After a record-breaking summer of devastating wildfires across Britain, the cross-party House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee will tomorrow question the government on its lack of firefighting aircraft, a joined-up strategy and prevention techniques.
The evidence session form part of the EFRA Committee’s long-term ongoing inquiry will examine how well the UK is preparing for and responding to environmental and weather-related risks such as landslips, wildfires, drought and coastal erosion.
National Fire Chiefs Council data shows there were more wildfires in the year to 16 August than in all of 2025, due to increasingly frequent heatwaves and drought conditions placing greater pressure on fire and rescue services.
England, Scotland and Wales all saw large scale incidents, including:
- military deployment in South Wales;
- 19 homes destroyed in Stourbridge;
- thousands of hectares of National Parkland scorched in the Cairngorms.
The panel of witnesses to be questioned includes Ministers and senior civil servants from Defra and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
Defra is responsible for land management, nature and water supply, while MHCLG oversees the country’s fire and rescue services, as well as local and regional government.
The cross-party Committee will ask about the country’s firefighting capability, including its lack of firefighting aircraft and when these assets will become available, and whether fire services are sufficiently resourced and have reliable access to water during droughts.
There may be questions on whether changes should be made to regulations that have restricted controlled winter burnings as a method of wildfire prevention, whilst Natural England instead advocates for restoring peatland.
MPs will also want to get to the bottom of which department has ownership of a strategy to tackle wildfires; how they collaborate on this issue; what lessons are being learnt from abroad, and how they can help forge stronger relationships between firefighters, land managers and local authorities.
There may also be questions on topics such as support for communities impacted by fires; removing barriers to landowners building reservoirs; and the government’s first use of the Emergency Alert system that appeared on mobile phones on 14 August.
Witnesses appearing before the EFRA Committee from 10.00am onwards:
- Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Defra
- Gabrielle Edwards, Interim Director for Strategy, Governance and Climate, Defra
- Baroness Blake of Leeds CBE, Minister for Building Safety, Fire and Resilience, MHCLG
- Peter Lee, Director for Fire, MHCLG
Click here to watch the live evidence session on parliamentlive.tv or to catch up later.
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