The Combined Fire Authority for County Durham and Darlington Performance Committee of County Durham Council's meeting, scheduled for Thursday 24 September 2026, was to include a review of national performance benchmarks, health and safety, and overall service performance for the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year. The agenda also indicated that the annual report for 2025/26 and an update on the progress of the annual plan were to be presented.

National Benchmarking

A presentation was scheduled to cover national benchmarking, with a report from the Deputy Chief Executive. This would have provided an overview of fire and rescue incident statistics for the year ending March 2026, including total incidents, fires, fire-related fatalities, and special service incidents. The report was expected to compare national trends with the performance of the County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service (CDDFRS), highlighting areas such as the proportion of different incident types attended. For example, nationally, false alarms constituted 40% of incidents, while CDDFRS attended 57% fires and only 13% non-fire incidents. The presentation was also set to detail national figures for fire-related fatalities and non-fatal casualties, noting a decrease in fatalities compared to the previous year.

Health and Safety Performance

The Health and Safety Performance Report for Quarter One of 2026/27 was scheduled for discussion. This report, from the Head of Health and Safety, was to summarise the Service's 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. The report indicated that two accidents to service personnel had occurred in the first quarter, both requiring reporting to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) under RIDDOR¹ due to personnel being off work for over seven days. Seven service-contributory vehicle accidents were also reported, which was three above the target. The report also noted that no local health and safety investigations were incomplete after 28 days, and no actions remained overdue. A near-miss incident involving a third-party driver and an appliance was also detailed, resulting in the driver's qualification being suspended.

Performance Report Quarter 1 2026/27

The Performance Report for Quarter 1 of 2026/27, presented by the Deputy Chief Fire Officer, was intended to provide a summary of organisational performance. This report would have covered performance across prevention, protection, and response. In prevention, there were no deaths arising from accidental dwelling fires (ADFs), and the number of ADFs was below target. However, hospitalisations from ADFs were above target. Secondary fire performance had improved significantly, with incidents lower than the previous year. Home Fire Safety Visits (HFSVs) were below target due to reduced capacity. In protection, primary fires in non-domestic premises were below target, and false alarms caused by automatic fire detection equipment were also below target. Fire safety audit activity remained above target. In response, primary fires were below target, and response times for dwelling fires and road traffic collisions met targets, though non-domestic fire response was below standard. A key concern highlighted was the on-call first pump availability, which remained below target and was lower than the previous year. The report also detailed sickness absence, with all categories above target, and noted that mental health issues were a significant reason for absence among corporate staff.

Annual Report 2025/26

The Annual Report for 2025/26 was to be presented for noting. This report, prepared by the Chief Fire Officer, provides a review of the Service's activities, a summary of annual accounts, and a look ahead. It was expected to highlight key investments made by the Combined Fire Authority (CFA), including approval for the development of a new Service Headquarters at Sniperley. The report was also expected to detail the adoption of the 2025-2028 Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP), which guides resource allocation and priorities based on a detailed assessment of local risks. The CFA's membership was also outlined, with elected members from County Durham and Darlington. The financial review for the year April 2025 to March 2026 showed net revenue expenditure of £36.586m. The report also detailed the Service's governance framework, including its Code of Corporate Governance and Annual Governance Statement. A significant achievement highlighted was the Service's performance in the His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) inspection, where it received an 'Outstanding' rating for protecting the public through fire regulation and 'Good' ratings in nine other areas. The report also covered prevention activities, such as the Pack a Picnic, Not a BBQ campaign to reduce wildfires, and protection efforts, including successful prosecutions for fire safety breaches. Response incidents, training programmes like Fire Futures, recruitment of new firefighters, and fundraising efforts were also detailed.

Annual Plan Progress Update

An update on the progress of the Annual Plan 2026/27 for the period 1 April 2026 to 30 June 2026 was scheduled. This report, from the Director of People and Organisational Development, assesses progress against 25 key actions using a RAG (Red, Amber, Green) rating system. At the end of Quarter 1, two actions were rated Green (complete), 22 were Amber (progressing), and one was Red (not started). The report noted positive progress in areas such as responding to HMICFRS Areas for Improvement, corporate governance, digital and infrastructure projects, and operational projects like the Integrated Fire Command and Control (IFCC) system. However, the development of a fully automated IT solution for On-Call activity was noted as Red, as it had not yet started due to prioritisation of other IT stabilisation work. Key dependencies, such as Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) capacity and supplier timescales, were also identified as requiring active management.

Letters of Appreciation

A summary of Letters of Appreciation received by the Service for the period 1 April 2026 to 30 June 2026 was to be presented. Four letters were received during this quarter. These included thanks to Darlington Green Watch for their attendance at a house fire, appreciation for a firefighter's assistance at a road traffic collision, commendation for Consett Fire Station crew's professionalism at an incident, and thanks from the North East Ambulance Service for support at trauma and medical emergencies.