New figures obtained by the Fire Brigades Union reveal that 12,000 firefighter posts have been lost to cuts since 2010, leaving the UK without the resilience needed to guarantee public safety. (1)

One in five firefighter jobs (21%) across the UK have been axed in the last 14 years. One in three fire control staff, who take emergency calls and mobilise crews, have been cut.

Meanwhile response times to life threatening fires have slowed by three minutes, from 6.11 minutes in 1995 to 9.13 minutes in 2023.

England was the worst impacted, with 10,000 jobs cut (22%). In the same period, Scotland lost 1,400 firefighters (18%), Wales lost 500 (13%), and Northern Ireland lost over 200 (12%). 

12 fire and rescue services in England have lost a quarter or more of their workforce. The worst hit service was Buckinghamshire, which has been cut by over 40%.

The FBU has also found that 4,000 firefighters have both a full time and an on-call contract, meaning that they will be counted as two firefighters in the data. This double counting means that the numbers employed and available at any one time are significantly lower than official figures suggest.

Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary said:

Fourteen years of austerity have devastated the fire and rescue service. Every region has been hit, with 12,000 firefighters lost to cuts across the UK.

With flooding, wildfires and storms on the rise as a result of the climate emergency, firefighters are being asked to do more with less. 999 response times are slower than ever before, putting homes and lives at risk.

To protect the public, Labour must invest in the fire and rescue service as a matter of urgency.”

Data is from Home Office, Stats Wales, SFRS, NIFRS and FBU Freedom of information requests. 2024 figures except for Nottinghamshire, London, Avon, who failed to provide these.