Military Aid: Fire and Rescue Services
2026-05-28 · Ministry of Defence · 5016 · Official question
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of tasking the Royal Air Force with providing a national aerial firefighting capability in the United Kingdom to combat wildfires.
Answer
Fire and Rescue Services in England are the responsibility of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and is a devolved matter in the rest of the United Kingdom. Any Defence support to Fire and Rescue Services would be considered under ...