Fire and rescue services workforce
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- 1. Navigate toMain facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toThings you need to know section
- 3. Navigate to By ethnicity and type of role section
- 4. Navigate to By ethnicity and type of role over time section
- 5. Navigate to By type of role within each ethnic group section
- 6. Navigate to By ethnicity and area (firefighters only) section
- 7. Navigate to By ethnicity and duty type (firefighters only) section
- 8. Navigate toData sources section
- 9. Navigate toDownload the data section
1. Main facts and figures
- in 2020, 95.6% of firefighters in England were White (out of those whose ethnicity was known)
- for comparison, 85.1% of working age people in England (aged 16 to 64 years) were White at the time of the 2011 Census
- from 2011 to 2020, the total number of firefighters went down from around 43,000 to around 35,000
- there was a decrease in the number of firefighters in every ethnic group except the Mixed and Asian ethnic groups
- overall, the percentage of fire and rescue services staff (including support staff) from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other backgrounds went up from 4.0% in 2011 to 5.0% in 2020
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data shows the number and percentage of people working in fire and rescue services in England, by ethnicity. It is a headcount of all full-time and part-time staff employed on 31 March 2020.
Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal place. They are worked out using unrounded numbers. For this reason, some totals in the charts and tables may not add up to 100%.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Data is shown for the 5 ethnic groups used in the 2001 Census.
Percentages are based on staff whose ethnicity was known. Ethnicity was not known for 10% of staff in 2020.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for the data on this page.
‘On-call’ firefighters (also known as ‘retained’ firefighters) may have more than one contract of employment. In this case, they are counted more than once in the workforce statistics (PDF opens in a new window or tab).
Population data is from the 2011 Census. Read more about how we use Census data and some of the problems involved.
3. By ethnicity and type of role
| Firefighters | Fire Control | Support Staff | All Staff | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Firefighters % | Firefighters Number | Fire Control % | Fire Control Number | Support Staff % | Support Staff Number | All Staff % | All Staff Number |
| All | N/A* | 35,291 | N/A* | 1,151 | N/A* | 8,155 | N/A* | 44,597 |
| Asian | 0.7 | 215 | 0.4 | 4 | 2.7 | 199 | 1.0 | 418 |
| Black | 1.3 | 422 | 0.8 | 9 | 3.0 | 222 | 1.6 | 653 |
| Mixed | 2.0 | 624 | 1.5 | 16 | 1.4 | 102 | 1.9 | 742 |
| White | 95.6 | 30,298 | 97.1 | 1,053 | 92.0 | 6,717 | 94.9 | 38,068 |
| Other including Chinese | 0.5 | 149 | 0.2 | 2 | 0.9 | 63 | 0.5 | 214 |
| Unknown | N/A* | 3,583 | N/A* | 67 | N/A* | 852 | N/A* | 4,502 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and type of role’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and type of role’ (CSV)
Summary of Fire and rescue services workforce By ethnicity and type of role Summary
The data shows that, in 2020:
- 94.9% of all fire and rescue staff in England were White
- 95.6% of firefighters were White
- firefighters with Mixed ethnicity made up 2.0% of firefighters – the second largest ethnic group out of all groups
- at the time of the 2011 Census, 85.1% of working age people (aged 16 to 64) in England were White – 14.9% were from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other backgrounds
