Fire service council tax frozen (From Daily Echo)
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Fire service council tax frozen
6:00am Monday 13th February 2012 in News
Fire service council tax frozen
HAMPSHIRE Fire and Rescue Authority has agreed a budget which will see its portion of council tax frozen for the second year.
The authority has built more than £1.3m of efficiency savings into the budget for 2012/13 to hold down the council tax.
For a Band D property, the council tax remains at £61.38, equivalent to £1.18 a week. By freezing council tax next year, the authority will be entitled to a special government grant worth almost £1.2m.
The cost of providing fire and rescue services across Hampshire is £70.5m this year, which is 1.2 per cent more than last year, mainly due to inflation.
The budget is mostly spent on operational firefighters and other staff. The remainder is used for operational equipment, clothing, supplies, replacing fire vehicles, fleet maintenance and premises.
Chairman of Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority, Councillor Royston Smith, said: “This has been achieved as a result of careful financial planning including the successful implementation of the first year of our efficiencies programme.”
Paramjit Bahia says...
11:23am Mon 13 Feb 12
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Sadly I suspect Tory Cllr. Smith is doing the same to Fire and Rescue Service what he is doing to Southampton Council’s staff and services
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Word ‘efficiency savings’ is basically nice sounding code invented by over paid pen pushers for the convenience of their puppet politicians, in average person’s lingo it simply means reduction in quality of service and working conditions of the employees; in this case fire-fighters who often risk their lives to save ours.