Sussex Fire and Rescue services are almost 25% smaller since 2010 thanks to job cuts, new data reveals

The data, which reveals that one in five firefighting jobs have been axed nationwide over the last 14 years, covers fire and rescue services across the UK.

West Sussex has its emergency force cut down by 23 per cent – some 193 jobs – while East Sussex has experienced a 25 per cent reduction; approximately 182 jobs.

The much-reduced fire service is also less able to respond to emergency incidents on average, according to the data, with national response times to life threatening fires slowing from 6.11 minutes in 1995 to 9.13 minutes in 2023.

Following the news, Matt Wrack, general secretary for the Fire Brigades Union, has called on the new Labour government to act quickly and reinvest in fire and rescue services ‘as a matter of urgency’.

“Fourteen years of austerity have devastated the fire and rescue service,” he said. “Every region has been hit, with 12,000 firefighters lost to cuts across the UK.

“With flooding, wildfires and storms on the rise as a result of the climate emergency, firefighters are being asked to do more with less. 999 response times are slower than ever before, putting homes and lives at risk."

Responding to a request for comment, a spokesperson for West Sussex Fire and Rescue said the database also includes staff who would have worked in the regional control room before it was moved to East Sussex and, subsequently, to Joint Fire Control in Surrey, and that county response times are ‘consistently above target’.

"West Sussex County Council has provided increased investment that has been used to increase the number of firefighters we have within the service, and to enhance the number of fire engines that are immediately available to respond the incidents – a strategic priority within our current Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP),” they said. “Our CRMP also sets out our commitment to taking a risk-based review of our specialist capability and asset requirements to ensure they are fit for purpose, both now and for the future.”

Figures released by East Sussex Fire and Rescue paint a similarly positive picture, with the number of deliberate fires decreasing from 724 in 2022/23 to 667 in 2023/24. Target response times in East Sussex are under ten minutes for any ‘station response’ and under 15 for any ‘on-call’ response, 70 per cent of the time.

East Sussex firefighters are consistently above these targets, responding to 78.13 per cent of station incidents on time and 75.22 per cent of on call incidents on time.

"We want to reassure the public that we have adapted to the changing risks of our communities while maintaining a balanced budget,” a spokesperson said. “Our effectiveness has been recognised as good in the most recent HMICFRS inspection.

"Through our Community Risk Management Planning (CRMP), we assess risks and adjust our resources to our finances, maintaining a balance between prevention, protection, and emergency response including positioning appliances where they are most needed, to ensure attendance standards continue to be met.”