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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether additional funding is being considered for fire and rescue authorities facing heightened wildfire risk.

On 9 February 2026, the Ministry published the 2026/27 Local Government Finance Settlement which sets out funding allocations for all local authorities including fire and rescue.

(a) In 2026/27, Cumbria Fire and Rescue Authority will have a core spending power of £32.71 million, an increase of 3.8% compared to 2025/26.

(b) The Settlement will make available almost £1.95 billion in core spending power for standalone fire and rescue authorities in England (excluding North Yorkshire and Greater Manchester), an average 4.71% increase compared to 2025/26. By the end of the multi-year period, we will have provided a 12.75% increase in core spending power compared to 2025/26.

Decisions on how their resources are best deployed to meet their core functions, including wildfire risk, are a matter for each fire and rescue authority.

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.