LFB pay scales from 1 July 2026 at a glance
London Fire Brigade is a Grey Book employer, but it does not use the national pay table. Its operational pay is set in Policy 558, 'Operational staff pay rates and sick pay policy', which was reviewed as current on 24 July 2026. The policy records that the National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services reached a pay settlement in circular NJC/2/26, that the revised rates are an average increase of 3.8% in basic pay effective from 1 July 2026, and that implementation was in July 2026 salaries. The FBU's published settlement confirms the 3.8% from 1 July 2026.
For a firefighter the scale has three steps. A Development Firefighter earns £37,402, a Competent Firefighter (from PDR sign-off) £47,991 and a Competent Plus Firefighter (after five years from PDR sign-off) £49,223. Those equal hourly rates of £17.08, £21.91 and £22.48. The policy re-verified here is the same document the site's London firefighter salary guide cites, and the figures match.
Everything below is basic annual salary unless stated. The policy does not include the separate 2% Marauding Terrorist Attack skills payment, overtime, or other allowances in the headline numbers, so a payslip can be higher. Rates for Deputy Assistant Commissioners and above are not in this policy and are covered in a later section.
| Stage | When it applies | Annual basic | Hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Development Firefighter | Entry stage | £37,402 | £17.08 |
| Competent Firefighter | From PDR sign-off date | £47,991 | £21.91 |
| Competent Plus Firefighter | After 5 years from PDR sign-off date | £49,223 | £22.48 |
Source: LFB Policy 558, Appendix 1 (reviewed 24 July 2026). Hourly rate is annual rate divided by 52.143 then 42.
Firefighter to Station Officer: the full LFB table
Appendix 1 of Policy 558 covers Firefighter to Station Officer, with basic salary, basic hourly rate, overtime at time and a half and public holiday overtime at double time. Three details in the notes matter. Leading Firefighter, Sub Officer and Station Officer have no separate development rate: the policy lists a 'Development' line for each, but it pays the competent amount. That follows the 2019 Role to Rank agreement, under which separate development rates for those three ranks were abolished from 16 October 2019.
Second, steps are measured from the PDR sign-off date. Leading Firefighters and Sub Officers reach their maximum after one year from sign-off; Station Officers have a one-year, a two-year and a maximum rate after three years. Third, there is a legacy protected Sub Officer rate of £54,956 (£25.09 an hour) for those who were on a protected Watch Manager A rate at the time of Role to Rank on 16 October 2019; the policy says no staff are placed on it after that date.
The step values are small compared with the jumps between ranks. Competent to Competent Plus for a firefighter is £1,232 (2.6%). Leading Firefighter competent to maximum is £1,236, Sub Officer £1,069, and Station Officer competent to maximum £4,810 (8.3%). The moves between ranks are larger: Firefighter Competent to Leading Firefighter is £4,383 (9.1%), then £2,407 to Sub Officer and £2,885 to Station Officer.
| Rank and stage | Annual basic | Hourly | Overtime x1.5 | Public holiday x2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firefighter Development | £37,402 | £17.08 | £25.62 | £34.16 |
| Firefighter Competent | £47,991 | £21.91 | £32.87 | £43.82 |
| Firefighter Competent Plus | £49,223 | £22.48 | £33.72 | £44.96 |
| Leading Firefighter (Development paid at Competent) | £52,374 | £23.92 | £35.88 | £47.84 |
| Leading Firefighter Maximum (1 year after sign-off) | £53,610 | £24.48 | £36.72 | £48.96 |
| Sub Officer (Development paid at Competent) | £54,781 | £25.01 | £37.52 | £50.02 |
| Sub Officer Maximum (1 year after sign-off) | £55,850 | £25.50 | £38.25 | £51.00 |
| Station Officer (Development paid at Competent) | £57,666 | £26.33 | £39.50 | £52.66 |
| Station Officer 1 year | £59,143 | £27.01 | £40.52 | £54.02 |
| Station Officer 2 year | £60,623 | £27.68 | £41.52 | £55.36 |
| Station Officer Maximum (3 years after sign-off) | £62,476 | £28.53 | £42.80 | £57.06 |
Source: LFB Policy 558, Appendix 1. Legacy Protected Sub Officer rate (closed to new entrants after 16 October 2019): £54,956, £25.09 hourly, £37.64 overtime, £50.18 public holiday.
