Fewer young people are seeking to train as firefighters, leaving rescue services with an ageing workforce in a trend that union leaders say is placing the public at risk.
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said that efforts to recruit younger people had been hampered by cuts, as older firefighters were forced to work for longer before they can access their pensions.
“All of this puts the public at risk. We need urgent investment so that we [can] have the people and equipment we need,” said Steve Wright, the general-secretary of the FBU.
The i Paper analysed fire service workforce data released last month after revealing that firefighters are threatening to go on strike across the country unless the Government reverses funding cuts that are threatening jobs on the front line.
The number of full- and part-time firefighters aged between 16 to 35 has dropped by almost a fifth over the past 14 years. The number of firefighters in this age group fell from about 13,500 in 2011 to 11,200 in 2025, according to Home Office figures.
Of the youngest firefighters, aged 16 to 24, there was a drop of almost 10 per cent between the 1,839 working in 2011 and 1,666 in 2025. Numbers plunged to as low as 1,049 in 2017 and, despite some improvements in recruitment in recent years, are still below levels seen 14 years ago.
Firefighter numbers have been slowly growing since 2017 following an easing of austerity cuts brought in by the Conservative Party, according to a report from the FBU in 2019.
The only cohort of firefighters to have grown in the past 15 years is those aged 56 and above, which has more than doubled from 945 staff to 2,004.
Overall, the amount of firefighters in full- and part-time work is in decline. In 2011, there were 43,399 firefighters. By last year, that number had dropped by 20 per cent to 34,698.
Wright said the figures reflected years of cuts and policy decisions by successive governments.
Estimates from the National Fire Chiefs Council in August suggest that standalone fire and rescue authorities in England are facing £102m-worth of real-term cuts by 2029 due to government grant reductions – equivalent to the loss of 1,500 full-time equivalent firefighters.
The Government says that fire authorities will receive a £70m funding increase next year to “ensure they have the resources they need”.
Wright added: “Since 2010, the fire service has suffered heavy cuts to numbers, and the pension age has been pushed up, meaning that firefighters are forced to work to 60 to get a full pension.
“While many older firefighters do a great job, the FBU has never accepted the raising of the pension age for what is a physically demanding profession.”
Firefighters work to control a blaze outside the Eithad Stadium in Manchester last year (Photo: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty)While some firefighters were able to retire earlier under special rules, a firefighter’s standard pensionable age was 55 until 2006. A series of changes under both Labour and Conservative governments means the majority will now have to wait a further five years to retire. However, it still remains below the state pension age of 66.
Firefighters have threatened to go on strike across England unless the Government reverses funding cuts that they claim are threatening jobs on the front line.
It comes as a spending squeeze is currently threatening 42 jobs and five fire stations in Oxfordshire.
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A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “We continue to work closely with fire and rescue services to ensure they have the resources they need.
“To support their services and tireless work in keeping communities safe, standalone fire and rescue authorities will receive an increase of almost £70m next year.”
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