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The Prime Minister has confirmed that responsibility for fire will move back to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) in response to a recommendation in the final Grenfell Inquiry report to bring building safety and fire under a single Secretary of State.
Sir Martin Moore-Bick said in the report published in September 2024 that responsibility for fire safety was fragmented and that by consolidating it into one department would mean that policy could be developed in a ‘holistic and coherent way’ with more effective sharing of information between teams.
“I am confirming today that responsibility for fire will move from the Home Office to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. This change will bring responsibility for building safety and fire under a single Secretary of State, providing for a more coherent approach to keeping people safe from fire in their homes.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
This statement to the House of Commons on 13 February comes ahead of the full government response to the final Grenfell Inquiry report which is expected by the end of this month, if the six month timetable commitment is met.
Fire policy came under a predecessor of MHCLG from 2001 to 2016 but it moved back to the Home Office under Theresa May as she sought to bring police and fire closer together with the creation of Police Fire and Crime Commissioners as well as adding fire to the brief of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary.
Mark Hardingham, Chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council, said he welcomed the move, adding: “I would like to thank those we have worked with in the Home Office, including Dame Diana Johnson who held the role of Fire Minister most recently.”
Dame Diana Johnson is the Home Office Minister of State responsible for both fire and police. With the transfer of fire to MHCLG on 1 April, a new Minister will be appointed to take on fire and building safety although it is not known who that will be or if the responsibility for construction products will also transfer to MHCLG.
The newly elected General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, Steve Wright, also welcomed the transfer to MHCLG, saying it is “as an important first step to repairing the damage done to the fire and rescue service by recent governments.”
The PM also confirmed that the Home Office will retain management of the Airwave Service Contract on behalf of MHCLG and will remain responsible for the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).
Read more about the background to this news – What the Grenfell report means for fire and rescue services.