Station Commander and Group Commander pay
From Station Commander upwards LFB uses A and B rates with Competent Plus rates, and adds a flexible duty supplement (FDS) of 20% of basic salary. Appendix 2 of the policy shows basic salary, FDS, total and an hourly rate. A Station Commander A Competent is on £60,792 basic plus £12,158.40 FDS, a total of £72,950.40, while a Station Commander B Competent is on £64,589 plus £12,917.80, a total of £77,506.80. A Group Commander A Competent is on £68,923 plus £13,784.60 (total £82,707.60) and B Competent on £73,631 plus £14,726.20 (total £88,357.20).
Competent Plus rates are paid after one year from the PDR sign-off date, not five: £61,812 for Station Commander A, £65,610 for B, £69,948 for Group Commander A and £74,650 for B. Development staff at both ranks have been paid at the competent rate since 1 January 2023, under the LFC 0765z report cited in the policy: the table lists 'Development' as the B competent amount. The hourly rate in this appendix is calculated on the total including FDS, which is why a Station Commander A has £33.31 an hour rather than the £27.76 you would get from basic alone.
The supplement is what makes promotion to Station Commander so large. Station Officer Competent (£57,666) to Station Commander A Competent total (£72,950.40) is a rise of £15,284.40, about 26.5%, although the basic salary rise is only £3,126. See flexi duty allowance explained for how the supplement works and what duty system it goes with, and London Fire Brigade shift pattern and calendar for the rota that senior officers work.
| Role and stage | Basic salary | 20% FDS | Total | Hourly (on total) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Station Commander A Competent | £60,792 | £12,158.40 | £72,950.40 | £33.31 |
| Station Commander A Competent Plus | £61,812 | £12,362.40 | £74,174.40 | £33.87 |
| Station Commander B Competent (Development paid at this rate) | £64,589 | £12,917.80 | £77,506.80 | £35.39 |
| Station Commander B Competent Plus | £65,610 | £13,122.00 | £78,732.00 | £35.95 |
| Group Commander A Competent | £68,923 | £13,784.60 | £82,707.60 | £37.77 |
| Group Commander A Competent Plus | £69,948 | £13,989.60 | £83,937.60 | £38.33 |
| Group Commander B Competent (Development paid at this rate) | £73,631 | £14,726.20 | £88,357.20 | £40.35 |
| Group Commander B Competent Plus | £74,650 | £14,930.00 | £89,580.00 | £40.90 |
Source: LFB Policy 558, Appendix 2. Competent Plus is paid after one year from PDR sign-off. Appendix 3 additional-duty rates are shown in the policy as rates from 1 July 2025 and were not restated for 2026 in the edition we read.
Above Group Commander: what is and is not published
Policy 558 stops at Group Commander. LFB's Deputy Assistant Commissioners, Assistant Commissioners and directors are on a separate senior structure, referred to in LFB documents as the Top Management Group (TMG), with its own bands. We could not find a current-year published scale for those ranks on the pages we opened, so we do not state 2026 figures for them.
What we did read is dated. An LFB decision report signed on 17 March 2023 sets out the TMG scales at 1 January 2022: Assistant Commissioner £121,191 to £141,151, with a competent figure of £128,193, and Deputy Assistant Commissioner £82,060 to £101,196, with a competent figure of £84,410. The report recommended raising the DAC competent figure to £89,692 from 1 April 2022. Those are 2022/23 numbers and have been uprated since, so use them only to see the relationship between the ranks.
For anyone aiming at senior roles, the practical sources are the vacancy advert, which states the band on the date it is published, and LFB's published senior salary information under the Local Government Transparency Code. Our London Fire Brigade ranks guide sets out the full ladder, and the promotion calculator models pay moves below Commissioner level.
Effective dates and the pay award behind the scale
The 2026 award is the NJC's, applied to LFB's local scale. Policy 558 says the revised rates represent an average 3.8% increase in basic pay from 1 July 2026, and the FBU's settlement page gives the same figure and date. The policy's document history shows that LFB adds its new rates each year after the national agreement: the 2025 rise was added on 21 July 2025 and the 2026 rise on 24 July 2026, effective from 1 July in each case. So a figure with an earlier year on it is out of date, even if it is still on a recruitment page.
You can see the one-year lag in LFB's careers material. The firefighter careers page we opened quotes £46,234 for a competent firefighter, which is exactly the 2026 figure divided by 1.038 (£47,991 ÷ 1.038 = £46,234), so it reflects the 2025 scale. The trainee figure on that page was shown to us as £36,302, but £37,402 ÷ 1.038 is £36,032, so the page figure may be a transposition. We therefore rely on the policy, not the careers page, for the numbers in this guide.
