The Combined Fire Authority for County Durham and Darlington Performance Committee met on Thursday 11 June 2026 to review performance data for the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 financial year and discuss letters of appreciation received by the service. The committee noted the performance report, which detailed various indicators across prevention, protection, and response, and also noted the letters of appreciation.

Performance Report Quarter Four 2025/26

The committee received a comprehensive report detailing the organisation's performance at the end of the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 financial year. The report, presented by R Cherrie, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, covered operational and corporate performance indicators.

Prevention:

• Accidental Dwelling Fires (ADFs): There was one fatality resulting from an ADF in October, caused by smoking materials. The total number of ADFs for the year-to-date stood at 147, exceeding the target of 129. The majority of these fires occurred in standard domestic housing, with kitchens being the most common origin. Preventative initiatives included enhanced kitchen fire safety messaging and winter warming information for elderly residents.
• Hospitalisations from ADFs: Five hospitalisations occurred in the quarter, bringing the year-to-date total to 11, one above the annual target. Two of these incidents involved casualties aged over 65.
• Secondary Fires: While the quarterly figure was under target, the year-to-date total of 2,818 secondary fires was significantly above the target of 2,164. This increase was largely attributed to dry, warm weather leading to a spike in vegetation-related incidents, which constituted 47% of secondary fires. Deliberate fires made up 92% of secondary fires.
• Home Fire Safety Visits: A total of 13,762 Home Fire Safety Visits were delivered, exceeding the target of 13,500.

Protection:

• Primary Fires in Non-Domestic Premises: Performance remained poor, with 129 incidents compared to a target of 91. This was heavily influenced by 41 fires in prisons, all of which were deliberate. The Service is working with prison governors on national initiatives, including the rollout of anti-tamper vapes, to reduce prison fires.
• False Alarms Caused by Automatic Fire Detection Equipment: This indicator remained under target, with 513 incidents. The majority of these were linked to system faults or human intervention. The Service issued invoices for cost recovery totalling £19,270 for these false alarms.
• Fire Safety Audits: A total of 1,689 fire safety audits were completed, exceeding the target of 1,521. The report indicated that 53.1% of audits were unsatisfactory, suggesting the Service is effectively targeting premises in need of intervention.

Response:

• Total Emergency Calls and Incidents: The total number of emergency calls received increased by 24.4% compared to the previous year, and the total number of incidents rose by 19.3%.
• Primary Fires: The year-to-date total of 939 primary fires was 20.7% over the target of 778. Over half of these were deliberate, with vehicle fires accounting for 52% of primary fires, the majority of which were deliberate.
• Response Times: Two out of three response standards were met. Dwelling fires were attended within 8 minutes on 70.2% of occasions, exceeding the 70% target. Non-domestic fires were attended within 9 minutes on 68.6% of occasions, slightly below the 70% target, partly due to incidents at Deerbolt prison. Road traffic collisions were attended within 10 minutes on 72.9% of occasions, exceeding the 70% target.
• Availability of on-call appliances: Year-to-date performance for the availability of the first pump was 69.2% against a target of 75%. This challenging target has not been met since 2021/22.

Health and Safety:

• Accidents to Personnel: There was one accident in the quarter, bringing the year-to-date total to eight, three over the target of five.
• Service contributory vehicle accidents: Poor performance continued, with another five contributory accidents bringing the year-to-date total to 18, six over the target.

The committee noted the report and was invited to comment on the reported performance.

Letters of Appreciation Quarter Four 2025/26

The committee received a summary of the letters of appreciation received by the Service for the period 1 January to 31 March 2026. Four letters were received during this period. The committee noted the report.

The meeting was held in the Morton Room, Fire and Rescue Headquarters. Attendees included Councillor Joe Quinn (Portfolio Holder for Planning, Investments and Assets), Councillor Kathryn Rooney, Councillor Jan Blakey, Councillor Stephen Gray (Portfolio Holder for Transformation, Efficiency, Digital and Procurement), Councillor Scott Woodhouse, and Councillor Gerald Lee. The meeting was held in accordance with the Local Government Act 1972.