Press Releases

The SNP’s “savage and sustained budget cuts” have been blamed for a life-threatening surge in fire service response times to 999 calls.

Figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives reveal that emergency calls to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service are now responded to more slowly than at any point in the past 10 years.

The data outlines that responses to 999 calls have slowed almost every consecutive year between 2014 and 2024, including for calls where it was considered there was a high risk of casualty.

In 2014, it took a median of six minutes and 51 seconds for a 999 call to result in the fire service arriving on site. By 2024, this had increased to a median of eight minutes and 20 seconds – an increase of 21%.

There was a similar increase among cases classified as “possible life risk incidents”, meaning there was a high risk of encountering a casualty. In 2014, it took a median of 7 minutes and 13 seconds for a 999 call to result in the fire service arriving on site. By 2024, this had increased to 8 minutes and 42 seconds – a 20% increase.

During that time the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service saw their funding cut in real terms by £57 million by the SNP Government, while the number of firefighters fell by almost a thousand.

Shadow minister for community safety Sharon Dowey condemned the SNP’s “continual contempt” for the fire service and public safety, describing their cuts as “an abject dereliction of duty”.

Shadow Community Safety Minister Sharon Dowey MSP 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 ten years, when the nationalists have imposed a real terms cut of £57million and the number of firefighters has dropped by one thousand 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.”

Notes

The response times for all 999 calls to the SFRS reached their slowest rate in 10 years in 2024. The median response time for the SFRS to arrive in 2014 was 6 minutes and 51 seconds but this had increased to 8 minutes and 20 seconds by 2024 – a 21% increase. (SFRS FOI, 1 July 2025, available upon request)

The response times for 999 calls to the SFRS designated as being a “possible life risk” also reached their slowest rate in 10 years in 2024. Cases classified as “possible life risk incidents” mean there was a high risk of encountering a casualty. The median response time for the SFRS to arrive at these high-risk incidents 2014 was 7 minutes and 13 seconds but this had increased to 8 minutes and 42 seconds by 2024 – a 20% increase. (SFRS FOI, 1 July 2025, available upon request)

999 response times got worse in almost every consecutive year between 2014 and 2024. For all 999 calls, there was a year-on-year increase in the response time every single year except for 2018 and 2019 where it remained the same. For high-risk calls, there was a year-on-year increase in the response time every single year except 2022 and 2023 where it fell by 1 second before increasing to a record high in 2024. (SFRS FOI, 1 July 2025, available upon request)

Between 2013 and 2023, the SFRS saw its funding levels cut by around £57 million in real terms. Data obtained by the Fire Brigades Union from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre in 2023 showed that the SFRS has seen its funding levels cut by around £57 million in real terms since 2013. (Criminal Justice Committee, 4 September 2024, link)

The SFRS said they need a capital budget of £80 million but were given £47 million in the 2025/26 Budget. The SFRS said, ‘£496m of this [is] to develop the operational estate up to modern station design standards. Our estimate is that we require a capital budget of approximately £80m per annum sustained for 10 years to deal with our investment backlog challenges. The SFRS Budget for 2025-26 increased capital funding from £43 million to £47million which is still far below £80 million. (Criminal Justice Committee, 4 September 2024, link; SFRS, 27 February 2025, link)

The SFRS has lost more than a thousand firefighters on the SNP’s watch. The SFRS had 7,878 firefighters in 2012-13 but this was down to 6,663 in 2022-23. This is a loss of 1,215 firefighters and a 15% decrease. (Fire Brigades Union, 24 October 2023, link)

45% of fire stations are in poor or bad condition. Around 61% of SFRS buildings are over 30 years old; 45% of operational property estate is currently in poor or bad condition, and 75% are deemed unsuitable. (Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, 30 April 2024, link)

73% of fire engines in Scotland are over 10 years old. There are 480 fire trucks in use by the SFRS and 351 came into service between 10 and 28 years ago. In the past two years, only one fire engine entered service. (SFRS FOI, 7 May 2025, available upon request)

There are 18 fire stations without running water across Scotland. Largely located in the Highlands, they are Colintraive, Cromarty, Foyers, Glenelg, Kerrera, Kinlochewe, Lybster, Muck, Nethybridge, North Ronaldsay, Ratagan, Salen, Seil, Spean Bridge, Staffin, Stronsay, Torridon, and Westray. (SFRS FOI, 19 June 2025, available upon request)