the four North-East brigades, feels many of the fears are groundless.

"This is about improving the service to the community; the driver for change being Government policy," he said. "The union has quoted staffing figures, yet not included support staff, but we don't know what the figures will be until they are approved by the Minister."

With regard to calls being answered at the other end of the country, each brigade already provides a backup service. But rather than switchboards being jammed with calls about major incidents, they will automatically re-route, easing the workload of those dealing with the incident.

"People will still dial 999 in the same way and will still be dealt with in the same way. It should be seamless, with the public not noticing any difference in the way their calls are handled," added Mr Burke.

He also said any savings would be ploughed back into other parts of the service, such as fire prevention.

Regarding the Government's past record on rolling out large scale IT operations, Mr Burke said there were always concerns about major changes, but there would not be a single brigade relying on the new system until it was fully operational, fully tested and fully resilient.

"The project team is aware of the issues and it will have to go through very stringent testing before it is approved," he said.

Fire and Rescue Service Minister, Nick Raynsford, said the FBU had quoted material from the draft document out of context.

"The programme will provide a more effective and efficient service that will better protect the public and save more lives," he added. "The new regional centres are being designed to overcome shortcomings in the current system. Existing control rooms do a good job, but they are not designed to deal in a co-ordinated fashion with major incidents."

Mr Raynsford said there were risks with all technology projects, but the roll out would be carefully phased to ensure efficient delivery.

"The Government would not support any proposals that could lead to a worse fire and rescue service," he added. "FiReControl will do the opposite and provide a better and more efficient service. To suggest otherwise is irresponsible.