Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking steps to address funding shortfalls faced by Essex County Fire and Rescue Service in the context of the redistribution of the (a) Funding Guarantee Scheme and (b) Services Grant.

Funding allocations for 2025/26 will be set out at the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement in December 2024.

The Government has guaranteed that no local authority will see a reduction in their Core Spending Power in 2025-26 after taking account of any increase in council tax levels by applying a funding floor. This will provide the protections required for authorities to sustain their services between years, whilst recognising that we must begin the process of redirecting as much funding as possible towards the services and places that need it most.