The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.
Emergency cover is provided by over fifty agencies. These are officially known as a fire and rescue service (FRS) which is the term used in modern legislation and by government departments. The older terms of fire brigade and fire service survive in informal usage and in the names of a few organisations. England and Wales (and formerly Scotland) have local fire services which are each overseen by a fire authority, which is made up of representatives of local governments. Fire authorities have the power to raise a Council Tax levy for funding, with the remainder coming from the government. Scotland and Northern Ireland have centralised fire services, and so their authorities are effectively committees of the devolved parliaments. The total budget for fire services in 2014-15 was £2.9 billion.
Central government maintains national standards and a body of independent advisers through the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser, which was created in 2007, while His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services provides direct oversight. The devolved government in Scotland has a similar agency, HMFSI Scotland.
Firefighters in the United Kingdom are allowed to join unions, the main one being the Fire Brigades Union, while chief fire officers (the heads of the various FRS) are members of the National Fire Chiefs Council (formerly the Chief Fire Officers Association), which has some role in national co-ordination.
The fire services have undergone significant changes since the beginning of the 21st century, a process that has been propelled by a devolution of central government powers, new legislation and a change to operational procedures in the light of terrorism attacks and threats.
History
Legislative framework
See separate article History of fire safety legislation in the United Kingdom
Comprehensive list of recent UK fire and rescue service legislation:
Legislation (United Kingdom, Great Britain or England and Wales) Fire services are established and granted their powers under fairly new legislation which has replaced a number of Acts of Parliament dating back more than 60 years, but is still undergoing change; a rough timeline can be seen below.
1938: Fire Brigades Act 1938. This Act (which is no longer in force) provided for centralised co-ordination of fire brigades in Great Britain and made it mandatory for local authorities to arrange an effective fire service. 1947: Fire Services Act 1947 This Act transferred the functions of the National Fire Service to local authorities. Now repealed entirely in England and Wales by Schedule 2 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004. 1959: Fire Services Act 1959 This Act amended the 1947 Act; it dealt with pensions, staffing arrangements and provision of services by other authorities. It was repealed in England and Wales along with the 1947 Act. 1999: Greater London Authority Act 1999 This act was necessary to allow for the formation of the Greater London Authority and in turn the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority.
In 2002, there was a series of national fire strikes, with much of the discontent caused by the aforementioned report into the fire service conducted by Sir George Bain. In December 2002, the Independent Review of the Fire Service was published with the industrial action still ongoing; it made radical proposals to how the fire service should be organised and managed. Bain's report ultimately led to a change in the laws relating to firefighting.