Fire and rescue response times in England for the year ending March 2024 reinforce the need for national standards, the FBU has warned.
The average total response time to primary fires in England was nine minutes and three seconds, only 10 seconds better than last year’s figure, which was the slowest on record. Of the average total response time, call handling accounted for 16%, crew turnout accounted for 17% and drive time accounted for 68%.
Official figures only cover the attendance times for the first appliance, despite the fact that many emergency incidents require a larger attendance.
Response times are significantly slower than 30 years ago. In 1994-95, the average response time to a primary fire was six minutes, 11 seconds. All fire and rescue services, urban and rural, have seen deteriorating response times in recent decades. The FBU has for many years called for national standards of fire cover to prevent fire and rescue services setting their own standards and failing to meet their own targets.
This year, response times slowed in services including Avon, Berkshire, Cleveland, Cornwall, Cumbria, Devon, Essex, Gloucestershire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and Oxfordshire.
Cuts to firefighter jobs, fire stations and appliances have resulted in reduced fire cover in many areas, with firefighters having to travel greater distances to attend fires. His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services has recognised the post-code lottery of fire cover, finding that standards “vary considerably across England, so what you can expect in one service differs from what another would provide a few miles away across a border”.
Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, said:
The fire and rescue service is in crisis after years of austerity and fragmentation. While we face the flooding, wildfires and extreme weather of the climate emergency, we have lost one in five firefighters to cuts.
Fewer resources mean that fire engines take far longer to arrive at a fire than in the 1990s, and fire services’ capacity varies wildly by region. Last years’ response times, the slowest in recent records, should have been a wake-up call.The government must deliver on promises to end the fire cover post-code lottery through a statutory advisory body, and provide the urgent investment needed to protect homes and lives.”
