Council Tax Freeze For Fire Service

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority has agreed a budget which will see its portion of council tax frozen for the third successive year.

The £2 million of savings made by the Authority last year means council tax will remain the same despite further Government grant cuts.

For a Band D property, the council tax remains at £61.38, equivalent to £1.18 per week. This remains one of the lowest fire and rescue service rates in England.

Though council tax has been frozen, the amount the Authority will receive from it will actually fall due to the Government's changes to the council tax benefit system.

The budget for providing fire and rescue services to Hampshire for 2013-14 will be £67.5 million, a 4.3% fall from last year.

Chairman of Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority Cllr Royston Smith said: "With the continuing pressure on household budgets I am delighted that the Authority has been able to set a budget that means no increase in our portion of the council tax for the third year running.

"Thanks to careful financial planning, we successfully made savings of £2 million last year, with a further savings of £4 million of saving planned over the next two years.

"We will continue to review how our services are delivered to make Hampshire safer."