U-turn on £400,000 luxury car scheme for fire chiefs

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue has previously announced it will be closing fire stations and cutting staff numbers to try to cope with Government-imposed budget cuts of £4.7m by 2013.

Despite this, at a meeting yesterday, the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority was set to agree a budget of £120,000 in the next financial year to replace the three “exec team cars”, currently Audi A6s, with £140,000 set aside to replace the vehicles again three years later and £150,000 three years after that.

After the Yorkshire Post revealed the plans, Coun Paul Scriven put forward a motion to rethink the proposals. It was seconded by fellow Liberal Democrat Coun Colin Ross and passed unanimously.

Coun Scriven said: “It beggars belief that the Labour-run fire authority would splash money on BMWs, Audi A6s, and other posh cars. They should be making sure that as much money as possible goes to the front line.”

South Yorkshire FBU spokesman John Gilliver had criticised the proposals. Speaking before the meeting, he said: “Throughout the cuts process they have asked everyone from firefighters to the public to moderate their expectations but it is clear that they are not prepared to moderate their own.”

Last month, the Fire Brigades Union in South Yorkshire said it would be considering strike action after fire service chiefs agreed a 3.95 per cent increase in the brigade’s share of council tax in what they called an “insurance policy” against further cuts, and also announced 140 job losses and two station closures.