Concerns have been raised after it was revealed North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service could be forced to borrow up to £31 million to fund new equipment after the government abolished its grant.

Zoe Metcalfe, a Conservative who was elected North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner in November, described the funding settlement for the fire service as “very unfair” and pledged to lobby government for more support.

The service is currently running a deficit of £1 million and will require capital funding to pay for vehicles, maintenance of property and fire kit.

At a meeting today of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel, the commissioner’s office set out provisional plans for increasing the precept paid by council tax payers to fund both police and fire services.

Michael Porter, director of finance at the commissioner’s office, told the meeting that the fire precept can only be increased by 1.99% — which would amount to £1.46 per week — because it is not one of the eight lowest charging services in the country.

He added that there will be no capital grant from government, leaving the service requiring £31.1 million to fund its projects over the next five years.

Mr Porter said:

“The problem with this, which we alluded to earlier, is that there is no capital grant from a fire perspective.

“Almost the entirety of that £31 million would need to be borrowed. Borrowing would need to be around about £25 to £26 million to be able to fund that type of level of investment.

“We will probably get to a point where we have to make some really difficult choices around whether or not we can continue to do something or even be able to do something of this nature.”

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Martin Walker, a co-opted member of the panel, said he was “horrified” by the financial situation the service was in.

He said:

“I have to say that I’m horrified, if that’s not too strong a word, about where the fire service is going to be.

“It’s in desperate need of capital injection and renewing stations, renewing fire engines and renewing all sorts of infrastructure.

“You’re talking about borrowing and having to borrow £30 million. I hesitate to say this, but god help us. 

“The fire service is fighting so hard to provide the service that the public need and yet you’re telling us as a panel that it’s going to get worse, then it will get worse and after that it will get worse.”

Ms Metcalfe sought to reassure the panel and said she was “lobbying government and MPs very hard” over funding for the fire service, which she described as unfair.

She said:

“I am questioning the rationale about how they have come to deciding where we are on that chart [precept level], it does seem very unfair.

“I’m fighting very hard for a fairer funding formula for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.”

Meanwhile, Mr Porter added that there was “strong support” from the public for the precept level to be increased higher than 1.99%.

The commissioner’s office will set its budget for the police and fire service in February.

Harrogate Borough Council is expected to borrow money to fund two projects worth an estimated £26 million as part of its overhaul of leisure services in the district.

The council has linked the investment plan and the part privatisation of the service saying to two come “hand in hand” in order to save money.  However, the reality is that the two don’t necessarily have to be connected and the investment in leisure could happen without the partial privatisation if councillors chose to do this.

Two projects are lined up as part of the proposal, including refurbishing the Harrogate Hydro at a cost of £13.5 million and building a new leisure centre at Conyngham Hall in Knaresborough to replace the current site which is estimated to be £13 million.

The schemes would see an investment in current and new leisure facilities which the council said will help to reduce maintenance costs of the Hydro.

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According to a council report due before cabinet, the authority said borrowing for the projects would help to free up funds for its coronavirus financial recovery plan.

It said: “Given the unfunded nature of the capital strategy, beyond the existing five year programme (2020 to 2025), it would be prudent to fund the two schemes by external borrowing (given the council’s heavily under-borrowed position), though there may be potential to finance the design development from internal borrowing.”

When asked whether the council could invest in its facilities without a company, Councillor Stan Lumley, cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport at the authority, said the two go “hand in hand”.

He said: “The two decisions are separate but they go hand in hand.

“We need to invest in our stock to give us the best chance to save on the service. We looked at every option, compared them with each other and decided that this was the best option not just for the council but for the public.

“In order to free up our ability to provide a service, it has to be a commercial service.”

It comes as the authority’s cabinet will vote on handing over services to an arms-length company called Brimham’s Active on Wednesday in order to save money.

If given the go-ahead, it would mean facilities such as Harrogate Hydro, the Turkish Baths and Ripon Leisure Centre would be run by the new company.

The Turkish Baths, Harrogate, is among the facilities earmarked to be handed over to the council-owned company

The council’s services are currently running at a loss of £3.5 million and some centres and swimming pools in the district have increased in cost year on year.

But the leisure plan has been met with opposition from the community in Starbeck over the future of the 150-year-old swimming pool in the area and union’s raised concern over the authority’s consultation process.

Pat Marsh, leader of the Liberal Democrats group, said the authority needed to arrive at the right decision over the plan.

She said: “We have not been properly briefed on the proposal, so we have questions about it.

“Whatever decision the council makes it has to be right, because this is not a statutory service and the council does not have to run it.”

The Stray Ferret asked Andrew Jones, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, for a comment on the proposal but has not received a response at the time of publication.