The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is facing £6 million in budget cuts next year, with a further £12 million in unidentified ‘savings’.
The LFB 2026-2027 budget submission also removes key operational budgets such as for uniform and communications upgrades.
The brigade has been criticised by the union for borrowing heavily for a new headquarters redevelopment while threatening these cuts to the already overstretched frontline.
David Shek, Fire Brigades Union executive council Member for London said that “senior leaders of the London Fire Brigade are sitting on reserves and borrowing millions for property projects while fire engines sit idle, without enough firefighters to crew them.”
Recent figures show that the service only managed to keep its full fleet of fire engines available for 5% of shifts during the year to date.
Between 1 January and 8 November 2025, the full fleet was only available for 33 shifts as a result of cuts to crewing, amounting to 1 in 20 shifts. The last time that every LFB fire engine was available was 30 September.
The FBU is calling on the Mayor of London and the London Fire Commissioner to address this crisis in availability by prioritising funding for the frontline in the upcoming fire service budget.
