Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what comparative assessment she has made of the effect of the Government's decision to introduce a percentage increase to fire authority precepts instead of an (a) absolute value increase or (b) a hybrid of the two models on fire authorities which deliver upper quartile level performance at a lower quartile precept.

The Government published the final Settlement for 2021/22 on the 3^rd February, including a 2% referendum principle for all fire and rescue authorities. This decision was made after careful consideration of all consultation responses received in response to the provisional settlement. These referendum proposals were approved by the House of Commons on the 10 February, confirming that standalone FRAs’ core spending power will increase next year by 2.6%.

When setting the package of referendum principles for any given year, the Government aims to strike a balance between allowing local government the flexibility to address specific pressures and protecting council tax payers from excessive increases. In taking these decisions, the Government considers a range of factors, including the expenditure pressures for each authority type, other available revenue sources, the views of the sector, the broader economic position and the overall impact on taxpayers.

Referendum principles for future years will be determined at each annual Settlement, in the context of the broader economy at the time and the relevant Spending Review.