Military Aid: Fire and Rescue Services
(asked on 29th May 2026) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of tasking the Royal Air Force with providing a national aerial firefighting capability in the United Kingdom to combat wildfires.
Answered by
Al Carns
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
This question was answered on 8th June 2026
Fire and Rescue Services in England are the responsibility of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and is a devolved matter in the rest of the United Kingdom.
Any Defence support to Fire and Rescue Services would be considered under the Military Aid to the Civil Authorities (MACA) process, which ensures Defence capability and capacity are protected for core tasks.