Fire service approves council tax precept rise

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (SWRFS) has approved a rise in the amount of money it takes from council tax payers.

At a meeting on Monday, February 14, fire authority members approved the budget for 2022/23, which includes an average 2.29% rise in its council tax precept across south Wales.

The increase would see its revenue budget rise to £79.304m.

The fire service’s budget comes from both council taxpayers and the Welsh Government.

The draft Welsh Government settlement saw a significant increase announced in council funding for next financial year of 9.4% on a like-for-like basis, with no council seeing less than an 8.4% increase – although this is in the context of “significant funding pressures”, the report said.

Population data used in the Welsh Government settlement is the basis on which the fire authority’s budget is distributed and funded by the ten councils within the service area.

Councils which see increases in population generally benefit from a proportionately more favourable Welsh Government settlement and vice versa, the report said.

The budget will see a contribution of £9,286,956 from Caerphilly County Borough taxpayers, which is an increase of £187,627 – or a 2.06% precept rise.

Steve Evans, chair of SWFRS’ finance committee, said the rise “is a fair reflection of the current financial situation”.

The revenue budget would see £63.48m go towards employee costs, £5.65m going towards premises-related expenses, £1.77m towards training, £5.33m for supplies and services, £1.47m towards transport, £941,296 for contracted services and £4.87m towards capital costs and leasing. With £4.23m of income, that adds up to the £79.304m budget.

The capital programme for 2022/23 would be worth £9.6m, including £7.43m submitted for next year and £2.14m worth of slippage from this current financial year.

The revenue budget would see £63.48m go towards employee costs, £5.65m going towards premises-related expenses, £1.77m towards training, £5.33m for supplies and services, £1.47m towards transport, £941,296 for contracted services and £4.87m towards capital costs and leasing. With £4.23m of income, that adds up to the £79.304m budget.

The capital programme for 2022/23 would be worth £9.6m, including £7.43m submitted for next year and £2.14m worth of slippage from this current financial year.

This would be spent on things like fire service property, the fleet and ICT.

But the report said the budget will come under pressure from increases in utility costs and non-domestic rates.

Fulfilling the capital programme on time has been an ongoing problem within the authority mainly due to the constraints on staff resources to deliver the schemes, the report added.

Significant “carryover” from year to year was commented on by the external auditors and discussed at previous meetings.

The revenue budget for capital financing costs has been adjusted downward to represent a more conservative budget assumption, according to the report.