Fire and rescue services in Gwent to cost us all more next year

A report to go before South Wales Fire and Rescue Authority members today suggests increasing the contribution people living in 10 council areas - including five in Gwent - by 4.25 per cent so the total budget is just under £75m for 2020/21.

The increase is slightly smaller than the 4.5 per cent rise which the authority put out to consultation.

The 10 council areas that make up the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service area saw their funding from Welsh Government increase by an average of 4.4 per cent in the latest provisional settlement.

Here’s how much each area in Gwent would contribute compared to last year if the proposals go ahead:

• Caerphilly would pay £8.87m, an increase of £334,030 or 3.91 per cent;

• Blaenau Gwent would pay £3.4m, an increase of £138,748 or 4.25 per cent;

• Torfaen would pay £4.53m, an increase of £196,678 or 4.54 per cent;

• Monmouthshire would pay £4.58m, an increase of £201,220 or 4.59 per cent;

• Newport would pay £7.4m, an increase of £379,940 or 5.41 per cent.

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The other five areas that contribute are Bridgend, Vale of Glamorgan, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil and Cardiff.

Here are the main proposed changes to the fire authority budget for next year: The pay inflation budget would increase by £1m, or 1.5 per cent; the fire pensions budget would go up by £900,000, or 1.2 per cent; the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) pensions budget would decrease by £400,000 or 0.5 per cent; the premises budget for things like rates, energy and repairs would rise by £800,000 or 1.1 per cent; the equipment and supplies budget would increase by £200,000 or 0.3 per cent; the fleet budget would go up by £100,000 or 0.1 per cent; the contracted services budget would rise by £100,000 or 0.1 per cent; the capital financing charges budget would go up by £300,000 or 0.5 per cent.

The report says that planning for fire services in Wales is compromised by the ongoing Welsh Government review of governance and funding.

Until this review has concluded, the report says the number and structure of fire authorities and how they are funded remains uncertain and this budget is assuming no change is made.

South Wales Fire and Rescue Authority has kept its cash budget at the same level during austerity which represents budget cuts of about £12m (17 per cent) in real terms.