Cambridgeshire Fire Service faces cuts unless tax rule changes - chief

Cambridgeshire's chief fire officer, Chris Strickland, has called for "flexibility" in the amount of council tax it can ask for in order to avoid service cuts

A fire and rescue service has warned it may face cuts unless there is a change to the way it is funded.

Cambridgeshire's chief fire officer, Chris Strickland, said firefighters nationally had recently been given a cost of living pay award of 5%, but his service had only budgeted for 2%.

He said "at least three on-call fire stations" might have to close.

The government said the service had a 5.1% funding increase this year, and next year's budget had yet to be set.

Mr Strickland said the service was facing a £1.1m budget deficit in April 2023.

He called for "flexibility" in the amount of council tax it could ask for.

"We very much want our employees to be given a pay increase that reflects the current rate of inflation, but we also have a responsibility to deliver a balanced budget and these are currently at odds," he said.

The Home Office said Cambridgeshire Fire Service held £9.1m in reserves

He added that as a result of £8m of efficiency savings in recent years it was already "an incredibly lean" service.

"Without additional funding, we will be looking at closing at least three on-call fire stations and making a number of our vital professional support staff redundant," he said.

He added that he did not want to have to do this in order to give employees the pay increase they deserve, "but, as things stand, we have little choice".

"The only glimmer of hope will be if the government allows us flexibility in how much council tax we can ask for," he said.

'Invidious position'

Fire services can ask for a maximum 2% increase in their element of the council tax, which is about an extra £1.50 per year for Cambridgeshire taxpayers in a Band D property.

If the government allowed them to ask for extra £10 per year per taxpayer, this would lessen the service reductions needed, the fire service said.

Edna Murphy, Liberal Democrat county councillor and chairwoman of the county's cross-party fire authority, said: "We have been put in this invidious position by the economic situation and ultimately by a failure over the years to provide a fair funding mechanism for Cambridgeshire.

"I call on the government to provide us with the assurance we need that we will receive flexibility for next year's budget, which would give us some mitigation."

Mark Harris, Fire Brigades Union secretary for Cambs, said people needed "a properly funded service and that involves fairly paid professional firefighters and enough resources".

"Since 2010, Cambridgeshire has seen a 20% reduction in the operational workforce, an increase in attendance times, and during the recent seasonal summer fires we witnessed tired firefighters being brought in to relieve exhausted firefighters.

"After 12 years of wage repression firefighters have fallen far behind in pay, and multi-skilled professionals are being forced to use foodbanks."

The Home Office said the Cambridgeshire Fire Service had a core spending power of £32.2m in 2022-23, an increase of 5.1% on the previous year.

In March 2021, it held £9.1m in resource reserves, it added.

A spokesman said funding for fire services in 2023-24 would be determined, as usual, via the Local Government Finance Settlement which would be set later this year.

"Setting firefighter pay is the responsibility of employers, working through the National Joint Council; the Home Office neither funds nor agrees it," a statement said.