Fire and rescue services workforce
Published
- 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 duty type (firefighters only) section
- 7. Navigate toData sources section
- 8. Navigate toDownload the data section
1. Main facts and figures
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in 2024, 94.0% of all fire and rescue staff in England were White (out of those whose ethnicity was known)
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for comparison, 80.7% of working age people (aged 16 to 64 years) in England were White at the time of the 2021 Census
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from 2011 to 2024, the percentage of firefighters who were White went down from 96.5% to 94.6%
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from 2011 to 2024, the percentage of firefighters who were from Mixed ethnic backgrounds went up from 1.2% to 2.6%
Further research
A report by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services published in 2023 found repeated concerns in the values and culture within the fire and rescue services in England. The report highlighted issues that had occurred in over half of fire and rescue services, such as bullying, harassment and discrimination, and lack of fairness and diversity. The report found evidence of racism, sexism and homophobia and that the culture discouraged staff from addressing inappropriate behaviour.
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 each year.
People whose ethnicity is not known are included in the figures for ‘All’.
Percentages in the charts and tables 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 2011 Census.
Percentages are based on staff whose ethnicity was known. Ethnicity was known for 91.2% of staff in 2024.
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.
Working age population data is from the 2021 Census. Read more about how we use Census data and some of the problems involved.
3. By ethnicity and type of role
| Fire Control | Firefighters | Support Staff | Total Staff | Working age population (2021) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Fire Control % | Fire Control Number | Firefighters % | Firefighters Number | Support Staff % | Support Staff Number | Total Staff % | Total Staff Number | Working age population (2021) % | Working age population (2021) Number |
| All | 100.0 | 1,194 | 100.0 | 34,900 | 100.0 | 8,909 | 100.0 | 45,003 | 100.0 | 37,502,985 |
| Asian | 0.6 | 7 | 0.9 | 281 | 3.4 | 281 | 1.4 | 569 | 10.1 | 3,787,330 |
| Black | 1.2 | 14 | 1.4 | 444 | 2.8 | 233 | 1.7 | 691 | 4.4 | 1,657,235 |
| Mixed | 2.6 | 29 | 2.6 | 820 | 1.9 | 152 | 2.4 | 1,001 | 2.5 | 920,415 |
| White | 95.5 | 1,082 | 94.6 | 29,998 | 91.3 | 7,494 | 94.0 | 38,574 | 80.7 | 30,258,110 |
| Other | 0.1 | 1 | 0.5 | 156 | 0.6 | 52 | 0.5 | 209 | 2.3 | 879,895 |
| Unknown | NA | 61 | NA | 3,201 | NA | 697 | NA | 3,959 | N/A* | N/A* |
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
This data is based on fire and rescue staff whose ethnicity was known.
The data shows that, in 2024:
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94.0% of all fire and rescue staff in England were from the White ethnic group
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94.6% of all firefighters were White
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2.6% of firefighters were from Mixed ethnic backgrounds – the second highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
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at the time of the 2021 Census, 80.7% of working age people (16 to 64 year olds) in England were White, 10.1% were Asian, 4.4% were Black, and 2.5% were from Mixed ethnic backgrounds
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the role with the highest percentage of staff from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups combined was support staff (8.7%)
4. By ethnicity and type of role over time
| Fire Control | Firefighters | Support Staff | Total Staff | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Fire Control % (2011) | Fire Control Number (2011) | Fire Control % (2024) | Fire Control Number (2024) | Firefighters % (2011) | Firefighters Number (2011) | Firefighters % (2024) | Firefighters Number (2024) | Support Staff % (2011) | Support Staff Number (2011) | Support Staff % (2024) | Support Staff Number (2024) | Total Staff % (2011) | Total Staff Number (2011) | Total Staff % (2024) | Total Staff Number (2024) |
