Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the number of firefighters on average response times to fire and rescue-related emergency calls.

The government is committed to ensuring fire services have the resources they need to do their important work and to keep the public safe. In 2023/24, fire and rescue authorities will receive around £2.6 billion.

Decisions on how their resources, including staff, are best deployed to meet their core functions including crewing and meeting response times, is a matter for each fire and rescue authority, based on risks identified within local Community Risk Management Plans (CRMPs).