Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone has been given permission to ask for a £10 a year increase for the Fire precept for a Band D household. While this is more than the blanket £5 recommended precept for fire authorities, it is £2 less than Danielle announced she had asked for.
Danielle said that although she cannot now ask for the £12 that would have balanced the Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service budget, an additional £10 a year will go a considerable way towards bridging the financial gap and supporting frontline services.
The Fire precept is the amount that taxpayers across the county contribute through their council tax bill towards funding Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service.
An increase of £10 a year for a Band D household – or 12.44% – will still leave a funding gap of around £300,000 to be met through savings. This is in addition to the £2.3 million savings that the Service has identified over the past 12 months as part of meeting the financial challenge.
Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service is one of the lowest funded in the country, with among the lowest levels of council tax precept. Most of the Service’s funding – more than 60% – comes from the council tax. There is a contribution from business rates and less than 20% comes from central government.
Danielle said: “I am incredibly grateful that the Government has given me flexibility to ask for more than the recommended precept limit of £5 for Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service. It’s an acknowledgement of the severe financial challenges that the Service is facing.
“I would prefer not to have to ask the public to dig deeper into their pockets, but asking for a higher precept is the only way to avoid deeper cuts to essential frontline services.”
Danielle said that ageing buildings, fleet and equipment are all being replaced, to reduce the costs of ongoing maintenance and improve efficiency.
A programme of savings driven by the priorities of the Service’s new strategic plan, the Community Risk Management Plan, is also underway.
The updated Fire precept was supported by the Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel at a meeting earlier this week (February 4), when they voted to endorse an increase in the Fire precept at the maximum allowable amount without triggering a referendum.
