Fuel-rise impact on ambulances exposed

 

Using the Freedom of Information Act, Plaid has obtained the annual petrol and diesel costs of the four Welsh police forces, three fire services in Wales and the Welsh Ambulance Trust for the last five years.

 

An extra £1.8 million was spent on fuelling Welsh ambulances in 2010/11 compared to five years ago.  

 

The fuel bill for Dyfed-Powys Police surpassed the £1 million mark in the last financial year when it was £839,000 in 2006/07.

 

The Mid and West Wales Fire Service spent over £459,000 on fuel costs in 2010-11.

 

Simon Thomas AM said the figures show that the rising cost of oil on the global market is having a major impact on the budgets of our emergency services at a time when investment in public services have been cut.

 

The Plaid Mid and West Wales AM said:

 

“Everybody knows the cost of fuel when they are filling up their own tanks at the pumps. This is why Plaid has campaigned for a fuel duty regulator to keep costs down.  The rise in fuel costs also has an impact on our emergency services. 

 

“In spite of measures being taken by all of the emergency services to lessen their fuel consumption, the cost of keeping their fleets of vehicles running is swallowing up an increasing part of their budget. This inevitably will have wide-ranging consequences on the operational capacity of our emergency services.”