A commissioner at the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (SWFRS) Authority has said there is a “line in the sand” and it has to “cut its coat according to its cloth” while discussing next year’s budget.
Baroness Deborah Wilcox of Newport was speaking at a fire authority meeting, where an increase of 5.75% in the amount the 10 councils contribute to SWFRS’s budget was approved.
The four commissioners approved budget proposals for 2025-26 which will see the amount local councils contribute increase by £5.5 milion to £101.34 million.
The report assumed the Welsh Government would transfer additional national insurance contribution funding to constituent councils in the final local government settlement but authority was granted to the treasurer to make adjustments if things changed.
It said without the change to national insurance contributions, the underlying like-for-like increase in the revenue budget would be 4.08%.
The agreed budget means a 7.66% (£1.77m) rise for Cardiff from £23.14 million to £24.91 million and a 5.42% rise (£449,920) in the Vale of Glamorgan from £8.3 million to £8.75 milion.
In Bridgend, there will be a rise of 4.88% (£443,715) from £9.08 million to £9.53 million.
The increased contributions for 2025-26 are based on updated population data for each of the ten councils in the region.
The report said without the changes to national insurance contributions, the budget would have meant lower increases to the local authorities ranging from as low as 2.29% for Merthyr Tydfil to 5.96% for Cardiff.
Lady Wilcox said they need a medium-term financial plan and “we need to look at halting our projects”.
She said previous meetings have discussed putting a moratorium on taking anything forward because contracts hadn’t been signed.
She added: “I just feel it’s more than enough time for us to say the fire authority has to cut its coat according to its cloth. Local government has received disastrous cuts over the past decade.”
Lady Wilcox said they can’t go on doing the things the same way and engagement with local authorities has to start a lot earlier.
She said they need to understand there’s a limitation on funding for SWFRS.
“We have to look at what we’re doing,” she said. “We have to look at what we’re paying and we have to look at whether it’s good value for money for the public and for public service.”
Lady Wilcox said she thinks it’s a “line in the sand” now where they have to look at things differently going forward.
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