Fire and Rescue Services: Finance
The question
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.
Answered by Samantha Dixon
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.
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