The Combined Fire Authority for County Durham and Darlington Human Resources Committee was scheduled to meet on Wednesday 4 March 2026 to discuss health and safety performance, sickness absence, the evaluation of a workforce healthcare scheme, and upcoming changes to employment law. The meeting also included an update on employee relations.

Health and Safety Performance

The meeting was scheduled to receive a report on the health and safety performance of the County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service (CDDFRS) for the third quarter of the 2025/26 reporting period, covering April to December 2025. The report was expected to detail performance against four key indicators: the number of accidents to personnel, the number of CDDFRS-contributory vehicle accidents, the number of local health and safety investigations incomplete after 28 working days, and the number of health and safety investigation actions overdue their specified completion date. The report indicated that there had been nine accidents to personnel and 18 CDDFRS-contributory vehicle accidents by the end of the third quarter. No local health and safety investigations were overdue, and no health and safety actions were overdue. The report also detailed near misses, cause for concern incidents, and incidents of violence towards service personnel.

Sickness Absence Performance

A report was scheduled to be presented on sickness absence performance for the period of 1 April 2025 to 31 December 2025. The report aimed to provide an update on sickness absence statistics, comparing current performance against annual targets and the same period in the previous year. It highlighted that while overall sickness levels showed improvement compared to the previous year, all key performance indicators were above target for the reporting period. The report noted a particular increase in absence among Wholetime (WT) Riders, with musculoskeletal (MSK) issues and mental health-related absences being the leading causes. The financial cost of sickness absence, based solely on salary costs, was estimated at £797,592 year-to-date. The report also included a comparison of CDDFRS's sickness absence performance against national data for the fire and rescue sector.

Evaluation of the Benenden Healthcare Scheme

The committee was due to consider a report evaluating the trial period of the additional workforce healthcare scheme, Benenden, which was implemented on 1 January 2024. The trial period, initially set for 18 months, had been extended to 31 March 2026. The evaluation drew on sickness absence data, service usage data from Benenden, and employee feedback. The report indicated that while some employees benefited from the 24-hour GP service and physiotherapy, there had been no significant reduction in sickness absence compared to pre-scheme levels. The Senior Leadership Team (SLT) had reviewed the evaluation and approved in principle the cessation of the scheme at the end of the trial. The report recommended that the scheme not be implemented permanently, that current members be offered the option to continue their membership independently, and that the exploration of a GP-only service be approved.

Employment Rights Act 2025: Comparison of Current vs Future Requirements

A report was scheduled to provide an overview of the key changes introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025, which received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025. The changes, phased between December 2025 and 2027, cover a range of employment law areas including trade union rights, statutory sick pay, family leave, workplace harassment, dismissal protections, and flexible working. The report detailed specific changes coming into force in April 2026, October 2026, and January 2027, outlining their potential impacts on the Service. These included changes to Statutory Sick Pay, parental and paternity leave, the establishment of a Fair Work Agency, increased protective awards for collective redundancies, fire-and-rehire restrictions, extended tribunal claim time limits, strengthened duties to prevent workplace sexual harassment, and new rights for zero-hours and low-hours workers.

Employee Relations Update

The meeting was also scheduled to include an update on employee relations, although details of the specific matters to be discussed were not publicly available as this item was designated for consideration in a part of the meeting not open to the public.