Anger at fire chiefs’ £400,000 luxury cars bill

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue is facing a cut of £4.7m from its budget by 2013, and will have to contend with further reductions in later years expected to amount to at least £5.3m.

Despite this, the brigade’s three chief officers expect to be given a car worth more than £40,000 every three years as part of an ongoing agreement, with the latest new models due in the next year.

Next year the brigade has budgeted £120,000 to replace the three “exec team cars”, currently Audi A6s, with £140,000 set aside to replace three years later and £150,000 three years after that.

Yesterday chiefs admitted cash had been earmarked for their cars, but said they were now considering reducing the amount spent to closer to £300,000 and also “currently considering other options”.

A spokesman said: “Since 2005 we have taken steps to significantly lower the specification of the cars provided to senior officers.

“We continually review the provision of officer cars, and we know the amount we spend is at least in line with, and in many cases considerably less than, many other public service organisations.”

Last month, 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 announced 140 job losses and two station closures.

This led to anger and threats of strike action from the Fire Brigades Union.

South Yorkshire FBU spokesman John Gilliver 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.

“Only the other day they removed two fire appliances that could save lives from stations in South Yorkshire to make savings, but they are happy for these executive vehicles to be bought at that cost.”

In North and West Yorkshire, cars are leased, with senior officers given an allowance equivalent to a Skoda Octavia saloon.

Humberside’s three chief officers are provided with cars, with the chief running an Audi A4, the deputy a Volkswagen Passat and the assistant a Skoda Octavia. They keep their vehicles for five years.

Previously, South Yorkshire’s senior officers have been provided with Range Rovers and large BMWs.

Coun Paul Scriven, a former Sheffield Council leader and Liberal Democrat member of South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority, which governs the brigade’s spending, slammed the expense.

He said: “This is the kind of extravagant spending that the authority needs to control and members need to stop just sitting in a corner and being told ‘it’s the terms and conditions of senior officers’.

“At the last fire authority meeting I proposed having one ‘blue light’ service across the whole of South Yorkshire to take in the police, fire and ambulance service.

“This would cut down on the current culture of excessive pay and perks as well as cutting the number of senior managers needed to run these services.

“I personally am appalled that at a time when the Labour-controlled fire authority is closing stations and cutting budgets, it is also talking about putting plush, posh executive cars on the road.”

The vehicle strategy will be considered by authority members today.

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