Financial
LFR is included within all county council financial procedures including:
- budget setting
- budget monitoring
- production of final accounts
This ensures public money is properly accounted for. The service conducts its activities, as part of the county council, in accordance with its duty under section 3 of the Local Government Act 1999 in respect of ensuring it performs:
- economically
- efficiently
- effectively
The executive director of resources is responsible for preparing our statement of accounts in accordance with proper practices. The purpose of the accounts is to give clear information about our finances to:
- electors
- local taxpayers and service users
- elected members
- employees
- other interested parties
The statement of accounts for 2024 to 2025 has been included with the 2024 to 2025 audited statement of accounts. This is due for publication by 30 November 2025. These accounts, including earlier years, can be found on or website at LCC statement of accounts.
Our financial statements and value for money conclusions are independently audited. No matters have been identified which would prevent the auditors from giving an unqualified:
- opinion on the financial statements
- value for money conclusion
The external auditors present regular planning updates and progress reports to the audit committee. These reports can be viewed at audit committee meetings. When published, the audit opinion can be found within the annual audit letter.
Value for money
Fire and Rescue 2024 to 2025 revenue expenditure budget of £26.5 million was fully utilised with no variances.
There were cost pressures in year of £0.255 million which included the following:
- additional call outs that impacted on pay budgets for flooding incidents in January 2025 - £0.029 million
- new retained firefighter pay rates introduced in January 2025 by the National Joint Council (NJC) impacted on retaining fees, National Insurance and Pension - £0.191 million
- firelink service fees paid to the Home Office being £0.035 million higher than forecast. These cost pressures were funded by a contribution from contingency
Capital spend 2024 to 2025 - £3 million against budget £3.8 million. Control project budget was not fully deployed due to timings of the project (£712,000) over the two financial years. The fleet was also under budget at £94,000. Unspent budget has been carried forward to 2025 to 2026 to ensure delivery.