Tory 'blue light bombshell' as emergency services face £144million fuel and insurance bill

The Lib Dems want emergency service vehicles to be given discounted rates on fuel

Emergency services face paying £24.6million more for fuel and insurance than five years ago as costs surge.

Figures obtained through freedom of information requests reveal blue light responders have shelled out £549million since 2018/19. But this year, emergency services are predicted to pay £144million for fuel and insurance – a £24.6 million, or 21% increase in the annual spend.

Over the past five years, ambulance services have paid £229 million in fuel and insurance whilst police services have paid £132 million and the fire services have paid £188 million.

Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael said: “Our emergency services are facing a blue light bill bombshell. They are already at breaking point, and thanks to this Conservative Government’s economic mismanagement, they are being saddled with eye-watering bills on top of it.”

The Lib Dems want emergency service vehicles to be given discounted rates on fuel paid for by a windfall tax on profits of oil and gas giants. The party wants to raise the rate from the current 35% to 40%, which it claims would raise an additional £15billion.

Oil prices jumped following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, leading to a surge in petrol costs. Prices surged again after the attacks by Houthi rebels on cargo ships in the Red Sea. But in the Budget earlier this month, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt once again extended the 5p cut in fuel duty introduced by Rishi Sunak in 2022.

The Government was contacted for comment.