Official Statistics

Fire and rescue workforce and pensions statistics: England, April 2020 to March 2021

Updated 5 November 2021

Applies to England

Frequency of release: Annual

Forthcoming releases: Home Office statistics release calendar

Home Office responsible statistician: Tom Cracknell

Press enquiries: pressoffice@homeoffice.gov.uk

Telephone: 0300 123 3535

Public enquiries: firestatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk

This release presents workforce and pensions statistics for Fire and Rescue Services in England and covers two time periods, as at 31 March 2021 and the financial year 2020 to 2021 (1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021). The release includes information on total workforce numbers, workforce diversity, leavers and joiners, pension fund income and expenditure, pension schemes membership, firefighter injuries and attacks on firefighters.

Key results

31,547 staff (FTE) were employed as firefighters on 31 March 2021. This is a one per cent decrease compared with the previous year (31,912 in 2020). Since 2011 the number of firefighters has decreased by 23 per cent whilst the total number of incidents and fires attended has decreased by 20 per cent and 34 per cent respectively.

As at 31 March 2021, 7.5 per cent (2,640) of firefighters[footnote 1] of known gender were women compared with 7.0 per cent (2,461) in the previous year and 5.0 per cent (1,817) five years ago.

During the financial year 2020 to 2021 there were a total of 2,166 firefighter injuries, twelve per cent fewer than in the previous year (2,466) and seventeen per cent lower than five years previously (2,602).

This section covers information on the total FRS workforce, leavers, joiners and apprentices. The total workforce subsection covers Full Time Equivalent (FTE) figures as at 31 March 2021. The leavers, joiners and apprentices subsections provide headcount figures that cover the financial year 2020 to 2021 and as at 31 March 2021.

Key results

As at 31 March 2021:

  • 40,029 staff (FTE) were employed by Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs), similar to the previous year (40,149), a five per cent decrease compared with five years ago (42,012) and a 21 per cent decrease compared with ten years ago (50,908)

  • 31,547 staff (FTE) were employed as firefighters, a one per cent decrease compared with the previous year (31,912), an eight per cent decrease compared with five years ago (34,128) and a 23 per cent decrease compared with ten years ago (41,072)

During the financial year 2020 to 2021:

  • a similar number of staff left FRSs as joined. 3,522 staff left (8% of the headcount at 31 March 2020) and 3,452 staff joined (8% of the 31 March 2021 headcount)

  • the most common reason for leaving was ‘normal’ or ‘early’ retirement which accounted for 35 per cent of leavers (1,243 staff)

Role definitions

Wholetime firefighter A full-time firefighter, regardless of rank.

On-call firefighter A firefighter responding when required during their ‘on-call’ hours, sometimes called Retained Duty System.

Fire control A uniformed member of staff working in a fire and rescue service control centre to answer emergency calls and deal with mobilising, communications and related activities, regardless of rank.

Support staff A member of staff employed by the FRA who is not a firefighter or in fire control. It includes, for example, administrative roles, clerical support, analytical support, finance, vehicle maintenance, property management etc.

Total workforce

Figure 1.1 shows that the total full-time equivalent (FTE) workforce gradually increased from around 49,400 in 2002 to a peak of around 51,700 in 2009. This was an average increase of less than one per cent per year (0.7%). Over this time the number of total firefighters (FTE) was broadly stable (decreasing by around 400), while support staff (FTE) increased by around 2,500.

Figure 1.1: Total staff employed (FTE) by FRAs in England, 2002 to 2021

Source: FIRE1101

Since this peak in 2009, the total workforce (FTE) decreased from around 51,700 to around 40,400 in 2017, and then remained broadly stable.

As at 31 March 2021, 40,029 staff (FTE) were employed by FRAs. This figure is similar when compared with the previous year (40,149), a five per cent decrease compared with five years ago (42,012) and a 21 per cent decrease compared with ten years ago (50,908).

Firefighters

The number of firefighters (FTE) fell slowly from 2007, flattening out at around 32,000 from 2018 onwards. The pattern was similar for wholetime and on-call firefighters. As at 31 March 2021, 31,547 staff (FTE) were employed as firefighters. This was a one per cent decrease compared with the previous year (31,912), an eight per cent decrease compared with five years ago (34,128) and a 23 per cent decrease compared with ten years ago (41,072).

Overall, there were 365 fewer firefighters (FTE) in 2021 compared with the previous year (see Figure 1.2). This follows two years of comparatively small decreases. There was a decrease of around 500 in 2018 compared with 2017 and prior to this there was a period of sustained decrease in firefighters of between around 1,200 and 1,600 per year from 2012 to 2017.

