Firefighter pay rises history: NJC awards 2018 to 2026

The awards at a glance

Firefighter pay for Grey Book staff is agreed nationally through the National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services, with a joint secretary from the employers' side and one from the FBU. Each award is confirmed in a numbered circular giving the effective date and the new rates. Awards since 2018 have all taken effect on 1 July.

The table below lists each award with the competent firefighter's annual basic pay where a published circular or FBU settlement page confirms it. Rates before 2021 are not shown because this guide did not verify them, though the percentage awards for 2018 to 2020 are confirmed from FBU settlement pages. The cumulative effect of the five awards since 2021 is +£8,114 for a competent firefighter, +25.2%.

A cash rise is not a real-terms rise, and this guide does not quote inflation figures because none was verified for it. The FBU has argued publicly that pay has lost value since 2010; that is the union's position. For how the negotiation works, see the FBU pay claim and NJC process.

2018 to 2021: three 2% awards and 1.5%

The FBU's settlement pages record the NJC agreeing increases of 2% effective 1 July 2018, 2% effective 1 July 2019 and 2% effective 1 July 2020, followed by 1.5% effective 1 July 2021. The 2021 settlement page states the competent firefighter rate as £32,244 and records a matching 1.5% rise in CPD payments, with fire authority CPD amounts ranging from £320 to £1,076 a year.

The employees' side of the NJC published its own pay claim for 2021 on 29 April 2021. This guide does not describe the details of that claim, because the published document was not reviewed for this guide.

By July 2021 the competent rate was £32,244. Five years later the rate is £40,358, and every award since 2021 has been larger than that 1.5%.

2022 and 2023: 7% and 5%, confirmed in March 2023

The two biggest awards of the period were confirmed together. NJC circular NJC/1/23, dated 6 March 2023, records the NJC agreeing an increase of 7.0% with effect from 1 July 2022, taking the competent firefighter to £34,501 and the development firefighter to £26,962 (the trainee rate was £25,884). Circular NJC/3/23 of the same date confirmed a further 5.0% from 1 July 2023, taking the competent rate to £36,226.

That timing has a practical effect. Because the circular for the 2022 award was dated 6 March 2023, the 2022 increase was confirmed eight months after its effective date, so it was a backdated award. The 2023 award was confirmed four months before it took effect. London Fire Brigade's FOI response of 11 September 2023 shows the brigade's policy referring to both circulars and states that implementation and payment of the 2023 rates was in July 2023 salaries.

CPD payments also rose 7% (circular NJC/2/23) and 5% (NJC/4/23). If you started in the service around this period, your first payslips may reflect a backdated award; see firefighter pay rise back pay for how those arrears work.

2024: 4%, maternity pay and a new on-call retainer

Circular NJC/3/24, dated 20 May 2024, records a 4.0% increase from 1 July 2024, taking the competent firefighter to £37,675, the development firefighter to £29,442 and the trainee to £28,265. CPD payments rose 4.0% too. The agreement also improved the Grey Book occupational maternity provision: 26 weeks at full pay, inclusive of all allowances and CPD, followed by 13 weeks at Statutory Maternity Pay.

It also changed the retained duty system's retainer structure. From 1 January 2025 the annual retainer for full cover (at least 120 hours a week) became 15% of basic pay, with lower bands where cover is provided for fewer hours: 5% up to 30 hours, 7.5% for 31 to 60, 10% for 61 to 90 and 12.5% for 91 to 119. In the interim, the 2024 rates used the old structure, where the full retainer was 10% of basic pay and the day-crewing retainer 5%.

The result is that the 2024 and 2025 tables for on-call pay are not directly comparable: a competent on-call firefighter's full retainer was £3,768 in 2024 (10% of £37,675, rounded) and £5,832 in 2025 under the 15% structure. See on-call firefighter pay for the current bands.

2025: 3.2% and the end of the trainee rate

Circular NJC/3/25, dated 30 May 2025, records a 3.2% increase from 1 July 2025, with the competent firefighter at £38,881 and the development firefighter at £30,384. It confirmed that CPD payments rose 3.2%, deleted the trainee rate of pay for all roles and amended Grey Book wording on notice periods. The FBU's 2025 page also records a minimum guaranteed promotion increase of £425 a year (£105 for retained duty system firefighters), which is the figure the FBU page reports, although the circular text reviewed for this guide does not restate it.

The offer was put to FBU members in a consultation ahead of the union's annual conference. The FBU General Secretary said the increase would insulate firefighters and control staff from inflation for a year, while stating that inflation-level pay rises would not be enough in the long run. The agreement included planned talks on pay progression and payments for additional duties. This guide does not state the 2025 consultation vote because the result was not verified.

The removal of the trainee rate meant all services could recruit directly onto the development rate from 1 July 2025. See trainee firefighter pay for how that changed entry pay.

2026: 3.8% and a 54% consultative vote

The 2026 award is 3.8% on all NJC basic pay rates and CPD payments from 1 July 2026. The FBU's consultative ballot concluded on 2 July 2026 with 54% voting to accept on a turnout of 68%, according to the union's circular of that date, and the FBU urged employers to apply it to all Grey Book employees as a matter of urgency. NJC circular NJC/2/26, dated 3 July 2026, sets the new rates and notes that some rates for fire control operator equivalents and junior firefighters were uplifted to comply with the National Minimum or Living Wage.

The competent firefighter is on £40,358 (£18.43 an hour) and the development firefighter on £31,539 (£14.40 an hour). London Fire Brigade's policy, reviewed on 24 July 2026, records the same 3.8% average increase, with implementation in July 2026 salaries. See firefighter pay rise 2026 and pay scales 2025 vs 2026 for the detail.

The FBU also said its negotiators would continue detailed engagement through NJC structures to achieve an agreed programme of pay reform, and that a revised circular with newly agreed pay bandings would follow. What those bandings will contain is not yet public in the sources reviewed for this guide.

How to read an NJC pay circular

Each award is published as a numbered circular, and the recent ones share a layout, which makes them easy to check. The opening paragraph states the percentage and the effective date. Appendix A lists pay rates for firefighting roles (annual, hourly and overtime), Appendix B the retained duty system (retainers, hourly rate and per-occasion payment), Appendix C the control-specific roles at 95% of the matching firefighting salary, and Appendix D non-operational staff and junior firefighters.

The circulars also state the rounding rule: annual figures are rounded to the nearest pound first, then hourly rates are the annual figure divided by 52.143 and by 42, each rounded to the nearest penny. CPD payments are set in a separate circular each year (NJC/3/26 in 2026), listing the amount for each fire authority. Numbering is by year: NJC/2/26 is the second circular of 2026. When you check a figure, make sure you are reading the circular for the right year and appendix.

What the pattern shows, and what it does not

Two things stand out. First, the 2022 and 2023 awards (7% and 5%) were the largest, and the awards since then have stepped down: 4%, 3.2%, 3.8%. Second, the trainee and development rates have had different treatments: the trainee rate existed until 2025 and was then deleted, so a comparison of entry pay across the period should use the lowest firefighter rate available in each year: £25,884 in 2022 and £31,539 in 2026 for the development rate.

What this history does not show is your own earnings. National awards change the pay table; your pay also depends on your stage, promotions, CPD, allowances and local scale. For the cumulative effect at your own pay point, use the pay scales pages and the pay calculator.

The firefighter salary UK 2026 guide is the overview of current rates, and the paid Personal Pay Report can put your own pay history in context. This guide will be updated when a revised circular or the next award is published.