All Fire and Rescue Services are having to manage the impact of inflation and national pay awards. As a result Cleveland Fire Authority faces increased costs of £2.132m to maintain existing services.
Although the Authority’s Government grant allocation for next year is better than expected, we are still disappointed that the funding of Fire and Rescue services continues to shift from Central Government to local taxpayers. We will continue to press the case for a fairer national funding system which recognises the higher fire risks and levels of social deprivation in our area.
The budget for 2023/24 protects front-line services and avoids cuts in services, and the table below shows how we will fund increase in cost of £2.132m.
The table below shows the amount payable depending on the banding of your property. Approximately 64% of households in our area in Band A or B.
| Property Band | CFA Charge 2022/23 (£) | CFA Charge 2023/2024 (£) | Weekly Costs 2022/23 (£) | Weekly increase | % households |
| A | 54.57 | 57.91 | 1.11 | 6p | 45.1% |
| B | 63.97 | 67.56 | 1.30 | 7p | 18.7% |
| C | 72.76 | 77.21 | 1.48 | 9p | 18.3% |
| D | 81.86 | 86.86 | 1.67 | 10p | 9.3% |
| E | 100.05 | 106.16 | 2.04 | 12p | 5.3% |
| F | 118.24 | 125.46 | 2.41 | 14p | 2.1% |
| G | 136.43 | 144.77 | 2.78 | 16p | 1.1% |
| H | 163.72 | 173.72 | 3.34 | 20p | 0.1% |
Cleveland Fire Brigade has:
- one of the fastest response standards in the country to fires in the home
- one of the highest rates of home fire safety visits per 1,000 population (27.3); six times more than the national average (4.47)
- the fifth highest rate of fire safety audits per 100 known premises (5.3); more than four times the national average (1.7)
This was confirmed during the HMICFRS Inspection 2021/22 the outcomes from which rated the Brigade as GOOD in all its three key areas of efficiency, effectiveness, and people.
This result maintains the Brigade’s position as being one of the best performing fire and rescue services in the country.
HM Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services Roy Wilshire said:
“I am pleased with the performance of Cleveland Fire Brigade in keeping people safe and secure from fires and other risks and positively highlighted the continuous quick response to fires and other emergencies, the good range of prevention activities for the local community, and the active fire protection service to help ensure local businesses are safe and legally compliant.”
