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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that fire and rescue services have the (a) personnel and (b) life saving equipment they need to safely respond to incidents of (i) flooding, (ii) wildfires and (iii) other extreme weather events.

The 2025/26 Local Government Finance Settlement, published on 3 February by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG), sets out funding allocations for all local authorities, including Fire and Rescue Authorities. Standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities will see an increase in core spending power of £65.5m in 2025/26. Including the National Insurance Contribution Grant, this is an increase of 3.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2024/25. Decisions on how their resources are best deployed to meet their core functions are a matter for each Fire and Rescue Authority.

MHCLG also supports fire and rescue authorities in responding to flood incidents by providing national resilience High Volume Pump (HVP) capability comprising 45 HVPs.

Additionally, since 2024 the government has funded a national resilience wildfire advisor to consider whether additional national wildfire capabilities might be needed within the Fire and Rescue Services and to increase the coordination approaches across the sector.

The Government will continue to work closely with stakeholders across the sector to ensure Fire and Rescue Services have the resources they need to protect communities.