A 3% increase has been approved for how much Isle of Wight residents will pay towards the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service. The average Band D council taxpayer will now have to pay a precept of £82.84 a year from April — a £2.41 rise. It was agreed at the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority (HIWFRA) meeting on Tuesday (27th February) and will raise an additional £2.1million for the service. Speaking at the meeting, HIWFRA’s chief financial officer, Catherine Edgecombe, said the service was in a strong position but there are significant challenges coming in the later years, including a potential £4million budget gap in 2025/26. She said the authority will plan and deliver “cashable efficiencies” across its operational and support service to be made from April 2025. Ms Edgecombe said they would be made using the outcome of safety reviews to make sure the “resources are appropriately matched to risk.” Earlier this week Island Echo reported how the Isle of Wight is becoming more reliant on mainland-based firefighters. A range of financial pressures have been cited for the expected future budget gap, including an end to one-off funding and below-inflation rises in other funding streams. Reductions to services are not deemed ‘efficiencies’ the service has said, and while “it may be necessary to consider service reductions in the future, these would be subject to a separate plan and appropriate consultation.” The service’s savings remain high, Ms Edgecombe said, but it is likely the fire authority will have to borrow money in the next financial year and has already factored in the need for repayments. Islanders will contribute more than £4.5 million to pay for the fire and rescue services. Officers said it was disappointing no additional government money was awarded to support the fire authority, after Westminster gave the Isle of Wight Council an additional £3 million in recognition of the additional costs of providing services on the Island.
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senior managers at the trough! that’s the problem, they all just had 12% backdated pensionable salary rise too!
And don’t forget the 6 months full pay every year when they are off sick.
Does that mean in future they will get off their ar*es and help flood
victims!?
More for this rubbish who wouldn’t come out when homes were flooded
To be fair, they should be renamed “Car crash service” as they must deal with more of those than fires.
That’s because every Fcuker speeds on this lawless Island.
Waste of space people.
Make it voluntary how it used to be and maybe they’ll show some care in their work instead of being paid to sit down all day doing nothing waiting for the bell to go off.
If new firemen stopped starting fires it would also help their running costs.
Does this mean that they will be offering more car washes?
Odd that we are paying more for an island service when an article last week stated that more call outs for the fire service are being covered from the mainland.
we are helping the residents of Hampshire keep their costs of a service down
Shouldn’t Ventnor pay less in view of the extra time it will take to get the fire engines here now the council refuse to reopen Leeson Road?