Fire and rescue must not be the forgotten emergency service, fire chiefs warn ahead of Spending Review

1. Fire and rescue services are estimated to have lost almost £1billion in capital investment in the last decade.
2. Fire and rescue services in England responded to 600,185 incidents last year – an increase of 100,000 (20%) compared to a decade ago (2014).
3. 211,631 non-fire incidents were responded to – 83,143 (65%) more than 2014.
4. An increase in collaboration with other emergency services (11% rise in the last year) is driving up the number of non-fire incidents attended by fire and rescue services.
5. Firefighter numbers in England are down by 25% since 2008 – the equivalent of 11,000 wholetime firefighters.

Fire and rescue must not be the forgotten emergency service, fire chiefs are warning ahead of the upcoming spending review. The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) says that fire and rescue services are under increasing pressure, responding to significantly more 999 incidents despite a shrinking workforce. With fire and rescue services also at the forefront of responding to growing risks such as climate change and emerging energy technology, as well as being increasingly called upon to support other emergency services, NFCC says that underinvestment in fire will also undermine national resilience.

Analysis of Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) data shows that fire and rescue services in England responded to 600,185 incidents in the year ending December 2024 – a 20% increase compared to 10 years ago (499,934). But this is against a backdrop of falling firefighter numbers, which have fallen in England by 25% since 2008, the equivalent of 11,000 wholetime firefighters.

Fire and rescue services attended 136,702 fires last year, a decrease of 11% compared with 10 years ago. By comparison, that same period saw non-fire incidents rise by 65%, from 128,488 in 2014 to 211,631 in 2024.

Much of this increase is driven by collaboration with other emergency services and growing public health challenges. In 2024, fire and rescue services attended 72,694 collaboration incidents – an 11% rise on the previous year and the highest number since records began in 2010. This includes incidents involving assisting other agencies and effecting entry/exit. It also includes responding to suicide-related incidents, which have increased from 1,119 in 2014 to 3,184 in 2024 – a staggering 184% rise.

Climate change is also reshaping the role of fire and rescue services in England:

1. The number of flooding incidents fire and rescue services respond to has increased from a 5-year rolling average of 13,854 between 2012 and 2019, to a 16,412 rolling average between 2019 and 2024 (an 18% rise).
2. Fire and rescue services have responded to 225 wildfires so far this year (as of 27 May 2025). That is over 100 more than for the same period in 2022 (106), which went on to be a record year for wildfires. It is also almost 562% more than the number responded to in the same period last year (34).

Estimates from NFCC show that fire and rescue services have lost almost £1billion since the previous government removed capital funding grant in 2014/15. This has meant services have been unable to maintain or modernise aging infrastructure, including fire stations.

National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) Chair, Phil Garrigan, said:

“These figures are unequivocal – fire and rescue services are busier now than they were 10 years ago, and we are taking on more responsibility, not less. The risks faced are now more challenging and more complex. Despite this fact, we are seeing firefighter numbers falling, whereas all other public services are seeing their numbers return to pre-austerity levels.

“Our work to support our blue light colleagues is crucial in maintaining public safety and we welcome the opportunity to make a real difference but, if it is to be sustained against a backdrop of increasing demand, we need to see investment back into the fire and rescue service.

“If we leave fire and rescue services without proper financial support and investment, we risk undermining public and firefighter safety. When it comes to wildfires, flooding and terrorism – fire and rescue services are right at the heart of the response. If we fail to invest, then we need to be prepared to answer to the communities that rely on these services in their greatest time of need.

“The world has changed, and we cannot rely on an outdated funding model that has removed all capital funding and hasn’t responded to a changing demand profile or the impact of the climate change crisis to underpin a service as crucial as fire and rescue.”

NFCC

See Full Bio