Striking firefighters have not saved West Yorkshire’s fire service any money.
The brigade says the cost of providing emergency cover during the repeated walk outs up the end of the strikes in August 2014 is £819,000.
Members of the brigade’s Finance and Resources Committee received an update on brigade budgets in a report.
Papers show there is forecast to be a £1.2m underspend in the financial year, the result of industrial action, a number of retirements and savings on premises costs, among others.
Had there been no industrial action, the under spend would have been £2m.
The brigade spent £819,000 on providing cover for the striking firefighters, who took action in a dispute with the government over proposed pension changes, plus other associated costs such as training.
A spokeswoman for West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “WYFRS has made no savings as a result of industrial action.
“The employee-related cost of industrial action from the start of the current financial year, up the end of the strikes in August 2014, is £698k.
“During industrial action, we incur the cost of paying employees overtime to cover the strike as well as paying Community Response Operatives, who provide stand-in cover as part of our contingency arrangements.
“The ‘savings’ made by not paying those who are striking has already been deducted from this figure giving a net cost.
“However, the complete cost of industrial action from the start of the current financial year, up the end of the strikes in August 2014, is £819k.
“This includes not just employee related cost but all costs associated with industrial action from increased media advertising to catering and transport costs.”
West Yorkshire fire service has provided a minimum of 20 pumps during the 47 periods of industrial action over the last 15 months. Some of the walk outs have been for a number of hours, but the most recent was a four-day walk out.
