Staffing Figures
Case reference FOI2026/00383
Received 1 April 2026
Published 28 April 2026
Request
1.) How many (a) wholetime firefighter, (b) retained firefighter, (c) fire control room, (d) support staff and (e) total staff there were employed in your Fire and Rescue Service, measured by headcount, on 31 March 2025 and 31 March 2026.
2.) We also request the (f) number of wholetime firefighters employed by your fire and rescue service as of 31 March 2025 and 31 March 2026 (headcount) that also work a retained contract and therefore could be described as “wholetime-retained”.
To clarify, we only request the number of wholetime firefighters with an additional retained contract – we are not asking whether it is with your own or another fire and rescue service.
Response
Please see our response to your requests in turn below:
1.) How many (a) wholetime firefighter, (b) retained firefighter, (c) fire control room, (d) support staff and (e) total staff there were employed in your Fire and Rescue Service, measured by headcount, on 31 March 2025 and 31 March 2026.
|
Headcount |
31 March 2025 |
31 March 2026 |
|
Wholetime |
4,758 |
4,692 |
|
Retained |
0 |
0 |
|
Control |
134 |
145 |
|
Support |
1,061 |
1,020 |
|
Total |
5,953 |
5,857 |
2.) We also request the (f) number of wholetime firefighters employed by your fire and rescue service as of 31 March 2025 and 31 March 2026 (headcount) that also work a retained contract and therefore could be described as “wholetime-retained”. To clarify, we only request the number of wholetime firefighters with an additional retained contract – we are not asking whether it is with your own or another fire and rescue service.
|
31 March 2025 |
31 March 2026 |
|
There are 94 personnel with a live permission for outside employment as a retained firefighter. |
There are 120 personnel with a live permission for outside employment as a retained firefighter. |
Documents
This is London Fire Brigade's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.