North Yorkshire's Mayor has approved a 28.9% increase in the fire service element of council tax.
Mayor David Skaith has used his powers to set the budgets and raise funds for North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service following his recent consultation.
The York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority today (Friday 7 February 2025) approved the Mayor’s General Budget, which encompasses funding for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. This follows the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel's expression of support for the proposed fire and rescue budget and approval of the police and crime budget at their meeting yesterday.
The approved budgets are part funded through the ‘precept’ collected via the council tax paid for by the public.
The police element of the council tax will increase by £14 for Band D properties, and the fire and rescue element will increase by £24 for Band D properties.
When residents receive their council tax bills, the budgets will be as follows:
- The Police Element of the Council Tax within York and North Yorkshire for 2025/26, for a Band D property will be set at £320.86. This is an increase of £14, or 4.56%, over the 2024/25 level.
- The Fire Element of the Mayoral General Precept within York and North Yorkshire for 2025/26, for a Band D property will be set at £107.02. This is an increase of £24, or 28% over the 2024/25 level.
David Skaith, Mayor for York and North Yorkshire said:
“Ensuring communities across York and North Yorkshire are safe places for all is my top priority.
“I have heard residents and businesses loud and clear; I am determined to improve public confidence in policing and ensure our fire services long-term sustainability.
“Asking residents to pay more towards our police and fire services is not a decision I have taken lightly.
“As your Mayor, and for the first time here in York and North Yorkshire, I’ve had greater flexibility in setting the fire budget than previous Commissioners. This has enabled me to redress the massive under investment I inherited, whilst balancing the responsibility of ensuring communities are safe, and ensuring the financial security of our fire and rescue service. It will allow for investment to improve all areas of the Service including estates, equipment, firefighter safety and training.
“The public deserve the best quality emergency services, that starts with an effectively resourced service.
“The increase to the police and fire budgets will support the services to be stronger and more resilient in the future”.
Jo Coles, Deputy Mayor for Policing, Fire and Crime said:
”New investment into our police and fire services will enable the Mayor and I to deliver on the public’s priorities for these services; building public confidence through improvements to neighbourhood policing, tackling violence against women and girls and delivering much needed investment into early intervention and prevention services.
“North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service has been underinvested in over many years leaving the service extremely vulnerable.
“With increasing pressures on the fire service, such as extreme weather events, flooding and wildfires, the public rightly expects us to be able to deliver a service that keeps them safe.“The Mayor and I continue to prioritise that as well as ensuring our local services deliver value for taxpayer money.”
The Mayor held a public consultation in December and January to discover how much residents are willing to pay for their police and fire services, as part of their council tax.
3,311 responses were collected with feedback being supportive of an increase for both police and fire services.
- Fire precept - The majority of respondents (67%) supported an increase of at least £15. Just over one-third (35%) supported an increase of up to £24.
- Police precept - The majority of respondents (66%) supported an increase of at least £14, the most popular option being an increase of up to £18 (44%).
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