Council Tax

The Council Tax charge for 2024/2025 for Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority will be £97.22 for a Band D Council Taxpayer.

For this you receive round-the-clock reassurance that, in the event of an emergency, the Service will be on hand to help you.

Fire Fighting.

We also spend thousands of hours in your local communities, educating people about the risk of fires and other emergencies such as road traffic collisions. Additionally, we work extensively with other local partners to protect the young and the vulnerable, part of which includes fitting free smoke alarms and providing fire safety advice.

We have wholetime stations (operating 24 hours a day) and retained duty (on-call) stations that are crewed by firefighters who are on call to provide 24-hour cover to their communities, often in addition to their regular employment and are able to respond in a few minutes from their place of main employment or home.

Your contributions help fund a total of 255 full-time operational staff, 361 retained (on-call) firefighters, 25 control room staff who take emergency calls and mobilise our crews, and a number of support staff who ensure the Service runs effectively and efficiently. As part of the nation’s resilience against large-scale incidents, we also host specialist equipment including one of 20 national Urban Search and Rescue specialist units.

Our area has a particular demand for rope and water rescues and for assistance when chemicals are spilled. We also have highly trained specialist teams to deal with these specific emergencies.

Council Tax Precept 2024/25

In 2024/25 the Fire Authority will spend £43.6m providing a comprehensive emergency service to the communities of Herefordshire & Worcestershire. This represents an increase of £4.2m (10.6%) compared to 2023/14, and includes increases in Firefighter Pension cost, pay awards and inflation.

BUDGET2023/24 £m2024/25 £m
Employees (including Pension Costs)26.88329.919
Running Costs9.75710.731
Capital Financing2.8333.014
Income(0.076)(0.076)
Core Budget39.39743.588
Net Transfer to/(from) Budget Reduction 
Reserves0.034
Net Budget39.39743.622

The Fire Authority keeps a proportion (1%) of Business Rates collected locally as well as receiving grant from central government, and a charge on local tax payers through Council Tax. In 2024/25 £12.2m (28%) will come from the government in the form of grants, £3.1m (7%) from local business rates and the balance £28.3m (65%) from local council tax-payers.

COUNCIL TAX REQUIREMENT 2023/24 £m2024/25 £m
Core Budget40.11543.622
Less: Formula/Support (Government) Grants
Revenue Support Grant (RSG)(2.361)(4.086)
Business Rate Top Up Grant(3.402)(3.538)
Non-Indexation of Business Rates Grant(1.005)(1.210)
Services Grant(0.221)(0.038)
Funding Guarantee Grant(0.114)(0.902)
Rural Services Delivery Grant(0.115)(0.149)
19/20 Pension Grant (from 2024/25 within RSG)(1.568)
0.000
24/25 Pensions Grant0.000(1.133)
(8.786)(11.056)
Less : Special Grants
S31: Fire Revenue Grant – New Dims(0.820)(0.824)
S31: Fire Revenue Grant – Firelink (0.137)(0.073)
S31: Pension Admin Grant0.000(0.080)
S31: Protection Grant0.000(0.146)
(0.957)(1.123)
Share of Local Business Rates & Section 31 Grants(3.126)(3.102)
Less : Deficits/(Surpluses) on Council Tax Collection Funds(0.030)(0.130)
Council Tax Requirement27.21628.211
Tax-base288,296290,180
Band D Equivalent£94.40£97.22
WHY SPENDING HAS CHANGED£m
Core Budget 2023/2439.397
Final additional cost of 2022 & 2023 Pay Awards0.860
Provision for 2024/25 Pay Awards0.941
Provision for inflation (General)0.623
Increased Employer Contribution Rate – Firefighter Pensions1.235
Cot Pressures – Audit Fee, Pensions Admin, Vetting/Review 0.205
Capital Programme0.181
Additional Grant Funded Protection Work0.146
Core Budget 2024/2543.588