| All | 100.0 | 1,555 | 100.0 | 1,194 | 100.0 | 43,399 | 100.0 | 34,900 | 100.0 | 9,348 | 100.0 | 8,909 | 100.0 | 54,302 | 100.0 | 45,003 |
| Asian | 0.4 | 6 | 0.6 | 7 | 0.6 | 238 | 0.9 | 281 | 2.9 | 255 | 3.4 | 281 | 1.0 | 499 | 1.4 | 569 |
| Black | 0.6 | 8 | 1.2 | 14 | 1.3 | 521 | 1.4 | 444 | 2.5 | 215 | 2.8 | 233 | 1.5 | 744 | 1.7 | 691 |
| Mixed | 1.2 | 17 | 2.6 | 29 | 1.2 | 476 | 2.6 | 820 | 0.9 | 82 | 1.9 | 152 | 1.2 | 575 | 2.4 | 1,001 |
| White | 97.7 | 1,407 | 95.5 | 1,082 | 96.5 | 37,672 | 94.6 | 29,998 | 93.3 | 8,143 | 91.3 | 7,494 | 95.9 | 47,222 | 94.0 | 38,574 |
| Other | 0.1 | 2 | 0.1 | 1 | 0.4 | 150 | 0.5 | 156 | 0.3 | 29 | 0.6 | 52 | 0.4 | 181 | 0.5 | 209 |
| Unknown | NA | 115 | NA | 61 | NA | 4,342 | NA | 3,201 | NA | 624 | NA | 697 | NA | 5,081 | NA | 3,959 |
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, between 2011 and 2024:
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the total number of fire and rescue staff went down from 54,302 to 45,003
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the percentage of all staff who were from the White ethnic group went down from 95.9% to 94.0%
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the percentage of all staff who were from Mixed ethnic backgrounds went up from 1.2% to 2.4%
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the percentage of firefighters who were White went down from 96.5% to 94.6%
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the percentage of firefighters from Mixed ethnic backgrounds went up from 1.2% to 2.6%
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the percentage of support staff from Mixed ethnic backgrounds went up from 0.9% to 1.9% and for the Asian ethnic group from 2.9% to 3.4%
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 | 2.7 | 1,194 | 77.6 | 34,900 | 19.8 | 8,909 |
| Asian | 1.2 | 7 | 49.4 | 281 | 49.4 | 281 |
| Black | 2.0 | 14 | 64.3 | 444 | 33.7 | 233 |
| Mixed | 2.9 | 29 | 81.9 | 820 | 15.2 | 152 |
| White | 2.8 | 1,082 | 77.8 | 29,998 | 19.4 | 7,494 |
| Other | 0.5 | 1 | 74.6 | 156 | 24.9 | 52 |
| Unknown | 1.5 | 61 | 80.9 | 3,201 | 17.6 | 697 |
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 2024:
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81.9% of the total fire and rescue staff from the Mixed ethnic group were firefighters, compared with 77.8% of White staff, and 49.4% of Asian staff
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49.4% of the total fire and rescue staff from Asian ethnic backgrounds were in support staff roles, compared with 19.4% of staff from White ethnic backgrounds, and 15.2% of staff from the Mixed ethnic group
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2.9% of the total fire and rescue staff from the Mixed ethnic group were in fire control roles, compared with 2.8% of White, 2.0% of Black staff, 1.2% of Asian staff, and 0.5% of staff from the Other ethnic group
6. 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 | 65.8 | 22,980 | 34.2 | 11,920 |
| Asian | 86.5 | 243 | 13.5 | 38 |
| Black | 93.5 | 415 | 6.5 | 29 |
| Mixed | 86.1 | 706 | 13.9 | 114 |
| White | 66.2 | 19,850 | 33.8 | 10,148 |
| Other | 82.7 | 129 | 17.3 | 27 |
| Unknown | 51.1 | 1,637 | 48.9 | 1,564 |
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
On-call firefighters are not based at a fire station. They carry a pager and respond to emergency incidents as and when they happen.
The data shows that, in 2024:
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out of all White firefighters, 66.2% were full-time – the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups – and 33.8% were on-call
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out of all Black firefighters, 93.5% were full-time – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups – and 6.5% were on-call
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86.5% of all firefighters from the Asian ethnic group were full-time, and 13.5% were on-call
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86.1% of all firefighters from Mixed ethnic backgrounds were full-time, and 13.9% were on-call
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82.7% of all firefighters from the Other ethnic group were full-time, and 17.3% were on-call
7. Data sources
Source
Fire workforce and pension statistics, year ending March 2024
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.
8. Download the data
This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, time, time_type, geography, geography_type, geography_code, duty, role, value, value_type, numerator, denominator