page_title: Fire services in the United Kingdom
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Fire services in the United Kingdom / History
caption_attribution_description: English: A 1951 Dennis P12 fire tender as formerly used by the Wiltshire, UK, Fire Brigade
context_page_description: 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 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 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 Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services provides direct oversight.
caption: A 1951 Dennis P12 fire appliance belonging to the Wiltshire Fire Brigade
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