Report of the Chief Fire Officer and Treasurer to the Fire Authority

Becky Smeathers, Head of Finance and Treasurer to the Authority, presented the report which sets out proposals for Revenue and Capital Budgets for 2022/23 to 2025/26 to allow members to determine the level of Council Tax for the coming financial year.

Members are also asked to consider for approval, fees and charges for 2022/23 and the continued payment of members allowances in 2022/23 in accordance with the approved scheme.

Highlights from the report included the following points;

a)  at its December meeting, the Authority requested the Finances and Resources Committee consider the budget in detail and options for council tax. This took place in January with a recommendation to the Authority to increase Council Tax by the maximum of 1.95%;

b)  since the initial presentation of the Medium Term Financial Strategy in December:

i.  the one year settlement figure has been awarded and is approximately what was predicted;

ii.  information on the collection of Council Tax and Business Rates has been provided and is better than anticipated;

iii.  the pension grant has been confirmed;

c)  work continues to identify temporary savings;

d)  the Capital Programme is presented in the report and will be reviewed in future years to bring it into alignment with the Community Risk Management Plan;

e)  whilst the list of significant pressures is provided in table 3 of the report, there is also a level of uncertainty with regard to the Revenue Account due to:

i.  the uncertainty with rising inflation which will stretch resources;

ii.  the pay award for this financial year is yet to be settled for support staff, but firefighters have settled for a 1.5% pay increase against the budget of 1%;

iii.  the significant rise in petrol and oil prices will have an impact, particularly with the circumstances around Russia.;

f)  Reserves held at 1 April 2022 are anticipated to total £9.3m. This consists of £5m general reserves and £4.3m earmarked reserves;

g)  where significant financial pressures appear, the Finance Team will endeavour to ensure that the Service continues to operate within the budget, including closer monitoring to enable the Authority to be alerted where action needs to be taken;

h)  the report identifies the options of not increasing the Council Tax and increasing it by 1.95% and provides  the respective resulting impact on the budget and also on individual households;

i)  there are also recommendations to marginally increase the fees and charges, and the members allowance scheme.

Members of the Authority commented as follows:

j)  on behalf of the Authority, the Chair thanked Becky Smeathers and the Finance Team for the outstanding budget report and their ongoing work to ensure that the Service is able to carry out its role, noting the significant financial pressures;

k)  thanks are also extended to members of the Finance and Resources Committee, political group leaders, and all staff for assisting in the achievement of a balanced budget which continues to provide excellent value for money for a vital public service;

l)  the Chair of the Finance and Resources Committee thanked Becky Smeathers and the Finance Team, recognising their additional work, dedication and effort and the impact on their personal lives of ‘going the extra mile’ to ensure the Service has a sustainable budget;

m)  pressure on Central Government needs to be maintained to provide information for a three year funding plan to enable the Service to plan ahead, particularly as the current financial position will result in additional financial pressures for most services due to price rises;

n)  although it is recognised that this is a price increase in difficult financial times for many households, the cost of contributing to such a vital service remains exceptionally good value for money;

o)  there are a lot of pressures on this budget going forward and there are alerts as the Service temporarily dips into reserves. Inflation and the rapidly rising price rise of crude oil, are of particular concern and may yet substantially increase if the situation in Ukraine worsens. Members are aware that these factors could have a significant impact on what is otherwise a balanced budget;

p)  all members of the Authority need to collectively approach our respective Members of Parliament to urge them to further highlight and champion to those who are responsible for the national debates, the importance of this vital Service. We need to ensure that our Members of Parliament are equipped and briefed and have all the facts and figures to hand. Flexibility for the Fire Service has been limited with regard to opportunity to raise the precept in such difficult times when other services, such as the Police were given far greater flexibility;

q)  raising Council Tax is not favoured due to the disproportionate impact on the majority of citizens at a difficult financial time, and whilst a different approach to funding would be preferred, as the Service is underfunded, and so the increase is supported;

r)  members of the Authority, regardless of political party, have come together and done the very best for the Service and the citizens of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire but also with consideration of frontline staff;

s)  retaining as many full time fire fighters as possible and providing security for on call fire fighters should be, and remain, a priority.

John Buckley, Chief Fire Officer informed the Authority:

t)  that the Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) is a critical document which has been revised to ensure the very best use of resources, but also to support the continuous improvement of the operational model and providing a platform for making efficiencies. There are currently a lot of unknowns but the building blocks of the CRMP are in place to support adaptations. It is not currently advisable to launch into trying to achieve further longer-term savings at this point as we need to see if the economic situation settles down;

u)  the level of settlement in future years, along with whether significant savings are required, will dictate the level of the scale of change needed in the organisation;

v)  whole-time recruitment is being delayed by 6 months as clarity is expected regarding financial pressures by that time, and then in September the Authority will need to consider planning for future proposals. It will be a tough year ahead but the Service will aim to continue to meet attendance standards and will try to mitigate any capacity impact with overtime and redistribution of resources, which happens anyway at peak times;

w)  if unknowns become known and are of a significant impact, then there may well be a need to shrink the numbers of whole-time staff so the Service does not want to recruit to then have to make redundancies. It’s a matter of careful stewardship.  We need to trust operational leads to use resources to the best possible efficiency;

x)  it will definitely be a challenge but we do maintain a high level of operational response but there are other increasing pressures regarding the built environment legislation, along with prevention and protection which are harder to quantify for citizens;

y)  there will inevitably be an impact on the current levels of prevention and protection work by the Service, but the only other option is to propose cuts now, which may prove unnecessary if the current situation improves.

The Chair commended cross party collaboration of the Authority in working for the benefit of the Service and the citizens of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.

Resolved:

1)  unanimously to agree the recommendation of the Finance and Resources Committee to the Fire Authority, that there be a 1.95% Council Tax increase;

2)  unanimously to approve the 2022/23 precept level to be notified to the Billing Authorities based on the information set out in Section 2 and Appendix C in the report, as required by statute;

3)  to approve the fees and charges for 2022/23, as set out in Appendix D of the report;.

4)  to approve the payment of Members Allowances for 2022/23 in accordance with the approved scheme.