The numbers of firefighters based at fire stations is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The total numbers of whole-time and retained firefighters for each fire authority is held centrally and are shown in the following tables for (a) fire authorities in the east of England and (b) England.
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Bedfordshire and Luton 315 305 326 334 319 330 323 317 321 330 Cambridgeshire 263 263 276 274 273 285 273 258 277 278 Essex 914 923 937 948 937 920 936 981 945 943 Hertfordshire 557 581 565 570 564 574 564 569 560 575 Norfolk 282 298 310 308 288 295 281 303 306 302 Suffolk 256 249 248 253 250 244 257 272 257 259 East of England 2,587 2,619 2,662 2,687 2,631 2,648 2,634 2,700 2,666 2,687 England 31,918 31,615 31,597 31,592 31,631 31,856 31,053 30,744 30,804 30,824 Sources: (i) HM Chief Inspector for Fire's Annual Report and (ii) Fire and Rescue Service Operational Statistics Bulletin
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Bedfordshire and Luton 131 126 138 151 139 106 150 154 157 170 Cambridgeshire 365 364 371 344 327 350 369 373 365 354 Essex 457 460 464 477 472 475 488 534 548 543 Hertfordshire 267 266 265 261 208 268 257 261 228 256 Norfolk 448 443 443 405 426 435 501 514 527 534 Suffolk 400 396 404 401 415 399 425 452 487 493 East of England 2,068 2,055 2,085 2,039 1,987 2,033 2,190 2,288 2,312 2,350 England 13,022 13,021 13,097 13,002 13,048 13,015 13,543 13,927 14,212 14,166 Sources: (i) HM Chief Inspector for Fire's Annual Report and (ii) Fire and Rescue Service Operational Statistics Bulletin