- 8.0% of support staff were from the combined Asian, Black, Mixed and Other (including Chinese) ethnic groups – the highest percentage of staff from these groups out of all types of role
4. By ethnicity and type of role over time
| All Staff | Fire Control | Firefighters | Support Staff | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | All Staff % 2011 | All Staff Number 2011 | All Staff % 2020 | All Staff Number 2020 | Fire Control % 2011 | Fire Control Number 2011 | Fire Control % 2020 | Fire Control Number 2020 | Firefighters % 2011 | Firefighters Number 2011 | Firefighters % 2020 | Firefighters Number 2020 | Support Staff % 2011 | Support Staff Number 2011 | Support Staff % 2020 | Support Staff Number 2020 |
| All | N/A* | 54,264 | N/A* | 44,597 | N/A* | 1,556 | N/A* | 1,151 | N/A* | 43,360 | N/A* | 35,291 | N/A* | 9,348 | N/A* | 8,155 |
| Asian | 0.9 | 441 | 1.0 | 418 | 0.3 | 5 | 0.4 | 4 | 0.5 | 212 | 0.7 | 215 | 2.6 | 224 | 2.7 | 199 |
| Black | 1.5 | 742 | 1.6 | 653 | 0.6 | 8 | 0.8 | 9 | 1.3 | 519 | 1.3 | 422 | 2.5 | 215 | 3.0 | 222 |
| Mixed | 1.2 | 572 | 1.9 | 742 | 1.2 | 17 | 1.5 | 16 | 1.2 | 473 | 2.0 | 624 | 0.9 | 82 | 1.4 | 102 |
| White | 96.0 | 47,611 | 94.9 | 38,068 | 97.7 | 1,407 | 97.1 | 1,053 | 96.5 | 38,061 | 95.6 | 30,298 | 93.3 | 8,143 | 92.0 | 6,717 |
| Other including Chinese | 0.5 | 237 | 0.5 | 214 | 0.2 | 3 | 0.2 | 2 | 0.4 | 174 | 0.5 | 149 | 0.7 | 60 | 0.9 | 63 |
| Unknown | N/A* | 4,661 | N/A* | 4,502 | N/A* | 116 | N/A* | 67 | N/A* | 3,921 | N/A* | 3,583 | N/A* | 624 | N/A* | 852 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and type of role over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and type of role over time’ (CSV)
Summary of Fire and rescue services workforce By ethnicity and type of role over time Summary
The data shows that, from 2011 to 2020:
- the number of firefighters went down in every ethnic group except the Mixed and Asian groups
- the number of White firefighters went down by 20%, from 38,061 to 30,298
- the total number of firefighters from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other backgrounds went up by 2%, from 1,378 to 1,410
- the percentage of firefighters who had Mixed ethnicity went up from 1.2% to 2.0% – the biggest increase out of all ethnic groups
- the percentage of fire and rescue staff in all roles from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other backgrounds went up from 4.0% to 5.0%
- the percentage of support staff from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other backgrounds went up from 6.7% to 8.0%
- the increase in the percentage of staff from Asian, Black and Other backgrounds is mainly down to the decrease in the number of White staff
5. By type of role within each ethnic group
| Fire Control | Firefighters | Support Staff | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Fire Control % | Fire Control Number | Firefighters % | Firefighters Number | Support Staff % | Support Staff Number |
| All | 2.6 | 1,151 | 79.1 | 35,291 | 18.3 | 8,155 |
| Asian | 1.0 | 4 | 51.4 | 215 | 47.6 | 199 |
| Black | 1.4 | 9 | 64.6 | 422 | 34.0 | 222 |
| Mixed | 2.2 | 16 | 84.1 | 624 | 13.7 | 102 |
| White | 2.8 | 1,053 | 79.6 | 30,298 | 17.6 | 6,717 |
| Other including Chinese | 0.9 | 2 | 69.6 | 149 | 29.4 | 63 |
| Unknown | N/A* | 67 | N/A* | 3,583 | N/A* | 852 |
Download table data for ‘By type of role within each ethnic group’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By type of role within each ethnic group’ (CSV)
Summary of Fire and rescue services workforce By type of role within each ethnic group Summary
The data shows that, in 2020:
- 79.6% of all White staff and 84.1% of staff with Mixed ethnicity were firefighters
- 51.4% of all Asian staff, 64.6% of Black staff, and 69.6% of staff from the Other (including Chinese) ethnic group were firefighters
