"Male-Dominated" Fire and Rescue Service Set To Face MPs' Scrutiny

Labour MP and committee chair Diana Johnson has said “completely inappropriate” behaviour in the “male-dominated” fire and rescue services requires urgent investigation, as an inquiry is due to begin in Parliament this week.

The Home Affairs Committee, chaired by Johnson, will hear evidence on Tuesday from a range of fire and rescue professionals, including the Director at Women in the Fire Service. The inquiry will look into reports of misogyny, homophobia and the wider culture across fire and rescue services, starting just a few days before International Women’s Day on Friday 8 March.

“There are some really harrowing stories about the culture in the Fire and Rescue Service,” Johnson told PoliticsHome.

“We've certainly seen some of the behaviours that have been identified within the police forces… the use of social media, WhatsApp groups, blatant misogyny, bullying, the failing of managers to properly manage and supervise staff and to allow behaviours to develop which are completely inappropriate. 

“I think there is probably some crossover [with the police]… and I think the fire service is probably even more male dominated. There's probably a very male culture.”

Although the number of female firefighters has slowly increased over the years, only 8.7 per cent of firefighters in England were women at the end of March 2023. In comparison, while police forces face similar accusations of being “male-dominated”, the percentage of women police officers in England in March 2023 was 37 per cent.

Johnson suggested this was part of the reason why there was an issue with the culture across the emergency services.

“We want to have a police force that reflects the society we live in and we need to have women police officers in there,