Government quietly dropped plan to prepare England for wildfires

FOI request shows wildfire risk scheme scrapped, as survey highlights many fire services lack proper protective gear.

The government quietly scrapped plans to prepare the countryside in England for wildfires, it has been revealed. This was despite new data showing fire crews do not have the proper protective gear to tackle them.

This summer has been a potent reminder of the scale of the threat posed by the climate crisis, with the UK experiencing record-breaking wildfires after punishingly hot and dry weather turned large parts of the countryside into a tinderbox.

In the third national climate adaptation programme, published in July 2023, the Conservative government, then headed by Rishi Sunak, said it would run a wildfire risk programme in England from 2023 to 2027 so land management would be adapted for the risk.

However, it has now emerged the programme was never implemented, with the current government stating the commitment “was made by the previous government but was not brought into effect”.

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