The policy also notes the date each structural change took effect: the 2% MTA skills payment from 1 April 2022, Role to Rank from 16 October 2019, development rates for Station and Group Commanders paid at competent from 1 January 2023. If you are checking back pay, the back pay explained guide shows how arrears work, and the pay rises history guide puts 3.8% in context.
London weighting, CPD and the MTA payment
People looking for 'LFB London weighting' expect a line on the payslip. The policy explains why there is not one for most ranks. Under local agreements reached in 2012, London weighting was consolidated into the basic pay of Station and Group Commanders, backdated to 1 July 2011. Under a local agreement of August 2019, it was consolidated into the basic pay of Firefighters, Leading Firefighters, Sub Officers and Station Officers from 1 October 2019. The weighting is therefore inside the annual figures in this guide, not on top of them.
The national continual professional development (CPD) payments went the same way. The policy says they were consolidated for all roles under local agreements reached between 2008 and 2013 and are now reflected in the maximum rates for Leading Firefighters, Sub Officers and Station Officers and in the Competent Plus rates for Firefighters, Station Commanders and Group Commanders. That is why a London firefighter's step from Competent to Competent Plus is a fixed £1,232 rather than a separate CPD application.
One payment sits outside the scale: a local 2022 agreement introduced a skills-based Marauding Terrorist Attack payment of 2%, paid from 1 April 2022 as a separate allowance for firefighters up to Group Commander. The policy says it is inclusive of the consolidated London weighting and CPD payments and is pensionable. The cash value is not tabulated in the policy, and two per cent of £47,991 would be about £960, but we have not seen LFB state that calculation, so treat that as an estimate and check your payslip.
LFB versus the national NJC table
For firefighters the comparison is clean because the stage names match. An LFB Development Firefighter at £37,402 earns £5,863 (18.6%) more than the national £31,539, and a Competent Firefighter at £47,991 earns £7,633 (18.9%) more than the national £40,358. LFB's own Competent Plus step has no national equivalent. The national pay scales list the other NJC roles; this guide uses the figures effective 1 July 2026.
Above firefighter, titles do not map, so the second table is by position in the ladder only, using basic salary and the NJC's competent A stages. Leading Firefighter against Crew Manager and Sub Officer against Watch Manager A show gaps of £7,632 and £7,801. The gap narrows sharply at Station Officer, where LFB's £57,666 compares with the national Station Manager at £53,604, because LFB does not pay Station Officers a flexible duty supplement while the Grey Book does apply one to Station Manager and above. A national Station Manager on A with the 20% supplement would be on £64,324.80, which is more than an LFB Station Officer at competent (£57,666) and more than the maximum (£62,476).
So 'London pays 19% more' is true at firefighter level and shrinks through the middle ranks, and at Station Commander and Group Commander the basic rates are slightly below the national Group Manager and Area Manager A rates, though both carry the supplement. As the ranks guide stresses, LFB has not published a formal equivalence, so use the second table for orientation and compare the actual job description. See the London Fire Brigade ranks guide.
| Position | LFB rank and stage | LFB basic | NJC role and stage | NJC basic | LFB minus NJC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | Firefighter Development | £37,402 | Firefighter Development | £31,539 | +£5,863 (18.6%) |
| 1 | Firefighter Competent | £47,991 | Firefighter Competent | £40,358 | +£7,633 (18.9%) |
| 2 | Leading Firefighter Competent | £52,374 | Crew Manager Competent | £44,742 | +£7,632 (17.1%) |
| 3 | Sub Officer Competent | £54,781 | Watch Manager Competent A | £46,980 | +£7,801 (16.6%) |
| 3 (top) | Sub Officer Maximum | £55,850 | Watch Manager Competent B | £50,034 | +£5,816 (11.6%) |
| 4 | Station Officer Competent | £57,666 | Station Manager Competent A | £53,604 | +£4,062 (7.6%) |
| 4 (top) | Station Officer Maximum | £62,476 | Station Manager Competent B | £57,402 | +£5,074 (8.8%) |
| 5 | Station Commander A Competent | £60,792 | Group Manager Competent A | £61,736 | -£944 (-1.5%) |
| 5 (top) | Station Commander B Competent | £64,589 | Group Manager Competent B | £66,445 | -£1,856 (-2.8%) |
| 6 | Group Commander A Competent | £68,923 | Area Manager Competent A | £72,476 | -£3,553 (-4.9%) |
| 6 (top) | Group Commander B Competent | £73,631 | Area Manager Competent B | £77,186 | -£3,555 (-4.6%) |
Sources: LFB Policy 558 and the site's NJC data (circular NJC/2/26). Position in each ladder only, not an official equivalence. LFB Station Commanders and Group Commanders receive a 20% supplement on top of basic; under the Grey Book, flexible duty supplement applies to Station Manager and above, so compare totals for those roles carefully.
