Firefighters are right to say that the people of York ‘deserve better’ (Plans to axe full-time firefighters will risk public safety, June 9).

Not only does York deserve better, but it should also expect an appropriate return for the amount of funding it puts into North Yorkshire Fire Services.

York residents currently contribute more than £5m per year in council tax payments to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service - this is almost a quarter of all receipts raised across the whole region from council tax.

Further to this, York’s business rates contributions total a third of all business rate receipts that fund the service, another £1m from our city.

And yet the proposals that the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner is consulting on - namely, to remove the full-time crewed engine from Huntington Station - highlights how York residents face the unnerving prospect of significant increases to the time it takes for a fire engine to arrive at an incident.

For this to be suggested as an ‘increased availability’ is all the more absurd. This could be the difference between life and death. These cuts to fire engines in York will put more lives at risk and they need to be roundly opposed.

Cllr Danny Myers (Labour), St Olaves Road, York

 

Join us in our march for pensioners' rights

As inflation rises to its highest level in 40 years, households are struggling financially with rising energy and food prices.

The average price of food - including most staple foods such as milk, bread, and margarine - has risen by 6.7 per cent in a year.

The Government acknowledges that the poorest working families and those unable to work bear the heaviest burden of 10.9 per cent inflation. But older people are also being put at great risk due to the current economic crisis.

The situation for pensioners deteriorated as the triple lock policy was watered down and the state pension only went up 3.1 per cent in April. The rise in state pension is nowhere enough to cover basic needs for older people for heating their homes and eating enough and some are paying other bills such as rent.

There are 12.5 million people on the state pension of £185.15 per week. The minimum standard for an acceptable standard of living is £12,800 a year. Those on lower pension incomes can claim pension credit but still suffer hardship.

Older pensioners suffer from poor health later in life and often have multiple problems including a loss of mobility and experience loneliness.

The TUC is holding a national London rally “We demand better” on June 18 for workers.

The Yorkshire branch of the National Pensioners Confederation, meanwhile, is holding an alternative rally with their demands in Dortmund Square in Central Leeds on Wednesday 15 June at 12.00 for pensioners and those that cannot manage to travel to the London rally.

Gwen Vardigans, Carron Crescent, Woodthorpe