Cleveland Fire Authority agree on rise in council tax precept for Hartlepool households

Members unanimously gave the go-ahead to increase the amount paid to Cleveland Fire Authority via council tax bills by 1.9% for 2021/22, in line with the maximum 2% Government referendum limit.

Alongside the contribution to Cleveland Fire Authority, the majority of council tax is paid to the local council, with a section also going to Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner, which both set their own rates, known as precepts.

The 1.9% increase for Cleveland Fire Authority for 2021/22 equates to a £1 total annual increase for Band A properties and £1.50 for Band D properties.

Councillors on the fire authority praised the work of officers for their continued high-standard of performance, especially when considering the financial pressures they deal with.

Cllr Bill Woodhead, Stockton-on-Tees representative, said: “I think we’re very fortunate that we have a treasurer that can juggle with figures from such a paltry grant that we get.

“It’s all been said about how efficient a fire authority we’ve got, he works miracles our treasurer, working within this budget, how he does it I don’t know.”

Calls were also made for the fire authority to speak to local MPs and get them to lobby Government for further grants and funding support.

Chris Little, treasurer at the fire authority, said the budget comes following nine years of consecutive cuts in Government funding up to 2019/20, leading to ‘significant changes’ being made to the authority.

He added from 2015/16 to 2020/21 Cleveland had a 0.1% increase in spending power, the lowest of all fire and rescue services, with the highest being 8.1%.

Meanwhile the forecast increase in core spending power for Cleveland Fire Authority is 2.1% for 2021/22, lower than the average 2.6% and also the lowest increase of all standalone fire and rescue authorities.

For 2021/22 it is expected Cleveland Fire Authority will face a budget shortfall of £336,000, less than the £375,000 previously estimated.

Councillors approved using the budget support fund, which currently stands at £5.2million, to defer the deficit until 2022/23, leaving the support fund at around £4.8million

This means fire authority is expected to face a £577,000 deficit in 2022/23, followed by a further deficit of £198,000 the year after.

Mr Little said given the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, this is the best option, but noted the fire authority needs a longer term spending review from the Government to help them plan for the future.

He said: “Covid has not only had an impact on expenditure, it’s impacted on our resources.

“The deficit that’s deferred will need addressing next year, but it’s sensible to have a longer lead in time to deal with that.

“At the moment the planning assumption is we need to make reductions in expenditure of £775,000 over the next few years, and to address that, it’s recommended you instruct the chief fire officer to develop a plan to deal with that.

“Increased resources isn’t coming from Government grants, it’s coming from council tax payers locally, and I think that’s a really important consideration.”

He added across Cleveland 64% of households are in Bands A and B, which pay lower levels of council tax than higher bands, while the Government continues to shift the funding focus onto council tax, rather than grant funding.

Councillors also stressed the importance of the continued housing growth across the area in looking to provide future funding for the fire authority.

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