Fire service 999 response times slowest in decade last year, figures show

The Tories have accused the Scottish Government of jeopardising public safety through “savage” fire service budget cuts after 999 response times hit their slowest level in 10 years.

Data obtained from the fire service by the Scottish Conservatives via Freedom of Information showed that in 2024 the average time for an appliance to arrive at the scene following a 999 call was eight minutes and 20 seconds.

This was up from an average of six minutes and 51 seconds in 2014, with response times increasing almost every consecutive year over the decade.

Response times for “risk to life” incidents where the chances of encountering a casualty are considered to be much higher have also risen over the decade, from seven minutes and 13 seconds in 2014 to eight minutes and 42 seconds last year.

The Scottish Conservatives said that over the 10 years the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) saw its funding cut in real terms by £57 million by the Scottish Government, while the number of firefighters fell by almost 1,000.

The party’s community safety minister Sharon Dowey MSP called for action to tackle the issues.

She said: “Our firefighters do an incredible job, but the SNP’s savage and sustained budget cuts are putting public safety in jeopardy.

“It’s little wonder that emergency response times have hit their slowest rate in 10 years, when the nationalists have imposed a real terms cut of £57 million and the number of firefighters has dropped by 1,000 within a decade.

“On the SNP’s watch, 18 fire stations have no running water, most fire engines are over 10 years old, and many stations are in poor condition with several set to be closed.

“Their continual contempt for our fire service and failure to maintain crucial firefighter numbers is an abject dereliction of duty which will almost certainly have resulted in lives being lost.

“It is crucial that SNP ministers step in now and urgently protect the public by giving the fire service the resources they desperately need.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We continue to support the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) with substantial year-on-year budget increases that enable our firefighters to deliver a high standard of services and keep our communities safe.

“This year’s Budget includes £412.2 million for SFRS – an increase of £18.8 million and Scotland continues to have more firefighters per capita than other parts of the UK.

“Whilst the deployment of SFRS resources is an operational matter for the chief fire officer, their targeted approach to risk and allocation of resource overtook the focus given to response times some years ago – and the service continues to respond to every emergency incident with the appropriate level of resource.”

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said that response times alone do not provide a “meaningful measure” to determine effective emergency response.

Deputy assistant chief officer Kenny Barbour said: “We will always attend every emergency and mobilise the nearest available appliance to an incident using our standard mobilisation practices.

“Response times are influenced by a complex range of factors, including traffic levels and road closures, and do not adequately reflect or capture our geographic diversity here in Scotland.”

DA Barbour also said that another factor outside of SFRS’s control was the time between a fire igniting and it being discovered, and between the discovery and 999 being called.

“This is a key factor in determining outcomes from any emergency incident and that’s why education and prevention are so crucial to our plans as we develop our service,” he said.