Fire service explains why it wants households to pay more in council tax rise 'lifeline'
The fire service covering Cambridgeshire has explained why it wants households to pay more in council tax. Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service is planning to increase its share of council tax by £4.95 for the next financial year.
For a Band D household, this increase will make the annual contribution to the fire service £87.21 – a monthly cost of roughly £7.27, or around £1.68 a week. The fire service says it has to find an extra £1million a year to break even after its partnership with Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service ends.
Chief Fire Officer Matthew Warren said: “Taking the decision to increase council tax is always a difficult one. We know how family budgets are being squeezed from all angles and we certainly don’t take the decision lightly.
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“However, we face a significant challenge this year as Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service is ending our successful, 14 year-long partnership of delivering a combined fire control function, taking 999 calls and mobilising fire engines and other resources across both counties. The collaboration was established to save each fire service money, which it has with more than £12 million saved in the time it has been operating. We will now have to find an additional £1million per year, just to break even."
He said a significant proportion of the extra funding would go towards "plugging the gap in future control costs", while the remainder would meet "inflationary costs". It will also go towards improving response times and ensuring crews have the the resources and equipment they need.
He added: "Our county is one of the fastest growing in the country and we need to ensure we have the right resources in the right places to meet future demand.”
Chair of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority, Councillor Edna Murphy, said the fire service in Cambridgeshire was "one of the lowest cost fire authorities in the country" and pointed to what she said was an "exceptional record of delivering a value for money fire and rescue service" to residents.
Cllr Murphy added: "We are constantly striving to make further efficiencies from within the service and we will continue to do this, but it is becoming more and more challenging the leaner we become. For the past few years we have been fighting the corner for Cambridgeshire, asking for a fairer financial settlement for a fast growing county.
"After years of making significant efficiency savings from within the service we had become very lean with little left to cut without a significant impact on front line services. This year fire and rescue services were given the authority to ask for up to £5 extra in its share of local council tax, which has thrown us a lifeline, but it limits the improvements that can be made to the service.”
Mr Warren said: “Our plan for this year was to look at improving our response times across the county and having more guaranteed available fire engines able to respond at any one time, day or night across the seven day week. We have started to consider how we can improve our response times across the county within the funding we have available to us. This of course comes alongside looking at how we can further improve preventing fires from happening in the first place, protecting both residents and businesses – a vital part of what we do."
The Fire Authority will decide the final budget at its meeting on February 13.
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