What an LFB firefighter takes home
The take-home figures below use the site's 2026/27 tax logic: England and Wales income tax bands with a standard 1257L personal allowance, employee National Insurance of 8% between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above, and FPS 2015 pension contributions by pay band (11.09%, 12.59%, 14.09%, 15.59% and 17.09% as the bands rise). Pension is taken from gross before tax, there is no student loan, no salary sacrifice, no MTA payment, overtime or other allowances, and the full salary is treated as pensionable. Change any of those and the numbers move.
Hand-checking one line: a Competent Firefighter on £47,991 pays 14.09% pension, £6,761.93. Taxable pay after pension is £41,229.07; less the £12,570 allowance leaves £28,659.07, taxed at 20% to give £5,731.81. National Insurance is (£47,991 minus £12,570) x 8%, £2,833.68. Take-home is £47,991 minus £6,761.93, £5,731.81 and £2,833.68, which is £32,663.57 a year, or £2,721.96 a month. The national competent firefighter nets £28,512.50, so London nets £4,151.07 (14.6%) more even though gross is 18.9% higher.
Station Commanders and Group Commanders are modelled on total pay including the 20% supplement, treated as pensionable, which pushes them into the 15.59% band above £66,908. That is an assumption: check how your own pensionable pay is calculated. The pay calculator lets you enter any figure, and the take-home pay guide covers the national roles.
| Rank and stage | Gross | Pension | Income tax | NI | Take-home a year | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firefighter Development | £37,402 | £4,708.91 | £4,024.62 | £1,986.56 | £26,681.91 | £2,223.49 |
| Firefighter Competent | £47,991 | £6,761.93 | £5,731.81 | £2,833.68 | £32,663.57 | £2,721.96 |
| Firefighter Competent Plus | £49,223 | £6,935.52 | £5,943.50 | £2,932.24 | £33,411.74 | £2,784.31 |
| Leading Firefighter Competent | £52,374 | £7,379.50 | £6,484.90 | £3,058.08 | £35,451.52 | £2,954.29 |
| Sub Officer Competent | £54,781 | £7,718.64 | £6,898.47 | £3,106.22 | £37,057.67 | £3,088.14 |
| Station Officer Competent | £57,666 | £8,125.14 | £7,394.17 | £3,163.92 | £38,982.77 | £3,248.56 |
| Station Officer Maximum | £62,476 | £8,802.87 | £8,901.25 | £3,260.12 | £41,511.76 | £3,459.31 |
| Station Commander A Competent (incl. FDS) | £72,950.40 | £11,372.97 | £12,062.97 | £3,469.61 | £46,044.85 | £3,837.07 |
| Group Commander B Competent (incl. FDS) | £88,357.20 | £13,774.89 | £17,264.93 | £3,777.74 | £53,539.64 | £4,461.64 |
Illustration from the site's 2026/27 model. Excludes the 2% MTA payment, overtime, allowances, union subscriptions and any salary sacrifice. Check the final lines of your payslip.
Overtime, hourly rates and allowances
Policy 558 gives overtime and hourly rates up to Station Officer. The hourly rate is the annual rate divided by 52.143 (to the nearest penny) and then by 42 (to the nearest penny), the national formula, so the divisor is 2,190 hours, the same number of hours the LFB shift pattern delivers in a year before leave. A Competent Firefighter's hourly rate is £21.91, overtime at time and a half £32.87 and public holiday overtime at double time £43.82; the national equivalents are £18.43 and £27.65. Applying £32.87 to a 10.5-hour day shift gives about £345, but how LFB pays a full overtime shift in practice is for its own policies.
Above Station Officer, additional-duty payments follow a different rule from the Middle Managers Agreement that began on 1 July 2015. Officers who convert a 9-hour duty to a 24-hour duty are paid their flat hourly rate for the extra hours multiplied by 50%, or take a 9-hour duty as compensatory leave; converting a rota leave day to a 24-hour duty uses 60%. The policy table, headed as rates from 1 July 2025, shows ranges of £265 to £270 and £510 to £518 for Station Commanders, and £303 to £307 and £581 to £589 for Group Commanders. They had not been restated for July 2026 in the edition we read.
