Calls for council tax vote over fire service funds

Calls have been made to launch a referendum to raise council tax above the usual limit to secure extra funding for Hampshire's fire and rescue service.

The suggestion comes as the fire authority faces a growing budget gap over the next three years.

According to the latest Quarter Two Budget Update, £1.7m of in-year savings and a planned £1.8m draw from the Budget Equalisation Reserve are being used to balance the 2025/26 budget, while a £2.911m funding gap is forecast for 2026/27.

At a recent meeting of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority, the chief financial officer Rob Sarfas warned that relying on reserves is only a temporary solution.

Mr Sarfas said: "Using reserves to balance the budget is an appropriate solution in the short term but isn't something that's financially sustainable on an ongoing basis."

Officers are expected to recommend a council tax rise in February, based on the government's assumption that fire authorities will increase council tax to the maximum amount allowed without holding a referendum.

Hampshire County councillor Zoe Huggins said the future looks "uncertain, critical and hard", not just for this service but for fire services across the country.

Cllr Louise Paker Jones said years of austerity had left the authority with little choice but to keep cutting. She criticised the government for assuming council tax increases and basing funding on that expectation, calling the approach "absolutely obscene".

To tackle the situation, Cllr David Harrison suggested a referendum could be an option if residents were clearly told how extra money would improve public safety.

He said: "We are reaching a point where we will not have the necessary resources and our future as a sustainable organisation is seriously at risk.

"We've been doing cuts for years and years now, and I think there must be a risk that we will make a cut that will have very severe consequences. I don't want to do that. I don't want to be party to it.

"The traditional thinking is that we shouldn't go to a referendum because, number one, people don't generally vote to pay more tax. Number two, it is very expensive to hold a referendum."

He said people understand the value of the fire service and may support a small increase if they know what it would pay for.

"If we made it very clear why we need the extra money, what it will achieve in terms of their safety, I think we can make a really compelling case," he said.

Cllr Harrison added that holding a referendum at the same time as the county council elections in May 2026 could reduce costs.

However, Cllr Stephen Parker warned that a referendum would be a financial gamble and could leave the authority in a worse position if it failed.

He said: "The difficulty of a referendum is that you have to bet some millions of pounds to run a referendum in the hope that you win.

"If we lose, we've lost some millions of pounds from our budget. Whilst we are in difficulties now, we'll be in a couple of million pounds more difficulty once we've done the referendum. That's the challenge and the bet.

"Are we prepared to take that bet?"

Committee chairman Councillor Rhydian Vaughan MBE said he was concerned that launching a referendum would then give the government "less" incentive to get the authority less money, "that's my worry" he said.