Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service is consulting the public on its council tax precept for the year ahead.
The precept is the amount people pay through their council tax for fire and rescue services.
Our council tax precept is currently below the national average for fire and rescue services, and fire accounts for a small portion of council tax in Lancashire – around 4% of your total bill.
Our budget is made up of council tax precept (52%), business rates (28%), and government grants (20%).
Most of our budget is spent on the day-to-day expenditure needed to provide our services including employee pay, firefighting equipment, energy, and fuel.
Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service has a strong track record of balancing the budget and maintaining vital services that represent excellent value for money to the people of Lancashire.
However, increased costs and financial pressures mean budget challenges lie ahead to maintain our services and meet vital investment needs.
We are asking for your support for a small increase to the council tax precept in 2025-26 - the equivalent of £5 per year (on a Band D property). This would still be below the national average for fire and rescue services.
The impact on each band of property would be as follows:
Band A – an increase of £3.33 per year, taking the total from £56.49 to £59.82
Band B – an increase of £3.89 per year, taking the total from £65.90 to £69.79
Band C – an increase of £4.44 per year, taking the total from £75.32 to £79.76
Band D – an increase of £5.00 per year, taking the total from £84.73 to £89.73
Band E – an increase of £6.11 per year, taking the total from £103.56 to £109.67
Band F – an increase of £7.22 per year, taking the total from £122.39 to £129.61
Band G – an increase of £8.33 per year, taking the total from £141.22 to £149.55
Band H – an increase of £10.00 per year, taking the total from £169.46 to £179.46
This increase means our services will cost 17p per person per day overall.
Complete our survey by accessing the link or scrolling to the frame at the bottom of the page.
The survey closes at 5pm on Monday 3 February 2025.
In 2023-24, some of our services included:
· 17,395 incidents attended
· 23,239 home fire safety checks delivered in Lancashire homes
· 61,877 children and young people received prevention education
· 30,054 people took part in road safety education
· 3,372 business fire safety checks delivered in Lancashire businesses
You can find out much more about the services we provided last year at www.lancsfirerescue.org.uk/performance.
Making sure we continue to provide quality services to the public and at the same time meet future community needs are priorities in our financial planning.
Our plans for 2025 and beyond include investment in new buildings, training facilities, vehicles, and equipment, in line with our community risk management plan, which sets out how we will keep people in Lancashire safe.
We will continue to use our resources efficiently and provide the best services for the whole of Lancashire. View our financial strategy.
Lancashire’s Combined Fire Authority will consider the budget at a meeting on 17 February 2025 and will decide whether to increase the council tax precept. The results of this consultation will inform the decision.
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