We wish to notify you of our next Fire Authority meeting on Thursday 8 February 2024 at 10:30am. The meeting will be held in the Council Chamber, Brighton Town Hall, Bartholomew Square, Brighton, BN1 1JA.
Details of the full agenda can be found here:
A key item on the agenda is the Medium Term Financial Plan, including a decision over Council Tax for 2024/25.
The Service is not alone in facing pressure on its budget primarily from inflation on pay and non pay costs and uncertainty on its future funding.
Council Tax is the Service’s primary source of funding and the Fire Authority is being asked to approve an increase of 2.99% (at Band D), the maximum allowed without a referendum.
A balanced budget is proposed for 2024/25 which utilises £1.269m one-off savings and flexibilities.
The savings required to balance the budget for 2025/26 based on current modelling are between £1.9m and £2.5m.
The Fire Authority does not have to take final decisions on its budget for 2025/26 until February 2025. The Senior Leadership Team have been tasked to present options to deliver permanent savings to balance the 2025/26 budget at the earliest opportunity.
Information for the public
East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service welcomes members of the public and the press to attend public sessions of its Fire Authority and Panel meetings. If you have any particular requirements, for example if you require wheelchair access or an induction loop, please contact democraticservices@esfrs.org for assistance.
About the Fire Authority
The primary duties of the Fire Authority are:-
- To provide a Fire Service and to ensure its efficiency
- To provide the efficient training of members of the Service
- To ensure that efficient mobilising and communications arrangements exist
- To make arrangements to obtain information needed for firefighting purposes
- To make arrangements to ensure that the steps are taken to mitigate damage to property through firefighting
- To make arrangements to provide fire safety advice
- To make arrangements to give mutual assistance to other Fire Services
- To ensure that adequate water supplies are available for firefighting purposes