Fire service expected to go £1m over budget

A fire service is expected to go £1.062m over its allocated budget of nearly £43m for 2026-27 with extreme weather and other factors leading to call-outs nearly doubling.

Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service has already received an uplift of nearly £700,000 to cope with extra demand adding to its costs.

New figures also show pumps have been called out 73% more often over the past five years due to weather extremes, more water rescues and frequently dealing with more complex incidents.

The service defended its spending, claiming it had the third-lowest service costs in the country per population size.

A spokeswoman for the Norfolk County Council-run service said 60% of front-line staffing was made up of on-call/retained firefighters, who respond to emergencies when on-call.

Retained firefighters usually have other jobs outside the service and get paid for the work they are called on to do.

This means costs have varied due to increased and sustained demand leading to "higher staffing costs and significant budget pressures".

The overspend also included critical overtime and standby costs, which aimed to ensure sufficient cover across the county.

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The spokeswoman added: "We continue to seek ways to help alleviate the pressure while ensuring we remain ready and available for our county.

"Norfolk currently sits comparatively as the third-lowest cost service in the country, with funding levels per head of population lower than the majority of other services."

Justine Thomas, Reform UK's councillor for budget responsibility at the county council, told a cabinet meeting that "tighter levels of financial controls to reduce, delay and prevent non-essential spending" were needed.

Delaying or pausing recruitment to non-operational areas was also being considered to save money.

In the past five years, Norfolk has faced frequent summer heatwaves which have led to widespread wildfires.

In 2022, some 20 homes were destroyed and countryside, much-loved natural landscapes and wildlife were harmed.

In 2025, crews attended more than 10,000 incidents and call handlers answered 17,744 calls - the highest number on record.

This summer, the fire service continues to be under pressure following successive heatwaves.

On one day last week, crews attended 14 fires in the open, of which five were classed as wildfires.

Out-of-control bonfires, a discarded cigarette and bin fires were among the causes, prompting calls for people to consider taking extra care to cut the risk of avoidable fires.

Crews also assisted Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service in tackling the devastating heathland fire in Dunwich.

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