- 47.6% of all Asian staff were in support staff roles, compared with 17.6% of all White staff
- staff from Black (34.0%) and Other (29.4%) backgrounds also had higher percentages in support staff roles than White staff
6. By ethnicity and area (firefighters only)
| Asian | Black | Mixed | White | Other including Chinese | Unknown | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geography | Asian % of firefighters | Asian Number of firefighters | Black % of firefighters | Black Number of firefighters | Mixed % of firefighters | Mixed Number of firefighters | White % of firefighters | White Number of firefighters | Other inc Chinese % of firefighters | Other inc Chinese Number of firefighters | Unknown % of firefighters | Unknown Number of firefighters |
| Avon | 0.0 | 0 | 0.5 | 3 | 0.9 | 6 | 97.8 | 624 | 0.8 | 5 | N/A* | 60 |
| Bedfordshire | 0.2 | 1 | 1.2 | 5 | 2.6 | 11 | 96.0 | 405 | 0.0 | 0 | N/A* | 16 |
| Berkshire | 0.4 | 2 | 0.4 | 2 | 1.5 | 7 | 97.4 | 446 | 0.2 | 1 | N/A* | 1 |
| Buckinghamshire | 0.3 | 1 | 0.6 | 2 | 2.2 | 7 | 96.9 | 313 | 0.0 | 0 | N/A* | 35 |
| Cambridgeshire | 0.3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 2.4 | 9 | 97.4 | 371 | 0.0 | 0 | N/A* | 12 |
| Cheshire | 0.6 | 4 | 0.4 | 3 | 0.4 | 3 | 98.1 | 658 | 0.4 | 3 | N/A* | 18 |
| Cleveland | 0.2 | 1 | 0.2 | 1 | 0.5 | 2 | 98.9 | 437 | 0.2 | 1 | N/A* | 0 |
| Cornwall | 0.0 | 0 | 0.4 | 2 | 0.7 | 3 | 98.7 | 451 | 0.2 | 1 | N/A* | 181 |
| Cumbria | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 99.8 | 415 | 0.2 | 1 | N/A* | 166 |
| Derbyshire | 0.3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.9 | 6 | 98.4 | 630 | 0.3 | 2 | N/A* | 25 |
| Devon and Somerset | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.6 | 9 | 99.2 | 1,611 | 0.2 | 4 | N/A* | 94 |
| Dorset and Wiltshire | 0.2 | 2 | 0.3 | 3 | 1.1 | 10 | 98.3 | 893 | 0.0 | 0 | N/A* | 106 |
| Durham | 0.7 | 3 | 0.7 | 3 | 1.0 | 4 | 97.6 | 406 | 0.0 | 0 | N/A* | 72 |
| East Sussex | 0.2 | 1 | 0.4 | 2 | 2.5 | 14 | 97.0 | 553 | 0.0 | 0 | N/A* | 42 |
| Essex | 0.3 | 2 | 0.7 | 4 | 1.2 | 7 | 97.5 | 577 | 0.3 | 2 | N/A* | 561 |
| Gloucestershire | 0.6 | 2 | 0.6 | 2 | 1.6 | 5 | 96.8 | 301 | 0.3 | 1 | N/A* | 98 |
| Greater London | 1.9 | 88 | 5.3 | 246 | 4.9 | 227 | 86.5 | 4,043 | 1.5 | 68 | N/A* | 60 |
| Greater Manchester | 0.9 | 11 | 0.9 | 11 | 3.0 | 36 | 94.9 | 1,142 | 0.2 | 3 | N/A* | 160 |
| Hampshire | 0.2 | 3 | 0.2 | 2 | 0.5 | 6 | 98.8 | 1,221 | 0.3 | 4 | N/A* | 145 |
| Hereford and Worcester | 0.2 | 1 | 1.2 | 7 | 0.9 | 5 | 97.5 | 551 | 0.2 | 1 | N/A* | 28 |
| Hertfordshire | 0.1 | 1 | 0.4 | 3 | 2.2 | 15 | 96.5 | 664 | 0.7 | 5 | N/A* | 27 |
| Humberside | 0.0 | 0 | 0.4 | 3 | 1.3 | 10 | 98.2 | 758 | 0.1 | 1 | N/A* | 29 |
| Isle Of Wight | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 100.0 | 160 | 0.0 | 0 | N/A* | 22 |
| Isles of Scilly | 0.0 | 0 | 2.6 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 97.4 | 38 | 0.0 | 0 | N/A* | 0 |
| Kent | 0.0 | 0 | 0.3 | 2 | 0.8 | 6 | 98.2 | 728 | 0.7 | 5 | N/A* | 462 |
| Lancashire | 1.2 | 12 | 0.3 | 3 | 1.2 | 12 | 97.0 | 1,007 | 0.4 | 4 | N/A* | 23 |
| Leicestershire | 0.4 | 2 | 0.4 | 2 | 2.3 | 12 | 96.9 | 499 | 0.0 | 0 | N/A* | 42 |
| Lincolnshire | 0.5 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 1.2 | 7 | 98.3 | 585 | 0.0 | 0 | N/A* | 11 |
| Merseyside | 0.0 | 0 | 1.1 | 9 | 3.6 | 30 | 94.5 | 784 | 0.8 | 7 | N/A* | 18 |
| Norfolk | 0.3 | 2 | 0.3 | 2 | 0.5 | 3 | 98.9 | 658 | 0.0 | 0 | N/A* | 73 |
| North West Fire Control | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | N/A* | 0 |
| North Yorkshire | 0.3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.7 | 4 | 99.0 | 572 | 0.0 | 0 | N/A* | 92 |
| Northamptonshire | 0.3 | 1 | 0.3 | 1 | 1.4 | 4 | 97.3 | 285 | 0.7 | 2 | N/A* | 168 |
| Northumberland | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.8 | 2 | 99.2 | 248 | 0.0 | 0 | N/A* | 34 |