Figure 1.2: Change in number of firefighters (FTE) compared with the previous year in England, 2010 to 2021

Source: FIRE1101

Fire control

As at 31 March 2021, 1,096 staff (FTE) were employed by FRAs as fire control. This was a two per cent increase compared with the previous year (1,078), a four per cent increase compared with five years ago (1,055) and a 26 per cent decrease compared with ten years ago (1,478).

Support staff

As at 31 March 2021, 7,386 staff (FTE) were employed by FRAs as support staff. This was a three per cent increase compared with the previous year (7,159), an eight per cent increase compared with five years ago (6,829) but a 12 per cent decrease compared with ten years ago (8,358).

Further information on total workforce can be found in fire data tables 1101, 1102, 1132 and 1133.

Workforce leavers and joiners

Information on leavers and joiners is collected on a headcount (i.e. an individual rather than FTE) basis.

Leavers

During the financial year 2020 to 2021, marginally more staff left FRSs than joined. 3,522 staff left FRSs (8% of the headcount at 31 March 2020) and there were 3,452 joining staff (8% of the 31 March 2021 headcount).

Since data became available in financial year 2009 to 2010, the proportion of FRS staff that left the FRSs increased slowly from seven per cent to ten per cent in financial year 2018 to 2019, decreasing slightly to nine per cent in financial year 2019 to 2020 and again to eight per cent in financial year 2020 to 2021.

The absolute number of FRS staff who left also decreased during the last two years. 4,294 FRS staff left in financial year 2018 to 2019 compared with 4,194 in financial year 2019 to 2020 and 3,522 in financial year 2020 to 2021.

Since financial year 2009 to 2010, the proportion of firefighters that left the FRSs has followed a similar trend to the proportion of all staff that left. The proportion of firefighters that left the FRSs increased slowly from six per cent in financial year 2009 to 2010 to nine per cent in financial year 2019 to 2020 before decreasing slightly to seven per cent in financial year 2020 to 2021.

Joiners

The proportion of FRS staff that were new joiners increased from five per cent in financial year 2016 to 2017, the first year in which data became available, to ten per cent in financial year 2018 to 2019, before falling slightly in financial year 2019 to 2020 to nine per cent and again in financial year 2020 to 2021 to eight per cent. For firefighters, the proportion that were new joiners increased from four per cent in financial year 2016 to 2017 to seven per cent in financial year to 2020 to 2021.

Reasons for leaving

For the 3,522 staff who left FRSs in financial year 2020 to 2021, the most common reason for leaving was ‘normal’ or ‘early’ retirement (see Figure 1.3), which accounted for 35 per cent of all leavers (1,243 staff). This figure has remained broadly stable during the last five years (between 31% and 35%).

The second most common reason staff left FRSs in financial year 2020 to 2021, as in financial year 2019 to 2020, was ‘resignation - to take up alternative employment’. The proportion of leavers who left for this reason has steadily decreased over the last five years from 24 per cent in financial year 2015 to 2016 (1,044 staff) to 15 per cent in financial year 2020 to 2021 (520 staff). In financial year 2020 to 2021, of those whose reason for leaving was ‘resignation - to take up alternative employment’, 42 per cent were support staff and 37 per cent were on-call firefighters.

In financial year 2020 to 2021, 51 FRS staff left due to ‘ill health’, one per cent of those who left. The proportion of leavers who left due to ‘ill health’ has remained broadly stable over the last five years at between one and two per cent.

See Figure 1.3 for further detail. The ‘Other’ category includes the following reasons for leaving: ‘Moving to another FRS’, ‘Moving within FRS from operational (firefighter or control) to support staff’, ‘Resignation due to ill health’, ‘Resignation for any other reason’, ‘Resignation due to issues with primary employment/other work commitments’, ‘Resignation for personal reasons (including work / life balance & caring responsibilities)’, ‘Resignation due to relocation/leaving the area (including going travelling, moving country)’, ‘Compulsory redundancy’, ‘Voluntary redundancy’, ‘Dismissal for poor performance (including failure to maintain fitness)’, ‘Dismissal on disciplinary grounds’, ‘Deceased’ and ‘Unknown / Reason for leaving not recorded’.

Figure 1.3: Proportion of FRS leavers (headcount) by reason for leaving, England, 2021

Source: FIRE1111

Further information on workforce leavers and joiners can be found in fire data tables 1110, 1111, 1112, 1120, 1121 and 1122.

Apprentices

As at 31 March 2021, there were 1,415 apprentices employed by FRAs. Eighty-seven per cent (1,230) of the apprentices employed by FRAs were apprentice wholetime firefighters, 11 per cent were support staff (160) and two per cent were control room staff (25).

Fifty per cent (611) of the wholetime firefighter apprentices employed by FRAs as at 31 March 2021 were new joiners.

Further information on apprentices can be found in fire data tables 1123, 1124 and 1125.

