THE amount residents pay for the fire service in Staffordshire is set to jump by more than 5%.
The increase means Band D properties will see an increase of £5 a year in the precept – the share of the council tax bill – from April.
It comes on the back of a 5.22% rise in policing agreed last week.
Staffordshire Commissioner Ben Adams said the increase in tax to pay for Staffordshire Fire and Rescue was due to challenges in national funding.
“I regret to say that it’s a 5.45% increase, which is over inflation. That is not what I believe is necessary when the shortfall we’re trying to fill is due to Government reductions in funding.
“Significant reductions in Staffordshire across the next three years are going to put pressure on the organisation of £2.1million.
“The Fair Funding is unfairer funding for Staffordshire. It’s predicated on population numbers, which means that cities have done well. Rural areas, which are not necessarily growing as rapidly in population, have not done well.
“The Home Office have acknowledged, in discussions with commissioners, that by basing it on population they’re missing the fundamental about community safety – fire and rescue is principally about vulnerability. Vulnerability is about people’s capacity to get out of their building if there’s a danger, it’s related to old-type properties, people with mental health problems, addictions and an ageing population.
“They’ve failed to look at the detail and they’ve gone purely on the numbers. Some places which, quite frankly, don’t need the extra money have got it, and places like ours where vulnerability is very much a concern are being cut.”
A meeting this week saw a vote back the commissioner’s proposals for the fire service precept increase
He said:
“Even with council tax increases at the maximum permitted level, reductions in central government funding are only partly offset. This is deeply disappointing as it shifts the burden of funding essential services onto local taxpayers and leaves authorities with little choice but to increase precepts simply to stand still.
“Over the past three years, my office and the service have delivered more than £2.3million in recurring savings through a comprehensive transformation programme. Further work is underway to identify an additional £2.1million of efficiencies to improve productivity and protect frontline services.”
Mr Adams warned panel members of the consequences of future funding challenges if they arise in the coming years. He said:
“If we have increased costs, to make £2.1million we have to look at where service can be reduced. We have things we can reach for if we need to in an emergency situation.
“It would possibly mean losing a couple of on-call stations and almost certainly entering into conversations about some shift patterns for our whole-time fire service. That is absolutely my last resort, but it’s not something I’m looking to reach for in the next two years.
“Those are not options to be taken lightly, so I will give full consideration to the potential to use £5 [the precept increase] again in the future two years, and I will start having the conversation with the public about that right now.
“My worry is that if pay increases, if inflation increases, if the Emergency Services Network costs more than we are anticipating, then there is nowhere else to go – this is a really tight situation for us here in Staffordshire.”