TAXPAYERS in Hull and the East Riding are being asked to put up more money to improve fire safety.
Humberside Fire and Rescue Service is asking the public to pay extra on their council tax bill to help meet rising costs.
On the face of it a fairly uncontentious issue: firemen (by which I include both genders, it pains me to have to say it but otherwise someone will pull me up on it) put their lives on the line every day coming to the rescue of people in fires and road traffic accidents, they deserve to be funded appropriately.
But wait a second, let's look a little closer at why they are asking for the money:
A four per cent rise would cost the taxpayer and extra 25p per month raising £876,000 for the service - which could provide 33,000 home safety checks.
Yes, that's right, it's not about paying firemen or providing extra equipment, it's about doing 33,000 "home safety checks". Well, maybe that's a good thing, helping to reduce the number of domestic fires by checking people's homes (ignoring the obvious concept that maybe people should take responsibility for their own homes). But wait, what does the Humberside Fire & Rescue Service Best Value Performance Summary 2008/09 say about home safety checks?
Our efforts to reduce the number of [accidental fires in dwellings] by undertaking Home Fire Safety Checks and other community safety activities have shown little success.
Does this mean that Humberside Fire & Rescue shouldn't get any more money? Of course not, but it does mean that before agreeing to increases in funding a slightly more convincing justification of where these funds are going to be allocated is required. As everyone else in the public sector and the council tax payers are preparing for a massive belt tightening exercise, can part or all of these increases in spending be be offset by savings within the organisation? Let's hope more details will be forthcoming as park of the consultation process.
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