Workforce Diversity

This section covers information on six diversity characteristics - gender, ethnicity, age, religion, sexual orientation and disability, for all FRS staff, those joining FRSs and apprentices. The figures in this section are taken as of 31 March 2021, except the joiners’ figures which are for FRS staff who joined during financial year 2020 to 2021.

Key results

As at 31 March 2021:

  • 7.5 per cent (2,640) of firefighters employed by FRAs were women compared with 7.0 per cent (2,461) in the previous year and 5.0 per cent (1,817) five years ago

  • 4.7 per cent (1,514) of firefighters employed by FRAs who stated their ethnicity were from an ethnic minority, compared with 4.4 per cent (1,410) in the previous year and 3.8 per cent (1,269) five years ago

  • the average age of firefighters employed by FRAs was 41, the same as the previous year and five years ago

  • of those who stated their sexual orientation, 3.4 per cent (749) of firefighters employed by FRAs were Lesbian/Gay or Bisexual, compared with 3.3 per cent (668) in the previous year and 2.5 per cent (414) five years ago

Gender

18.0 per cent of all staff employed by FRAs were women as at 31 March 2021. This is slightly higher than in previous years (17.3% in 2020, 14.5% five years ago and 15.0% ten years ago).

The number and proportion of women firefighters has slowly increased from 2002 (the first year for which comparable data are available) from 1.7 per cent (753) of all firefighters to 7.5 per cent (2,640) in 2021. For comparison, the percentage of police officers in England and Wales as at 31 March 2021 that were women was 32.4 per cent[footnote 2].

Figure 2.1: Gender of firefighters in England, 2002 to 2021

Source: FIRE1103

For each year from 2009 to 2018, the main cause for the increase in the proportion of women firefighters was a decrease in the number of men firefighters. However, in 2019 and 2020 this changed and for the first time more women firefighters joined than men firefighters left. In 2021, the reduction in the number of men firefighters returned to being the main cause of the increased proportion of women firefighters (321 men firefighters left, and 179 women firefighters joined). Since 2009, the number of women firefighters has slightly increased by 1,035 whilst the number of men firefighters has decreased by 10,386.

As at 31 March 2021, when looking at women by role, 33 per cent were firefighters and 56 percent were support staff. In contrast, 89 per cent of all men employed by FRAs were firefighters and 10 per cent were support staff. See Figure 2.2 for further detail.

Figure 2.2: Gender of staff employed by FRAs, by role in England in 2021

Source: FIRE1103

As at 31 March 2021, over half (54.8%) of support staff were women. The proportion of support staff that are women has been above 50% in each year since data became available in 2002.

Seventy-six per cent of fire control staff were women as at 31 March 2021. This figure was similar compared with the previous year (76.1%) and five years ago (75.6%) and a slight decrease compared with ten years ago (79.6%).

The rank of women firefighters shows a mixed story, with the top and lowest ranks (brigade managers and firefighters) showing above average proportions of women (9.7% and 8.9% respectively, compared with 7.5% for all ranks). The middle ranks (area manager, group manager, station manager, watch manager and crew manager) all showed proportions of women lower than the average for all ranks (ranging from 4.7% to 6.3%).

Figure 2.3: Proportion of staff who are women, by rank in England in 2021

Source: FIRE1108

The gender category ‘Other’ was included in the data collection this year for the first time. As at 31 March 2021 there were 18 total staff that reported their gender as other, this included 15 firefighters.

Ethnicity

All FRSs collect and provide ethnicity information to the Home Office, however, 4,037 staff (9.0%) did not state an ethnicity in 2021. This proportion has varied between 7.2 per cent and 11.3 per cent over the past ten years. Ethnicity statistics are published at an FRS level in Table 1104.

Overall, at 31 March 2021, 5.3 per cent (2,154) of all FRS staff of known ethnicity were from an ethnic minority group, compared with 5.1 per cent in the previous year (2,027) and 4.3 per cent five years ago (1,798).

The proportion of firefighters that were from an ethnic minority group[footnote 3] has increased slowly from 3.5 per cent in 2011 (from when consistent data are available) to 4.7 per cent in 2021. This compares with 14.6 per cent of the England population in the 2011 Census[footnote 4][footnote 5] and 7.6 per cent of police officers in England in 2021 that were from an ethnic minority group.

Figure 2.4: Proportion of firefighters (of known ethnicity[footnote 6]) from an ethnic minority group in England in 2021

Source: FIRE1104

From each year from 2011 to 2018, the main cause for the increase in the proportion of firefighters from an ethnic minority group was due to the decrease in white firefighters. From 2019 onwards, however, the main reason has been due to an increase in the number of firefighters from an ethnic minority group (up by 75 in 2019, 41 in 2020 and 104 in 2021) as opposed to a decrease in the number of white firefighters.

As at 31 March 2021, the proportion of fire control staff from an ethnic minority group was 3.0 per cent. This figure has remained broadly similar during the last five years (2.9% in the previous year and 3.0% five years ago).

As at 31 March 2021, 8.1 per cent (607) of support staff were from an ethnic minority group. This figure was similar to last year (8.0%) and slightly higher than five years ago (7.1%).

Age

Statistics on the age of FRS staff by role are published at an FRS level in table 1105. From 2011 to 2013 the average age of all FRS staff was 41. This figure increased to 42 in 2014 and has remained the same in each year since.

From 2011 to 2018 the average age of firefighters gradually increased from 40 to 42. From 2019 onwards the average age of firefighters has been 41.

As at 31 March 2021, 32 per cent of firefighters (11,279) were between 46 and 55 years of age. This was a marginal decrease from 33 per cent (11,750) the previous year and 34 per cent (12,602) five years ago. The figure as at 31 March 2021 is higher than the 22 per cent of the resident population[footnote 7] aged 16 to 64 (and hence ‘working age’) who were aged 46 to 55 in June 2020.

Only four per cent (1,390) of firefighters were aged 17 to 24 as at 31 March 2021. This proportion was four per cent in the previous year (1,400) and three per cent five years ago (1,096). These figures are far lower than the 17 per cent of the resident population aged 16 to 64 (and hence ‘working age’) who were aged 16 to 24 in June 2020.

Experimental statistics and data quality

Statistics on religion, sexual orientation and disability are included as experimental statistics due to some quality limitations and other issues which users should be aware of, for example:

  • some FRSs do not collect these data

  • the data contain a relatively high proportion of ‘not stated’ entries; the proportion varies significantly across different FRSs, 34 per cent of data for religion, 37 per cent for sexual orientation and 25 per cent for disability are either not collected or not stated in 2021 (hence the figures may not be fully representative of FRSs as a whole)

  • for data protection reasons we have combined or suppressed any categories with very small figures, and statistics are published at an England level only as FRS level figures would require heavy suppression which would greatly limit the usefulness of many of the statistics

The statistics serve a public good in understanding the diversity of the FRS workforce, but given the current quality limitations which have not improved since last year, they are still published as ‘Experimental Statistics’. Experimental Statistics are statistics which are published in order to involve users and stakeholders in their development and as a means to build in quality at an early stage. Statisticians have been working with the FRSs with the highest proportions of ‘not stated’ to try to improve the data.

Religion (experimental statistics)

Religion statistics are published in table 1106.

Three FRSs did not provide information on religion in the datasets they supplied to the Home Office in 2021, meaning that no data were available for three per cent of staff (this compares with 27% in 2011). A further 31 per cent of all FRS staff chose to not state their religion in 2021 (broadly the same percentage as previous years). All of these responses are excluded from the calculations below.

Figures on religion of FRSs’ workforce are available from 2011. ‘Christian’ was the most common religion of FRS staff in each year since data was collected. The proportion of all staff who identified as ‘Christian’ peaked in 2012 at 62 per cent and steadily fell to 48 per cent in 2021.

This trend is mirrored when looking at firefighters specifically. The proportion of firefighters that identified as ‘Christian’ peaked in 2012 at 61 per cent and gradually fell to 47 per cent in 2021.

The next most common response of FRS staff in terms of religion, in each year since data was collected, was ‘No religion’. The proportion of all staff who identified as having ‘No religion’ increased from 33 per cent in 2011 to 45 per cent in 2021.

This trend is also mirrored when looking at firefighters. The proportion of firefighters that identified as having ‘No religion’ increased from 34 per cent in 2011 to 46 per cent in 2021.

For comparison, 25 per cent of England’s resident population identified as having ‘No religion’ in the 2011 Census[footnote 8].

Sexual orientation (experimental statistics)

Sexual orientation statistics are published in table 1107.

The same three FRSs that did not provide information on religion also did not provide information on sexual orientation in the datasets they supplied to the Home Office in 2021, meaning that no data were available for three per cent of staff (compared with 27% in 2011). A further 34 per cent of all FRS staff chose to not state their sexual orientation in 2021 (broadly the same percentage as previous years). All of these responses are excluded from the details reported here.

The proportion of FRS staff that stated they were gay, lesbian or bisexual has remained at around three per cent since data became available in 2011. The figure in 2021 was 3.4 per cent - the largest to date.

The proportion of firefighters that stated they were gay, lesbian or bisexual has followed a very similar trend. The figure in 2021 was also 3.4 per cent - also the largest to date.

For comparison, around 2.7 per cent of the England population aged 16 and over identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual[footnote 9].

Disability (experimental statistics)

Disability statistics are published for the first time in table 1130.

All FRSs provided disability data covering at least some proportion of their staff, although 25 per cent of all FRS staff chose to not state whether they had a disability. All of these responses are excluded from the details reported here.

In 2021, 5.1 per cent of all staff and 4.0 per cent of firefighters reported having a disability.

Further information on workforce diversity can be found in fire data tables 1103, 1104, 1105, 1106, 1107, 1108, 1130 and 1131.

Workforce joiner diversity

Gender

The proportion of all new staff that were women decreased marginally from 25.7 per cent in financial year 2019 to 2020 to 24.9 per cent in financial year 2020 to 2021. This proportion remains greater than the proportion of the pre-existing workforce (those in post prior to financial year 2020 to 2021) who were women (17.3%).

The proportion of new firefighters who were women increased slightly from 12.7 per cent in financial year 2019 to 2020 to 13.4 per cent in financial year 2020 to 2021. This is greater than the proportion of the pre-existing stock of firefighters (those in post prior to financial year 2020 to 2021) who were women (7.0%).

Ethnicity

The proportion of all new staff that were from an ethnic minority increased from 6.4 per cent in financial year 2019 to 2020 to 8.2 per cent in financial year 2020 to 2021. This proportion remains greater than the proportion of the pre-existing workforce (those in post prior to financial year 2020 to 2021) who were from an ethnic minority (5.1%).

The proportion of new firefighters from an ethnic minority increased from 5.5 per cent in financial year 2019 to 2020 to 8.3 per cent in financial year 2020 to 2021. This is greater than the proportion of pre-existing firefighters who were from an ethnic minority (4.4%).

Age

The proportion of all new staff that were under the age of 35 decreased marginally from 61.9 per cent in financial year 2019 to 2020 to 61.4 per cent in financial year 2020 to 2021. This proportion remains greater than the proportion of the pre-existing workforce (those in post prior to financial year 2020 to 2021) who were under the age of 35 (27.7%).

The proportion of new firefighters who were under the age of 35 decreased slightly from 70.3 per cent in financial year 2019 to 2020 to 68.1 per cent in financial year 2020 to 2021. This is greater than the 29.2 per cent of existing firefighters who were under the age of 35.

Further information on workforce joiners including on fire control and support staff can be found in fire data tables 1120, 1121 and 1122.

Apprentice diversity

This year is the third year in which the Home Office has collected information on the diversity of apprentices, and it covers apprentices who were employed by FRAs as at 31 March each year and also those joining during the financial year.

Gender

Around 15 per cent (14.8%) of wholetime firefighter apprentices were women as at 31 March 2021, up from 13.8 per cent as at 31 March 2020.

The proportion of new wholetime firefighter apprentices who were women has increased from 13.1 per cent in financial year 2019 to 2020 to 20.3 per cent in the financial year 2020 to 2021.

Age

Nearly three-quarters (73.1%) of wholetime firefighter apprentices were under the age of 35 as at 31 March 2021, down from 78.6 per cent as at 31 March 2020.

The proportion of new wholetime firefighter apprentices who were aged under 35 has increased from 75.8 per cent in financial year 2019 to 2020 to 78.7 per cent in the financial year 2020 to 2021.

Ethnicity

One in eight (12.5%) of wholetime firefighter apprentices were from an ethnic minority group as at 31 March 2021, up from 10.3 per cent as at 31 March 2020.

The proportion of new wholetime firefighter apprentices who were from an ethnic minority has increased from 9.4 per cent in financial year 2019 to 2020 to 15.5 per cent in the financial year 2020 to 2021.

Further information on apprentices can be found in fire data tables 1123, 1124 and 1125.

Firefighters’ health and safety

Key results

During the financial year 2020 to 2021[footnote 10]:

  • there was a total of 2,166 firefighter injuries, twelve per cent fewer than in the previous year (2,466) and seventeen per cent lower than five years previously (2,602)

  • 25 injuries to firefighters were classed as major injuries[footnote 11], compared with 52 in the previous year and 49 five years earlier

  • 941 firefighter injuries were sustained during operational incidents, 2 per cent fewer than in the previous year (963) and ten per cent fewer than five years previously (1,049)

  • there was one firefighter fatality recorded which occurred during a training activity - over the last decade there have been six firefighter fatalities in total

Data are collected on injuries sustained by on-duty firefighters and whether they were sustained during operational incidents (at fires, road traffic collisions or at other special service incidents) or during training (operational or fitness) and routine activities. The collection asks for the total number of personnel injured, the number of ‘over seven-day injuries’, the number of RIDDOR[footnote 12] major injuries, and the number of fatalities.

The total number of incidents attended during the financial year 2020 to 2021 was seven per cent less than the previous year, likely due in part to the restrictions imposed on much of society in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The reduction in the number of incidents attended is likely to have been a contributing factor to the reduction in firefighter injuries during the financial year 2020 to 2021 however injuries do also occur during training and routine activities.

Between financial year 2003 to 2004 and financial year 2014 to 2015 the number of firefighters injured was on a downward trend, partly reflecting the reduced number of incidents attended as well as other factors. Injuries decreased in both operational incidents (by more than two-thirds) and training and routine activities (by around a half). Since financial year 2014 to 2015 the number of injuries plateaued at around 2,600 injuries per year before decreasing slightly to 2,466 injuries in financial year 2019 to 2020 and again to 2,166 in financial year 2020 to 2021.

Figure 3.1: Total injuries to firefighters by activity type, England; financial year 2002 to 2003 to financial year 2020 to 2021

Source: FIRE0508

Injury severity

During the financial year 2020 to 2021 there were 25 injuries to firefighters that were classed as major injuries. This compared with 52 in the previous year and 49 five years ago.

Injuries in operational incidents

During the financial year 2020 to 2021 there were 941 firefighter injuries sustained during operational incidents. This was a two per cent decrease compared with the previous year (963), a ten per cent decrease compared with five years ago (1,049) and a 23 per cent decrease compared with ten years ago (1,229).

Firefighter fatalities

During the financial year 2020 to 2021 there was one firefighter fatality recorded. This incident occurred during a training activity. Over the last decade there have been six firefighter fatalities in total (4 during training/routine activities and 2 during operational incidents).

Further information on firefighters’ health and safety can be found in fire data tables 0508 and 0509.

Attacks on firefighters

This chapter summarises the number of incidents attended by FRSs in England involving an attack on firefighters. The statistics are sourced from the Home Office’s Incident Recording System[footnote 13][footnote 14].

Key results

During the financial year 2020 to 2021:

  • there were 934 incidents involving an attack on firefighters, an increase of four per cent (35 incidents) on the previous year

  • these incidents resulted in 54 injuries to firefighters of which 49 were classed as slight and five as serious (requiring a hospital stay)

  • the majority of incidents involving an attack involved verbal abuse (65%, 603 incidents)

Attacks on firefighters

It should be noted that the IRS does not provide a complete picture of attacks on firefighters as it only covers incidents attended by firefighters through an emergency call. It does not cover attacks occurring on, for example, training or routine activities. In addition, it provides a count of the number of incidents that involved an attack not the number of attacks, as more than one firefighter could have been attacked at one incident. The IRS only allows one option to be coded and FRSs record the one that best describes it, so there may be an undercount of some types of attacks and it may be possible for verbal attacks to include an injury and vice versa.

Figure 4.1: Attacks on firefighters, England; financial year 2010 to 2011 to financial year 2020 to 2021

Source: FIRE0510

The majority of incidents involving an attack involved verbal abuse (65%, 603 incidents in financial year 2020 to 2021) and a further 18 per cent involved objects being thrown at firefighters and/or appliances (167 incidents). The remaining incidents involved physical abuse (5%, 44 incidents), harassment (3%, 24 incidents) and other acts of aggression (10%, 96 incidents). These proportions were similar to those in previous years.

In financial year 2020 to 2021, there were 54 injuries in total from these 934 incidents. The majority (49) were classified as slight and the remaining five as serious (requiring a hospital stay). This was a decrease of thirteen injuries (19%) on the previous year.

Further information on attacks on firefighter can be found in fire data table 0510.

Firefighters’ pensions

This section provides income, expenditure and membership submitted by all 45 fire and rescue authorities (FRAs) in England. This includes data from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021. There are three pension schemes for firefighters: the 1992 Scheme, the 2006 Scheme and the 2015 Scheme - see full definitions.

Key results

During the financial year 2020 to 2021:

  • the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme total expenditure was around £902 million, a less than one per cent decrease compared with the previous year (£909 million in financial year 2019 to 2020) and one per cent higher than five years previously (£892 million in financial year 2015 to 2016)

  • 84 per cent of expenditure was ‘recurring outgoing payments’, 15 per cent was ‘commutation payments’, and ‘transfers’ and ‘miscellaneous expenditure’ together totalled less than one per cent

  • the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme total income was around £393 million, a one per cent increase compared with the previous year (£388 million in financial year 2019 to 2020) and a three per cent increase from five years previously (£382 million in financial year 2015 to 2016)

  • employer contributions rose one per cent to £262 million from £258.6 million in financial year 2019 to 2020, and nearly doubled the value of £134.9 million in financial year 2018 to 2019 as a result of changes to the discount rate set by HM Treasury from April 2019

  • 67 per cent of income was ‘employer contributions’, 30 per cent was ‘employee contributions’ and the remaining three per cent comprised transfers, miscellaneous income and ill-health charges

  • the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme deficit was around £509 million, a two per cent decrease compared with the previous year (£521 million in financial year 2019 to 2020) and almost no change compared with five years previously (£511 million in financial year 2015 to 2016)

Pension scheme expenditure and income

Pension Scheme Expenditure The total eligible pension spend by employers in respect of their retired employees, paid directly out of their local pension fund account.

Between financial year 2010 to 2011, from when consistent and comparable data were collected, and financial year 2016 to 2017, the firefighters’ pension scheme expenditure gradually increased from around £604 million to around £818 million. The only exception to the gradual increase was caused by a large redress payment[footnote 15] of £89 million in financial year 2015 to 2016. A slight decrease in financial year 2017 to 2018 was followed by two consecutive increases to around £909 million in financial year 2019 to 2020 followed by a slight decrease in financial year 2020 to 2021 to £902 million (Figure 5.1).

Figure 5.1: Firefighters’ pension scheme expenditure in England, financial year 2010 to 2011 to financial year 2020 to 2021

Source: FIRE1301

Pension Scheme Income The cash flow paid into the local pension fund account by an employee (member of the scheme) and employer.

The Firefighters’ pension scheme income was broadly stable from financial year 2010 to 2011, when consistent and comparable data were first collected, until financial year 2014 to 2015, at around £300 million per year. Since then, excluding the additional grant payments received by FRAs in respect of GAD v Milne and the employee contributions holiday, income decreased gradually to a series low of £257 million in financial year 2018 to 2019. However, in financial year 2019 to 2020, income increased by 51 per cent to £387.5 million, mainly due to employer contributions nearly doubling from £135 million in financial year 2018 to 2019 to £260 million in financial year 2019 to 2020 as a result of changes to the discount rate set by HM Treasury from April 2019. For more information, see the House of Commons Library ‘Public service pensions - employer contributions’ briefing. The figure has since increased slightly in the financial year 2020 to 2021 to £393.3 million.

Figure 5.2: Firefighters’ pension scheme income in England, financial year 2010 to 2011 to financial year 2020 to 2021

Source: FIRE1302

Pension Scheme Deficit The annual difference in total expenditure and total income of the Firefighters’ Pension Fund.

The Firefighters’ Pension Scheme deficit in financial year 2020 to 2021 was around £509 million, a two per cent decrease compared with the previous year (£521 million in financial year 2019 to 2020) and almost no change compared with five years previously (£511 million in financial year 2015 to 2016). Between financial year 2010 to 2011 and financial year 2018 to 2019 the general trend of increasing expenditure and decreasing income led to eight consecutive increases in the firefighters’ pension scheme deficit. Although expenditure continued to increase in financial year 2019 to 2020, this was overtaken by the near doubling of employer contributions to pension scheme income leading to the first decrease in deficit in the series. This decrease has continued in financial year 2020 to 2021, although at a slower rate.

Figure 5.3: Firefighters’ pension scheme total deficit in England, financial year 2010 to 2011 to financial year 2020 to 2021

Source: FIRE1303

Further information on fire pension income and expenditure can be found in fire data tables 1301, 1302 and 1303.

Pension scheme membership

The statistics on Pension Scheme membership reflect data returns submitted by all 45[footnote 16] FRAs in England. The information on Firefighters’ Pension Scheme membership within this release covers the three schemes in England - the 1992, 2006 and 2015 Schemes (see full definitions Fire statistics guidance). Regular firefighters employed before 6 April 2006 were eligible for membership of the 1992 Scheme, which was closed to new membership on 5 April 2006. The 2006 Scheme was introduced for regular (i.e. wholetime) and on-call (or retained) firefighters employed since 6 April 2006. A Modified Scheme was introduced in April 2014 in response to an Employment Tribunal decision in 2011 that required retained firefighters, employed during the period 1 July 2000 and 5 April 2006 inclusive, to be given access to a pension arrangement that provided similar benefits as those provided by the 1992 Scheme. Newly recruited regular and retained firefighters are now only eligible to join the 2015 Scheme which was introduced in England on 1 April 2015. The data published in this release amalgamate the 2006 and Modified Scheme membership data.

The data refer to 2016 to 2021 only. This is due to a change in the way Firefighters’ Pension Fund (FPF) forms collected data on membership, which means that data are not directly comparable with previous years.

As at 31 March 2021, the total number of pensioner members was 44,961 and of these, 90 per cent (40,534) were members who have retired and were in receipt of benefits from the 1992 Scheme, down from 94 per cent on 31 March 2020. The other ten per cent were in different schemes.

Pensioners are those firefighters who have retired from service and are in receipt of their pension benefits.

Eighteen per cent of deferred members were still employed as a firefighter. Deferred members include those firefighters who continue in employment but have elected to opt-out of their membership of the pension scheme, and those who have left their employment before reaching the age at which they are entitled to receive immediate payment of their pension benefits.

Ninety-two per cent (22,327) of active regular members and 91 per cent (7,298) of active retained members belonged to the 2015 Scheme as at 31 March 2021. That the majority of members are in the 2015 Scheme is due to the transition of 1992 and 2006 Scheme members to the 2015 Scheme on 1 April 2015.