Smaller items in the policy: a mess manager's allowance of £31.96 a month, in place since 1 July 2009, and a flat-rate return-of-kit allowance of £14.10 from 1 July 2026 for attending non-partial-day training courses that need PPE to be collected and transported. Contractual sick pay is full pay for six months and half pay for a further six months for sickness unrelated to duty, and full pay for a year then half pay for six months for illness or injury arising out of authorised duty. See the firefighter overtime and hourly rate guide for the national picture.
How to check your LFB payslip against the scale
Start by matching your rank and stage to a line of Appendix 1 or 2. Is your basic annual salary exactly the figure in the table, and has the July 2026 award been applied? The policy says implementation was in July 2026 salaries, so a July payslip with the 2025 figure would be an error, and back pay should follow. If you are on a Competent Plus, Maximum or Station Officer year step, check the PDR sign-off date that triggers it.
Then check the recurring extras: whether the MTA 2% payment is showing, whether a Station or Group Commander is receiving the 20% FDS, whether any temporary promotion or additional-duties payment is correct, and the return-of-kit allowance when it applies. If there is a separate London weighting line on your payslip, ask payroll what it is; the policy says weighting is consolidated into basic pay for these ranks.
If something does not match, the policy names the HR Helpdesk and Payroll as the contacts, and your FBU rep can help. The free payslip checker compares your entries with expected rates, and the paid personal report below turns the comparison into a document you can take to payroll.
PremiumPersonal Pay ReportA personalised comparison of your pay, tax, pension and the scale for your role, written up so you can query anything that looks wrong.See the Personal Pay Report →Frequently asked questions
What is the LFB pay scale for 2026?
From 1 July 2026, LFB's policy shows a Development Firefighter on £37,402, a Competent Firefighter on £47,991 and Competent Plus on £49,223, then Leading Firefighter £52,374 to £53,610, Sub Officer £54,781 to £55,850, and Station Officer £57,666 to £62,476.
How much does an LFB firefighter earn per month?
A Competent Firefighter on £47,991 takes home about £2,721.96 a month on 2026/27 England tax assumptions with a 14.09% pension contribution; a Development Firefighter on £37,402 takes home about £2,223.49. These exclude overtime, the 2% MTA payment and other allowances.
What are the LFB hourly and overtime rates?
LFB's hourly rate for a Competent Firefighter is £21.91, with overtime at time and a half of £32.87 and public holiday overtime of £43.82. A Development Firefighter's hourly rate is £17.08. They follow the national formula of annual salary divided by 52.143 and then by 42.
Do LFB firefighters get London weighting on top of salary?
No separate allowance for most ranks. LFB's policy says London weighting was consolidated into basic pay for Firefighter to Station Officer from 1 October 2019, and for Station and Group Commanders backdated to 1 July 2011, so it is already inside the published figures.
How much more does LFB pay than the national NJC rate?
A Competent Firefighter earns £47,991 against £40,358 nationally, £7,633 or 18.9% more, and a Development Firefighter £37,402 against £31,539. The gap shrinks through the ranks and the basic rates at Station and Group Commander are slightly below the national equivalents.
What do LFB Station Commanders and Group Commanders earn?
A Station Commander's basic runs from £60,792 (A Competent) to £65,610 (B Competent Plus), and a Group Commander's from £68,923 to £74,650, each plus a flexible duty supplement of 20% of basic. Totals therefore run from £72,950.40 to £89,580.
When did the 2026 pay rise take effect at LFB?
The NJC award of 3.8% took effect from 1 July 2026, and LFB's policy says implementation was in July 2026 salaries. The policy was reviewed as current on 24 July 2026. Check that your July payslip reflects the new rate and ask about back pay if not.
What do LFB Deputy Assistant Commissioners earn?
Policy 558 does not cover them. An LFB report signed in March 2023 gave 2022 bands of £82,060 to £101,196 for Deputy Assistant Commissioners, with a competent figure then proposed at £89,692. Those figures are dated; check the current advert or LFB's published senior salary information.
Primary sources
- London Fire Brigade — Policy 558, operational staff pay rates and sick pay (reviewed 24 July 2026)
- FBU — pay settlement 2026
- London Fire Brigade — LFC-23-033 Deputy Assistant Commissioner competent salary band review (signed 17 March 2023)
- London Fire Brigade careers — firefighters
- FBU — A Short Introduction to Firefighting in London (shift system, 2018)
- London Fire Brigade — Role-to-Rank Agreement decision LFC-0202-D (2019)