Making Every Penny Count
And using our resources in an environmentally sustainable way
Financial sustainability is the top-rated threat according to our strategic risk assessment. In response we have been proactive in identifying changes that ensure the continuity of our core services whilst delivering the required efficiencies. Future financial settlements are likely to remain difficult. As such, we continue to plan for a range of financial scenarios that may emerge in the next few years.
Our ability to mitigate our risks and realise opportunities is directly impacted by our resourcing and budgetary make-up. Our current budgetary plans and assumptions determine the speed at which we will deliver our action plans.
Our Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) is a document that sets out the Authority’s financial strategy for the next four years. It focuses on the 2023/24 Revenue Budget and Capital Programme, but also sets the scene for future years. It covers national events such as the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) and then breaks down how this impacts locally on the Authority. The MTFS details our reserves policy, planning assumptions behind the budget figures and other considerations that must be considered when setting the strategy, such as the tax base, efficiencies, and shared services.
Our revenue budget sets out the money necessary for the day to day running of the Service. The increase in the 2023-24 council tax of £5 is equivalent to an increase of just under 10p per week for a Band D household.
There has been a small increase in Government grant to the Authority compared to 2022-23 of £244k, and the effect of inflation which is forecast to increase our costs this year by £1.891m.
In their latest Annual External Audit Letter our auditors, Ernst & Young, awarded the Fire and Rescue Authority an ‘unqualified conclusion’, meaning that we were judged to have satisfactory arrangements in place in all areas for 2021.
|
Where does the money come from? |
2023/2024 (£m) |
2022/2023 (£m) |
|
Gross Budget |
37.6 |
35.8 |
|
Income |
-2.7 (7%) |
-2.5 |
|
Budget Requirement |
34.9 |
33.3 |
|
Central & Local Government Funding |
9.9 (28%) |
9.8 |
|
Council Tax |
25 (65%) |
23.4 |
|
Total |
34.9 |
33.3 |
Our capital programme highlights spending on assets such as our fire stations and fire engines. Each year the Authority draws up a rolling four-year programme of capital projects.
Our financial priorities are to:
- Ensure we deliver a balanced sustainable budget that provides value for money, aligns our resources to risk, and supports the delivery of our CRMP
- Be innovative in developing and delivering on our Efficiency Plan whilst maintaining a prudent level and utilisation of our reserves
- Alignment with the Fire Standard on Finance and Assurance
|
What the money is spent on |
2023/2024 (£m) |
2022/2023 (£m) |
|
Employees |
29.4 (80%) |
27 |
|
Premises |
0.9 (3%) |
0.9 |
|
Transport |
0.7 (2%) |
0.7 |
|
Supplies & Services |
3.2 (8%) |
2.5 |
|
Agency & Contracted Services |
0.5 (1%) |
0.7 |
|
Capital Financing |
2.3 (6%) |
1.6 |
|
Total |
37 |
33.4 |
|
Reserves Funding |
-2.1 |
-0.1 |
|
Budget Requirement |
34.9 |
33.3 |
|
The Band D council tax for 2023/24 is £109.45 or approx. £2.10 p/week |
Efficiency and Productivity
Total achieved and planned savings and efficiencies between 2010/11 and 2022/23 total £7.599m, with a further savings and efficiencies of £701k by 2026/27.
Some of the key areas where the Authority has been achieving its planned efficiency savings include:
- Savings in managerial and support staff costs through shared service arrangements, organisational restructure, and improvements to working systems.
- Savings in firefighter crewing arrangements.
- Savings to the public through collaborative work.
- Procurement savings from new contracts.
- Income Generation
Our priorities for efficiency and productivity are:
- identify and deliver efficiency and productivity gains to support a balanced sustainable budget that provides value for money, aligns our resources to risk, and supports the delivery of our CRMP.
- Be innovative in developing and delivering on our Efficiency and Productivity Action Plan whilst maintaining a prudent level and utilisation of our reserves.
- We will conduct a review of all administrative roles and posts and seek to improve capacity, capability, consistency, efficiency, productivity, and resilience.
- Involve staff, Members, and key stakeholders in the process of identifying efficiencies.
- Identify and understand unit costs, spending patterns and trends, and operating costs; and
- Deliver the outcomes of the station productivity and service productivity assessments.
Our approach to finding efficiencies and productivity is based on the UK Government’s Treasury approach to Improving public sector efficiency and guidance provided by the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC).