Firefighters call for Rishi Sunak to provide more financial support in Budget

Exclusive: Fire Brigades Union says numbers down almost 11,000 compared to floods in 2011

Firefighters are calling on chancellor Rishi Sunak for more financial support in his budget, with a warning that underfunding hit their response to the winter’s floods.

Mr Sunak is set to commit a further £2.6 billion to flood defences on Wednesday, which he believes will help protect an additional 336,000 homes in England over the next six years.

But the Fire Brigades Union said that cuts have left services short of resources and manpower the needed to deal with the impact of storms Ciara, Dennis and Jorge in Yorkshire, Wales and the Midlands.

Almost 11,000 fewer firefighters were available than at the time of floods in 2011, and some reported a shortage of equipment such as dry suits and decontamination chemicals to make them safe after operations in polluted waters.

Crews reported concerns about microbes in the flood water with suits not able to be adequately decontaminated, and in Hereford and Worcester the service had to draft in boats from the army, said the union.

As well as enhanced funding, the FBU called on the government to bring England in line with the rest of the UK by extending the statutory duty for fire and rescue services to deal with floods, as recommended in the 2008 Pitt Review.

The absence of a statutory requirement to respond to floods has hampered fire and rescue services’ ability to secure flood-response funding in England, despite them being the primary emergency service involved, they said.

FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: “Firefighters and control staff have done everything they can to keep residents, homes and businesses safe, but we have fewer of them than during any major flooding event in the last decade.

“Firefighters are reporting a lack of resources including boats, vehicles and appropriate specialist protective equipment, meaning some are potentially being exposed to hazardous chemicals.

“The fire and rescue services are proud to protect the public from flood events but it’s about time they had the staff and resources necessary to do it. The government needs to understand that you cannot keep people safe on the cheap.

“Across the UK, England is the only country where there is no clear statutory duty for the fire and rescue service to plan for and respond to floods, which means they find it much more difficult to access additional funding, training or resources for dealing with floods. It is a way for central government to avoid its obligations to communities and seriously impacts long-term planning and resourcing.”

Mr Wrack said that FBU research had found there were 10,970 fewer firefighters available across the UK to respond to this year’s floods than at the time of the 2011 floods, and 1,531 fewer than the 2015 floods, at a time when scientists and the Environment Agency are warning of an increased likelihood of floods due to climate change.

Matt Wrack (GETTY IMAGES)

Evidence gathered by the FBU found:

- South Wales control staff handled more than 1,300 calls over the weekend of Storm Dennis in February, with more than 350 emergency calls for the Pontypridd, Nantgarw and Aberdare areas alone;

- Firefighters in Hereford and Worcester rescued 185 people and evacuated 204, including 24 residents and eight staff at a care home in Whitchurch during Storm Dennis;

- Hereford and Worcester now have just three boats to respond to some of the worst flooding in the country;· Across the affected areas firefighters have been knocking on doors, providing advice and in Hereford have been helping people get to and from work.

- Shropshire control staff handled more than 300 calls in 24 hours during Storm Dennis and mobilised two-thirds of their fire engines.

Mr Wrack said: “Any debate about flooding is incomplete if it doesn’t talk about the services responding when floods hit. It’s disappointing that we won’t see an independent inquiry into these floods. We’re in a climate crisis – and the chancellor needs to properly fund our response.”