The chief fire officer for Cambridgeshire has said reductions will have to be made to the service without more funding.

While the cost-of-living crisis continues to affect our shopping, bills and spending, it will also affect the fire service.

National negotiations with the Fire Brigades Union have offered firefighters a revised cost-of-living pay award of five per cent, however, the Cambridgeshire service has only budgeted for a two per cent increase.

Combined with the offer already available for support staff, there will be a budget deficit of £1.1million in April 2023.

To remedy this, the chief fire officer for Cambridgeshire, Chris Strickland, has suggested allowing the fire service to ask for a higher amount of council tax to soften the blow.

He said: “At the moment, the fire and rescue service can only ask for a maximum of a two per cent increase in council tax, which is around an additional £1.50 per year for Cambridgeshire council taxpayers based on a Band D property.

“If the government allows services to ask for a higher increase of around £10 per year this would provide extra income and lessen the service reductions that would need to be made.”

“We very much want our employees to be given a pay increase that reflects the current rate of inflation, but we also have a responsibility to deliver a balanced budget and these are currently at odds.

“We are likely to have to scale down the service we provide unless our funding situation significantly improves.

Without additional funding, Chris warns at least three on-call fire stations could close and vital professional support staff could be made redundant.

“The only glimmer of hope will be if the government allows us flexibility in how much council tax we can ask for in future years.”

“We are nationally recognised as a cost effective and good fire and rescue service that is efficient, effective and looks after its people well.

In the last 12 years, the Cambridgeshire service has made efficiency savings of £8million

Chair of the Fire Authority, councillor Edna Murphy, has called on the government to assure the service with flexibility in the budget for 2023/24 with support from vice chair, Cllr Mohammed Jamil.

Mark Harriss, FBU brigade secretary for Cambridgeshire, said: “We are clear that it is not an either or situation when it comes to firefighters’ pay and decent fire and rescue provision.

"Any attempt to paint it as such is entirely wrong. We need a properly funded fire and rescue service and that involves fairly paid professional firefighters and enough resources. We will continue to fight for both. Central government and our local government authorities are responsible for funding. They are responsible for any deficiencies in fire and rescue cover.

“We welcome the chief’s recognition that the fire and rescue service needs investment to stabilise the decade long reduction in funding from central government, which has come after years of avoidance, but would question his view that they have improved services. Since 2010, Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service has seen a twenty per cent reduction in the operational workforce, an increase in attendance times and during the recent seasonal summer fires we witnessed tired firefighters being brought in to relieve exhausted firefighters.

“After 12 years of wage repression firefighters have fallen far behind in pay and multi-skilled professionals are being forced to use foodbanks. That is surely unacceptable for anyone. The latest offer from employers of five per cent doesn't go anywhere near what firefighters have lost out on since 2010 and doesn't do nearly enough to deal with the spiralling cost of living today.”