Fire Chiefs have welcomed the Government’s finalised three‑year funding settlement for fire and rescue services, which includes a strengthened funding floor for 2026/27. Underpinned by an additional £15 million for standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities, the settlement will ensure an increase in core spending power next year. This improved position reflects sustained and constructive engagement by the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), alongside valuable interventions from local MPs and representative bodies who helped champion the sector’s needs. NFCC understands that the additional funding will be targeted towards those services most at risk, where funding inequities have been greatest. NFCC says that while this marks a positive step forward and shows the Government is listening, long‑term investment remains essential to ensure services can meet increasingly complex risks and future demands.

The settlement confirms several important reforms for fire and rescue services, including:

• Greater council tax flexibility: standalone fire and rescue authorities will be able to increase council tax precepts by up to £5 per year for a Band D property.
  • A strengthened funding floor: authorities applying the full £5 rise will receive at least an uplift in core spending power, providing improved protection against cost pressures.

The uplift in the funding floor follows extensive advocacy by NFCC, local parliamentarians and representative bodies who highlighted the operational pressures on fire and rescue services. Earlier proposals risked real‑terms reductions following a decade of cuts, but collective engagement has helped secure a more equitable outcome. While the provisional settlement before Christmas introduced inflation‑level increases, NFCC continued to press for additional headroom to reflect inflation and rising operational costs.

National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) Chair, Phil Garrigan, said:

“We welcome the Government’s decision to strengthen the funding floor with the provision of an additional £15 million – a clear improvement on the provisional position and a reflection of sustained, constructive engagement between NFCC, government, local MPs and representative bodies.

“After a decade of cuts, services were facing further real‑terms reductions. The reforms announced before Christmas were welcomed, but we were clear they did not go far enough in recognising unavoidable pressures and rising demand. The Government has listened, and this revised settlement offers greater stability and capacity to protect the public.

“This is an important step forward, but long‑term underinvestment – particularly the loss of almost £1bn in capital funding, a significant reduction in firefighter numbers and the previous disinvestment in the central co-ordination of the sector – must now be addressed. Securing sustainable investment for the future is the next priority.”

NFCC has consistently highlighted the cumulative impact of underinvestment and the risks associated with further cuts. Earlier proposals linked to the Fair Funding Review 2.0 raised concerns about an over‑reliance on population growth, which risked disadvantaging areas with slower population change but higher risk profiles – including chemical sites, high‑rise buildings and areas of deprivation, particularly in the North East. NFCC modelling indicated potential real‑terms cuts of up to £102 million under initial proposals.

Following interventions led by Fire Chiefs and supported by parliamentary representatives, the Government increased the funding floor by 2.2% in December. NFCC continued to advocate for a settlement that fully reflected inflation and other pressures, leading to today’s confirmation of an increased uplift met with additional funding.

Because the uplift is dependent on fire and rescue authorities adopting the full £5 council tax flexibility, NFCC is encouraging authorities to make full use of this option. For county‑council‑run fire and rescue services, the financial arrangements are more complex and fire and rescue services in those areas rely on local decisions to ensure a similar level of protection. NFCC is seeking support from all those governing fire and rescue authorities to make local decisions that support the ongoing resilience of these services.

Government data shows fire and rescue services in England responded to 642,170 incidents in the year to September 2025 – a 28% rise over the past decade – while wholetime firefighter numbers have fallen by 25% since 2008 (around 11,000 posts). At the same time, services are managing increasingly complex challenges linked to climate change, new energy technologies, and an expanded civil resilience role.

Fire Chiefs remain committed to meeting these challenges, appreciating the positive intervention by government but recognising that ageing estates, outdated infrastructure and historic financial pressures continue to limit progress. NFCC is urging the Government to build on today’s settlement with a long‑term investment strategy that ensures fire and rescue services are properly equipped to keep communities safe and resilient – now and in the years ahead.

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Notes to editor

• The final local government finance settlement 2026/27 to 2028/29 can be found here. This sets out (see page 6 of the Explanatory note on transition arrangements here) the provision of an additional £15 million to ensure standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities see a Core Spending Power increase.
• Fire and rescue services in England are carried out by standalone fire authorities in some areas, and by upper tier authorities in other areas in which fire and rescue is one of a range of local services delivered by the authority.
• In 2025, NFCC commissioned Somerset Council to model the impact of the Fair Funding Review 2.0 on fire and rescue authorities. The modelling was based on a series of assumptions as not enough information had emerged from government yet to fully understand the full impact of the Spending Review and Fair Funding Review 2.0. The modelling looked at both government grant funding and core spending power (grant funding plus council tax). This modelling showed that standalone fire and rescue authorities were facing £102 million real terms cut due to Government funding plans. Further information can be found here.
• The latest fire and rescue incident statistics (year ending September 2025) can be found here.
• The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) is a charity and an independent membership association and the professional voice of the UK Fire and Rescue Service. NFCC supports fire and rescue services to help them to save lives and keep their local communities safe.