Nottinghamshire households are facing another rise in their tax bill after the county's fire service authority approved an increase to "protect frontline services." Plans to take fire engines away from the London Road and Stockhill fire stations have been officially dropped, alongside plans that would have removed the night-shift from West Bridgford.
But people will have to make an extra "small contribution" to Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue to protect such services, with the £5 council tax rise meaning a bill of nearly £60 for Band A properties. The Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue element of council tax comes on top of that charged by Nottinghamshire's Police and Crime Commissioner, Nottinghamshire County Council and the district councils.
For those living in Nottingham, their council tax bill comprises of payments to the city council, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue and the Police and Crime Commissioner. The fire service's council tax rise was unanimously approved at a meeting of the Nottinghamshire and City of Nottingham Fire and Rescue Authority on Friday (February 24).
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Labour's Councillor Michael Payne, who chairs the authority, said at the meeting: "This has been the most difficult year to land a budget because of some of the unknowns. I think it would be very remiss of this fire authority to have lobbied so hard for a flexibility in council tax to the Government to then not make use of that full flexibility.
"I absolutely understand the pressure that is on families, the cost of living crisis, and asking people even to contribute an additional 10p per week is probably asking too much. I do fundamentally believe that the people have trust in and support the fire service and are willing to make a small contribution to make sure that we protect our frontline services."
Councillor Payne argued that part of the problem was the lack of funding from Government, saying that Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue was the seventh worst affected service across the country in terms of its core spending power reduction since 2010. Councillor Payne said Nottinghamshire had lost around 5% of fire and rescue funding since 2010, in contrast to areas such as Hampshire which have seen a funding increase of nearly 15% in the same period.
But the Conservative councillor Johno Lee argued: "Money comes from the pockets of our residents no matter who pays, national government or local government. The Government don't make their own money, we don't make our own money, any money that is spent by national government or by us is still from the pockets of our residents.
"The Government do not have a magic money tree, we do not have a magic money tree. Any money comes from me, you and our residents and it's misleading to say otherwise."
Councillor Payne said this point was "self-evident" but that "politics is also about choices." Labour's Councillor Steve Battlemuch also noted that in a consultation on the fire service proposals, 80% of individuals responding to it backed a one-off £5 tax increase.
Chief Fire Officer Craig Parkin added after the meeting: "For me it's a good result today, generally. We've got the £5 precept which is a huge issue because clearly, we've laid out what it would mean if we didn't get that £5 - a very different picture."
Other recent council tax rises have included an increase of at least £50 for all households from Nottinghamshire County Council. Nottingham City Council will vote on its proposed 4.99% tax increase at a meeting on March 6.
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