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Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, has proposed a budget to the Essex Police, Fire and Crime Panel that will raise the Essex County Fire and Rescue Service precept by £4.95 a year, or 9p a week, a 5.99% increase for a Band D property taking the yearly total to £87.57, or £1.68p a week.

The Essex Police, Fire and Crime Panel meets on Tuesday 4th February to consider Mr Hirst’s proposed precept for Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS).

The proposed precept is being set at a difficult financial time with ECFRS losing a key government grant, The Services Grant and Funding Guarantee for 2025/26. This is resulting in a loss of £1.5m and will place financial pressure on the service.

ECFRS has been able to close the budget gap created by the underfunding this year, however this is unsustainable in the medium term.

Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, said: “This budget recognises the challenging financial environment we face and at the same time acknowledges the importance of delivering on objectives included within the Fire and Rescue Plan 2024-2028.

“We seek to maintain the outstanding progress Essex County Fire and Rescue Service has made since 2017 and in our shared ambition to be one of the best Fire and Rescue Services in the country, reducing risk in our communities and protecting the vulnerable. We remain committed to delivering the best possible services to the public and to working with government to reform and improve fire and rescue in Essex.”

Tough choices have been made to ensure ECFRS can deliver its proposed Community Risk Management Plan which is focussed on delivering the PFCC’s Fire and Rescue Plan priorities and making Essex safer.

During the 2025/26 budget setting process, ECFRS made several changes to its plans in response to the changing financial environment.

This includes the service reducing its capital investment programme with steps now being taken to understand the cost and feasibility of a fire training facilities project at Essex County Fire and Rescue Service headquarters at Kelvedon Park.

A Joint Fleet Workshop collaboration project with Essex Police has now been paused which means £9m investment from the Capital Plan has been removed.

The Wholetime Station Modernisation Programme has been paused. This included plans for inclusive workspaces, new training rooms and updated breathing apparatus (BA) and PPE servicing areas.

Other measures to reduce the budget have been taken. Additional operational training roles will now be offered fixed term contracts rather than permanent roles.

However, the proposed precept will allow the service to increase the amount of prevention and protection activity it carries out, specifically the number of home safety checks delivered by operational crews to the most vulnerable people. It will continue to invest in partnership activity such as the Community Wellbeing Officers scheme, which is currently jointly funded by East of England Ambulance Service.

ECFRS has identified a need to increase the number of fire engines available during the day to meet peak demand. This precept will allow the service to implement a dynamic cover solution in 2025/26, which will mean appliance movements will be more efficient.

Notes for Editors

25/26 Precept Survey

The PFCC hosted a public Precept Survey between Friday 25th October 2024 to Monday 9th December 2024. The results from the survey were:

  • 1,579 people who live, work or study in Essex responded to the survey.
  • Of those who responded and gave a view, 76% were prepared to increase their investment into the fire and rescue service.
  • 65% who gave a view said they would be prepared to invest £5 per year or more in Essex County Fire and Rescue Service.

Savings

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service delivered £6m of cashable efficiency savings since 2021 with £1.4m programmed in for 2025-26.