| Nottinghamshire | 0.8 | 5 | 1.1 | 7 | 2.6 | 17 | 95.5 | 616 | 0.0 | 0 | N/A* | 33 |
| Oxfordshire | 0.0 | 0 | 0.4 | 2 | 0.6 | 3 | 98.1 | 510 | 1.0 | 5 | N/A* | 59 |
| Shropshire | 0.3 | 1 | 1.1 | 4 | 0.5 | 2 | 97.9 | 372 | 0.3 | 1 | N/A* | 121 |
| South Yorkshire | 0.2 | 1 | 1.0 | 6 | 2.1 | 13 | 96.2 | 590 | 0.5 | 3 | N/A* | 1 |
| Staffordshire | 1.2 | 8 | 1.2 | 8 | 0.3 | 2 | 97.2 | 631 | 0.0 | 0 | N/A* | 1 |
| Suffolk | 0.0 | 0 | 0.2 | 1 | 1.9 | 8 | 97.6 | 403 | 0.2 | 1 | N/A* | 183 |
| Surrey | 0.7 | 4 | 0.2 | 1 | 1.3 | 7 | 97.8 | 542 | 0.0 | 0 | N/A* | 20 |
| Tyne and Wear | 0.3 | 2 | 0.2 | 1 | 1.0 | 6 | 98.1 | 577 | 0.3 | 2 | N/A* | 27 |
| Warwickshire | 0.9 | 3 | 0.9 | 3 | 0.9 | 3 | 97.3 | 319 | 0.0 | 0 | N/A* | 78 |
| West Midlands | 1.9 | 26 | 4.5 | 62 | 4.7 | 65 | 88.4 | 1,222 | 0.6 | 8 | N/A* | 22 |
| West Sussex | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.4 | 2 | 99.2 | 503 | 0.4 | 2 | N/A* | 109 |
| West Yorkshire | 1.7 | 17 | 0.3 | 3 | 1.4 | 14 | 96.1 | 979 | 0.6 | 6 | N/A* | 48 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and area (firefighters only)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and area (firefighters only)’ (CSV)
Summary of Fire and rescue services workforce By ethnicity and area (firefighters only) Summary
The diversity of the population in each area should be considered when looking at these figures. The areas served by each fire and rescue service do not exactly match the geographical areas covered by Census data.
The data shows that, in 2020:
- Greater London had the highest percentage of firefighters from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other backgrounds (13.6%) out of all fire and rescue services
- 40.2% of people in London were from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other backgrounds at the time of the 2011 Census
- Cumbria (0.2%) and West Sussex, Northumberland, and Devon and Somerset (all 0.8%), had the smallest percentage of firefighters from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other backgrounds
- 11.7% of firefighters in the West Midlands were from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other backgrounds
7. By ethnicity and duty type (firefighters only)
| Full-time ('Wholetime') firefighters | On-call ('retained') firefighters | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Full-time ('Wholetime') firefighters % | Full-time ('Wholetime') firefighters Number | On-call ('retained') firefighters % | On-call ('retained') firefighters Number |
| All | 64.6 | 22,793 | 35.4 | 12,498 |
| Asian | 88.4 | 190 | 11.6 | 25 |
| Black | 91.9 | 388 | 8.1 | 34 |
| Mixed | 88.6 | 553 | 11.4 | 71 |
| White | 65.6 | 19,879 | 34.4 | 10,419 |
| Other including Chinese | 83.2 | 124 | 16.8 | 25 |
| Unknown | 46.3 | 1,659 | 53.7 | 1,924 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and duty type (firefighters only)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and duty type (firefighters only)’ (CSV)
Summary of Fire and rescue services workforce By ethnicity and duty type (firefighters only) Summary
The data shows that, in 2020:
- 65.6% of White firefighters were full-time firefighters – the smallest percentage out of all ethnic groups with this type of contract
8. Data sources
Source
Fire and rescue workforce and pensions statistics: England, April 2019 to March 2020
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
Home Office
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
Ethnicity and gender data is used by fire and rescue services as part of diversity monitoring schemes.
9. Download the data
This file contains the following: Measure, Ethnicity, Ethnicity_type, Time, Time_type, Geography, Geography_type, Role, Duty, value, value_type, count