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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to work with relevant authorities to prevent wildfires.

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), and having regard to the views of other key local responders.

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is the lead government department for wildfire response (from 1 April 2025) and owns the National Risk Register (NRR) wildfire risk, however a coordinated approach is essential to mitigate the impact on people, property, habitats, livestock, natural capital and wildlife, and to plan the most effective response to incidents. MHCLG maintains regular engagement with other government departments including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Cabinet Office, along with National Bodies including the National Fire Chiefs Council and England and Wales Wildfire Forum to monitor and review sector led improvements and mitigations. Since 2024 the government has funded a 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.

In December 2021 the Home Office, as the former lead government department for wildfire, published the Wildfire Framework for England. The framework identifies responsibilities, clarifies relationships, and facilitates coordination at the government level and between key wildfire stakeholders, in England.

As outlined in the Wildfire Framework for England, Defra maintain responsibility for the review of land management inputs for fuel load management, and for the promotion of wildfire mitigation and adaptation planning to land managers. Landowners and land managers are encouraged to adopt good quality wildfire management plans, use sustainable methods to manage habitat and restore their peatland – wetter, healthy-functioning peatlands are more resilient to the risk of wildfire.