Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, from what year the population data used to calculate fire service funding is taken from.

The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement, including funding for Fire and Rescue Authorities is distributed through the Settlement Funding Assessment. This formula was introduced in 2013-14 and is based on the 2013 population projections from the 2011 census data. The formula also includes other variables that have a population measure in them such as density and sparsity which uses a mix of 2001 and 2011 census data.

The previous government committed to improving and updating the way in which local authorities are funded through the “Fair Funding Review” but this was not delivered. We will make good on this commitment and implement long-awaited reforms through a multi-year settlement in 2026-27.

As a core part of this plan, the government is committed to introducing an improved and updated approach to funding local authorities from 2026-27 and endeavours to use the most up to date data as part of the fundamental improvements we will make.