Regular firefighter members are personnel currently employed in the role of a wholetime firefighter and who are members of one of the pension schemes, and pay employee contributions based on the pensionable pay that they earn. Retained firefighter members are part-time personnel contracted to be available for agreed periods of time for firefighting purposes, but who may also have an alternative employment and occupational pensions elsewhere.

Home Office is no longer collecting information on pension scheme membership opt-outs. For the most recent figures on these, please see Fire and rescue workforce and pensions statistics: England, April 2017 to March 2018.

Further information on fire pension scheme membership can be found in fire data tables 1304 and 1305 (no longer updated).

Further information

This release contains administrative statistics about workforce and pensions for fire and rescue services (FRSs) in England. This release also contains statistics from the Home Office’s online Incident Recording System (IRS) for incidents attended by FRSs where there were attacks on firefighters.

Fire and Rescue Incident Statistics and other Home Office statistical releases are available from the Statistics at Home Office pages on the GOV.UK website.

Data tables linked to this release and all other fire statistics releases can be found on the Home Office’s Fire statistics data tables page. The most relevant tables for each topic are signposted at the end of each section in this release.

Guidance for using these statistics and other fire statistics outputs is available on the fire statistics collection page.

The information published in this release is kept under review, taking into account the needs of users and burdens on suppliers and producers, in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics. If you have any comments, suggestions or enquiries, please contact the team via email using firestatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk.

Revisions

The figures in this release refer to activity that occurred in the financial year 2020 to 2021, the year up to and including 31 March 2021. The statistics published may not match those held locally by FRSs and revisions may occur in the future.

Due to a clerical error, on-call firefighters were omitted from the deferred pension membership figures in table FIRE1304 for the 2018-19 release.

Home Office publish five other statistical releases covering fire and rescue services:

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities also publish statistical releases on fire.

These include:

Fire statistics are published by the other UK nations:

Scottish fire statistics and Welsh fire statistics are published based on the IRS. Fire statistics for Northern Ireland are published by the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service using data from a system similar to the Incident Recording System, which means that they are not directly comparable to English, Welsh and Scottish data.

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of our documents. If you find any problems, or have any feedback, relating to accessibility please email us at firestatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk

  1. This figure excludes 117 firefighters whose gender is unknown. 

  2. See the most recent Home Office Police workforce statistics publication 

  3. The Operational Statistics data collection collects ethnicity information using five groups- White, Mixed, Asian or Asian British, Black or Black British and Chinese or Other Ethnicity. The other option is ‘not stated’ and these responses are removed from the calculations above. 

  4. The total resident population, not just those of working age. 

  5. See table KS201 here: 2011 Census: Key Statistics and Quick Statistics for local authorities in the United Kingdom - Part 1 - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) 

  6. Figure 2.4 excludes the 3,239 firefighters that were recorded in the ‘ethnic origin not stated’ category. The percentages relate to only those firefighters for which ethnicity data was captured. 

  7. See Office for National Statistics (ONS) population estimates for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland here, Estimates of the population for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland 

  8. For further detail on ONS 2011 census data covering religion in England and Wales see here Religion in England and Wales 2011 

  9. For further detail see ONS data on sexual orientation of the UK population Sexual orientation, UK: 2019 

  10. The figures related to operational incidents presented in this chapter relate to incidents attended by FRSs during the period April 2020 to the end of March 2021. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, restrictions in England and Wales started from 12 March 2020 and lockdown was applied on 23 March 2020, which imposed strict limits on daily life. Varying lockdown restrictions were in effect during several periods of the 2020-21 financial year and are therefore captured in IRS data. For more detail on the timeline of UK coronavirus lockdowns see Institute for government - Timeline of UK coronavirus lockdowns, March 2020 to March 2021 

  11. For a full definition please see the Fire Statistics Definitions Document 

  12. For full definitions of RIDDOR injuries, see the HSE online guidance 

  13. More information on the IRS can be found in the Fire Statistics Definitions Document 

  14. The figures presented in this chapter relate to incidents attended by FRSs during the period April 2020 to the end of March 2021. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, restrictions in England and Wales started from 12 March 2020 and lockdown was applied on 23 March 2020, which imposed strict limits on daily life. Varying lockdown restrictions were in effect during several periods of the 2020-21 financial year. For more detail on the timeline of UK coronavirus lockdowns see Institute for government - Timeline of UK coronavirus lockdowns, March 2020 to March 2021 

  15. In May 2015, the Pensions Ombudsman’s findings in the case of Milne v the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) meant that FRAs were required to pay commutation redress to affected members of the 1992 Scheme who retired between 2001 and 2006. 

  16. This publication covers the financial year 2020 to 2021, during which time there were 45 FRAs in operation. Following the merger of Hampshire and Isle of Wight on 31 March 2021 there are now 44 FRAs.