Fire precept may rise 2%
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HALTON councillors will consider a plan from the fire service which proposes increasing its council tax precept by 1.99%.
The safer policy and performance board is to view a draft plan from Cheshire Fire And Rescue Service (CFRS) for 201718.
A consultation on the draft Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) is underway and will last until the start of 2017.
A report prepared for the meeting said the draft IRMP is a second review of CFRS’s response functions to reflect ‘risk and demand’ up to 2020.
It said that proposals in the plan include a poten- tial increase in Cheshire Fire Authority’s council tax share by 1.99%.
Last year for a band D home in Halton, the council tax rate was £1,484.06.
It comprised a Halton Borough Council charge of £1,226.89, an adult social care precept of £24.08, and police and fire charges of £161.23 and £71.86 respectively.
Other proposals included in the draft IRMP include reducing CFRS’s hydraulic platforms from three to two, rolling out a pilot programme to respond to cardiac arrests alongside North West Ambulance Service, and promoting installing sprinkler systems in new schools.
Further proposals include a new policy being developed to reduce the amount of false alarms attended which are caused by automatic fire alarm systems, as well as delivering Safe And Well visits to 40,000 homes across Cheshire to provide fire safety advice and health information to residents.
The report said that the IRMP has followed a programme of change which started in 2013 and led to new fire stations being built in Penketh, Alsager, and near Chester.
The report will be considered at a meeting at Runcorn Town Hall on Tuesday, November 8.
To comment on the draft IRMP visit https:// www. surveymonkey. co.uk/r/DraftIRMP14Plan