Council tax reduction for firefighters call expected to fail

Bruce Sinclair – Local Democracy Reporter

A call for on-call firefighters to enjoy a reduction in council tax is expected to be turned down by a Welsh council, but could form part of a wider discretionary discount policy.

At the July meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, a Notice of Motion submitted by Newport and Dinas county councillor, and leader of the Independent Group, Cllr Huw Murphy was heard.

Cllr Murphy’s call stated: “There is currently a significant and severe shortage in suitable applicants coming forward to be on-call fire fighters (retained) for the Mid & West Wales Fire Service.

“Currently there are vacancies for on-call fire fighters at all fire stations throughout the region, which impacts considerably upon the safety of both residents and visitors who may need the assistance of the Fire Service. Pembrokeshire is heavily reliant on our on-call firefighters.

“In recognition of the vital work performed by our on-call fire fighters (retained not full time employees of the service) and to encourage others to consider undertaking this vital role within our communities this Notice of Motion proposes that Pembrokeshire County Council offers every retained fire-fighter working and living in Pembrokeshire a 10 per cent reduction in the council tax they pay after achieving a qualifying period of service annually, to be determined by the Chief Fire Officer.”

Supportive

Members at the July meeting agreed Cllr Murphy’s call be considered by the council’s Cabinet at a later date, the matter now coming to the October 7 meeting of Cabinet.

A supporting submission by Cllr Murphy says: “Since this NoM was published there has been an interesting debate on social media, with many supportive and others not so of this proposal, with some counter claims that other occupations provide a call out service which some might deem an ‘emergency’ service, such as mechanics, plumbers, etc. There is no doubt the call out service provided by mechanics, plumbers and so on is essential but cannot be compared to attending a fire where the serious risk of injury exists.”

Budget

A report for Cabinet members ahead of the meeting says the cost of such a discretionary reduction for on-call firefighters would cost around £26,000 a year.

It adds: “When applying this reduction, the interests of other taxpayers should be considered as any cost will need to be borne by them as this reduction will impact on the council’s budget. Whether or not to grant a discretionary discount rests with the council and therefore the decision must be made by us and the not Chief Fire Officer as suggested in the notice of motion.”

It adds: “Officers have been in contact with the other three local authorities covered by the Mid & West Wales Fire & Rescue Service to ascertain whether they have or are considering offering such a discretionary discount to retained firefighters and these authorities have confirmed that there is no discount offered.”

It is recommended Cabinet reject the motion, but, as part of later discussions that meeting, Cabinet is to consider potential amendments to the Discretionary Discount Policy, which could include that discount.