South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority (SYFRA) has taken action to head off the possibility of further cuts to the Fire Service in the future.

In a budget meeting today (Monday February 20^th), members of the Fire Authority declined a Government grant that would have enabled it to freeze council tax next year.  The Authority has instead agreed to increase council tax by 3.95 per cent to help secure funding of up to £1m a year, not just in 2012/13 but in future years.   

Members agreed a budget of £57m for the coming 12 months. The decision was made against the backdrop of the current public sector cuts and plans to change the way the Fire Service is delivered.   

Speaking after the meeting, Chairman Jim Andrews described the rise as “effectively an insurance policy” to help secure long-term funding and safeguard against risks to the emergency service.

He said: “The Authority faced a difficult decision because the Government grant was for one year only. If we had accepted it, this time next year we would have faced either putting up council tax by a double increase, or making further cuts to the service.”

The extra cost to council tax payers as a result of the decision will be between £1.60 and £2.40 per year. Council tax payers in the average Band D will now pay £62.54 a year towards the Fire Authority – a rise of £2.37 and equivalent to less than 5p a week extra.

Mr Andrews said: “This was not a straightforward decision.  No Authority wants to put extra costs onto hard-pressed council tax payers, but on balance we felt that an extra 5p or less a week was a worthwhile price to pay if it helped to secure the future of the Fire Service.

“We are already in the middle of plans to restructure our operations in order to meet Government cutbacks.  In 2011/12, SYFRA suffered a grant reduction of nearly ten per cent. 

“The Government is unable to tell us how we will be affected in future years, especially when they introduce the new local government funding scheme in 2013.

“The one thing we do not want to contemplate is further cuts.  The Fire Service’s success or failure is measured in minutes, and we will not take risks with public safety.

“This is effectively an insurance policy – we want to do everything we can to secure our long-term funding.”

He added: “If the financial situation was to get a bit easier in the future, we could use the extra funds, along with our reserves, to strengthen the service or to hold down future council tax increases.”