A survey has been launched to find out people’s thoughts about how much budget Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service should be allocated during the next financial year.
From April 1, current crime commissioner Peter McCall will add the fire service to his portfolio and will have the responsibility of setting how much of people’s council tax is funnelled into the police force and firefighters.
Cumbria firefighters are partially funded by the public through council tax and by businesses through business rates.
Previously, ratepayers helped fund them via the county council portion of the levy, but from April 1, the county authority will no longer exist – instead, Cumbria will have two unitary councils – Cumberland and Westmorland & Furness.
It means for the first time, it will be clear how much cash is going to the fire service on people’s council tax bills.
Mr McCall said he was proposing to increase the fire council tax precept element by £5 (10p a week/or just over a 1p a day) which would take the annual cost from £85 to £90 per household based on a Band D property.
He said his hand had been forced by the Government, which he said had indicated that it expected commissioners to increase the fire precept by £5.
However, he added: “If the council tax level is not increased, there will have to be a significant cut to the fire budget and current levels of service could not be maintained. This is something on which I am not willing to compromise as the safety of residents must be paramount.
“In Cumbria, the majority of properties are Band D or below which means most households in the county will be paying £5. Whilst this offsets some of the inflationary pressures on the budget it is still well below national inflation levels and the budget will continue to have significant challenges which I will have to manage.
“Setting the council tax precept is of course never easy and is especially challenging this year due to the current financial situation.
“I am acutely aware of the pressure that the cost-of-living crisis is placing on people across the county. This pressure is also impacting on the fire budgets due to salary increases, rising cost of fuel and utilities and must be balanced against the requirement to maintain the current level of service that we have rightly come to expect in Cumbria which keeps us all safe.
“I know of course that nobody wants to see an increase in tax of any kind, but I welcome your views on the potential council tax increase and encourage you to take part in this consultation to help maintain this integral emergency service.”
Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service’s chief fire officer, John Beard, added: “We are grateful for the support we receive from the public and in order to maintain our emergency response and community safety services in Cumbria small increases in taxes are sometimes unavoidable.”
A link to the survey can be found here: Cumbria’s Fire and Rescue Service’s council tax precept consultation
The survey will close at 5pm on February 6 and paper copies of this survey can be obtained by ringing 01768 217734 or emailing [email protected]
