[holding answer 1 May 2008]: The number of whole-time firefighters employed in each fire and rescue authority in England, for the years 2003 to 2007 is shown in the following table.
Fire and rescue service 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Avon 639 678 669 690 682 Bedfordshire and Luton 319 330 323 317 321 Buckinghamshire 330 352 349 359 398 Cambridgeshire 273 285 273 258 277 Cheshire 623 616 602 567 562 Cleveland 586 570 563 561 562 Cornwall 192 205 201 200 193 County Durham and Darlington 407 402 385 372 387 Cumbria 274 271 274 268 274 Derbyshire 467 479 475 455 446 Devon 565 575 562 577 561 Dorset 304 309 302 307 298 East Sussex 423 453 434 424 426 Essex 937 920 936 981 945 Gloucestershire 233 238 239 234 247 Greater Manchester 2,139 2,100 2,028 1,902 1,938 Hampshire 799 808 790 808 802 Hereford and Worcester 351 347 319 330 342 Hertfordshire 564 574 564 569 560 Humberside 721 728 710 712 707 Isle of Wight 61 58 63 57 57 Isles of Scilly 10 11 11 10 11 Kent 938 942 892 901 930 Lancashire 1,008 990 957 912 898 Leicestershire 478 476 477 479 490 Lincolnshire 192 187 195 204 206 London 5,758 5,990 5,815 5,959 6,053 Merseyside 1,342 1,319 1,276 1,151 1,105 Norfolk 288 295 281 303 306 North Yorkshire 351 363 358 351 352 Northamptonshire 307 311 302 288 287 Northumberland 209 198 193 197 195 Nottinghamshire 589 587 549 564 577 Oxfordshire 233 245 237 240 243 Royal Berkshire 436 430 422 427 427 Shropshire 216 216 208 203 215 Somerset 181 179 184 180 179 South Yorkshire 914 918 878 870 834 Staffordshire 471 470 447 432 448 Suffolk 250 244 257 272 257 Surrey 693 669 673 655 639 Tyne and Wear 999 970 945 921 905 Warwickshire 279 284 276 277 262 West Midlands 1,971 1,968 1,944 1,836 1,904 West Sussex 395 409 394 400 373 West Yorkshire 1,678 1,658 1,602 1,550 1,512 Wiltshire 221 229 219 214 211 Total 31,614 31,856 31,053 30,744 30,804 Source: Annual returns to Communities and Local Government