A government minister has said that funding of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue is adequate, despite concerns over cuts to its capital grant.

In a written question to the Home Office, York MP Racheal Maskell asked the government whether it had carried out an assessment of the adequacy of the service’s funding.

She also asked what the anticipated funding for the service will be over the next three years.

The question comes as ministers cut North Yorkshire’s capital grant, meaning it could have to borrow up to £31 million to cover maintenance costs.

In response, Kit Malthouse, minister of state at the Home Office, said:

“Fire and rescue services including North Yorkshire FRS have the resources they need to do their important work.

“In 2022-23, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority has a core spending power of £33.5m, an increase of £1.4m (4.5%) compared to 2021-22.

“The government is committed to ensuring that funding allocations for fire and rescue authorities are based on an up-to-date assessment of their needs and resources.”

Read more:

• Fire Brigades Union ‘seriously concerned’ over cuts to Harrogate service
• Harrogate firefighter brands plans to rely on one fire engine ‘farcical’
• Harrogate fire station changes won’t increase risk to life, says commissioner

The response comes as unions have raised concern over the fire service’s finances.

The cut to the service’s capital grant is worth around £8 million a year.

Steve Howley, Fire Brigades Union North Yorkshire brigade secretary, said previously that the service would be left snuggling to buy basics as a result of the cut.

Meanwhile, in an interview with the Stray Ferret last week, Zoe Metcalfe, North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, described the cut as “very unfair”.

She added that she was “working hard for additional funding” to ensure the service was not in a position outlined by the unions.

Coronavirus test results in North Yorkshire are taking “far too long”, according to a shadow minister.

Rachael Maskell, Labour MP for York Central and shadow minister for digital, culture, media and sport, told the House of Commons yesterday only 16% of test results in North Yorkshire were being returned after 24 hours.

She added 60 per cent were returned in 48 hours and 96% after 72 hours, quoting figures from North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which is a partnership of organisations that tackles emergencies in the county.

Ms Maskell told MPs during the covid debate:

“That is too long to wait to lock down the virus.

“If we could process those tests locally—test locally and process locally—we could have the results overnight.”

Read more:

• Lockdown ‘at worst possible time for retail’ says Harrogate bookshop
• Andrew Jones MP criticised for lockdown U-turn

Ms Maskell said a localised system of public health, rather than the current service provided by Serco under contract from the Department of Health and Social Care, would provide a quicker and more effective response. She said:

“A quick response is key to getting on top of the virus—testing quickly, contact tracing quickly and isolating the virus quickly.”

‘We recognise there is more to be done’

The Stray Ferret asked the DHSC to respond to Ms Maskell.

It referred us to comments last week from Baroness Dido Harding, interim executive chair of the National Institute for Health Protection, which acknowledged turnaround times could be better.

Baroness Harding said:

“As the number of cases rise, we are seeing NHS test and trace processing more tests and reaching more people than ever before.

“We are expanding the reach of our service and improving performance in key areas such as turnaround times for tests as we continue to increase capacity, but we recognise there is more to be done.”

A permanent coronavirus testing centre was set up in the Harrogate District last month.

The Dragon Road site, which is managed by Serco, is capable of carrying out up to 320 tests per day and operates seven days a week.

A Serco spokesperson said:

“Serco does manage the test site but we do not manage the processing of the tests and the results, or the laboratories. That is all managed by others.”