Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has issued guidance on the criteria to be used to determine when to use a helicopter to help put out moorland fires.

Fire and Rescue Services are operationally independent in England. Each fire and rescue authority is required to plan for the foreseeable risks in their area (including wildfire), through their Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) while having regard to the views of other key local responders. The Government does not issue guidance on the operational use of helicopters.

Fire and Rescue Services undertake a range of activities alongside local partners, including prevention and educational activities. Additionally, Defra encourage landowners and land managers to adopt good quality wildfire management plans, use sustainable land management practices that reduce fuel loads and restore their peatland – wetter, healthy-functioning peatlands are more resilient to the risk of wildfire.

In 24/25, the Home Office is funding a new National Resilience Wildfire Advisor to assess what additional wildfire national capabilities might be needed to increase resilience to the wildfire risk and to ensure coordination of approaches across the sector.