The Combined Fire Authority for County Durham and Darlington Performance Committee met on Thursday 11 June 2026. The meeting was scheduled to review the service's performance during the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, including updates on car fires and a report on formal complaints.

Performance Report Quarter Four 2025/26

A key item on the agenda was the Performance Report for Quarter Four of the 2025/26 financial year, presented by the Deputy Chief Fire Officer. This report provided a summary of the organisation's performance, with 40% of strategic performance indicators (PIs) meeting or exceeding their targets. The report detailed performance across several categories:

• Prevention: The report highlighted that there was one fatality arising from an accidental dwelling fire (ADF) in County Durham and Darlington during the quarter. While the number of accidental dwelling fires remained above target, with kitchen fires being the main driver, the service continued to focus on targeted prevention activity for vulnerable people. Home Fire Safety Visits were delivered strongly, with the service finishing the year broadly on target.
• Protection: Primary fires in non-domestic premises remained above target. False alarms caused by automatic fire detection equipment were broadly stable, and fire safety audit activity remained positive, exceeding its target.
• Response: Response standards for the quarter were mixed. While dwelling fires and road traffic collisions attended within their target times finished above target, non-domestic fires were marginally below target. A strategic issue identified was the availability of on-call appliances, which remained below the target of 75%.
• Health and Safety: Accidents to personnel and service contributory vehicle accidents both remained above target, indicating a continued need for focus on driver safety and preventative action.

The report included appendices with charts illustrating data on accidental dwelling fires, secondary fires, primary fires, and total incidents.

Letters of Appreciation Quarter Four 2025/26

The committee was also scheduled to receive a report detailing letters of appreciation received by the service between 1 January and 31 March 2026. Four letters were noted in this period, including thanks for assistance with a carbon monoxide alarm in Newton Aycliffe, positive feedback for a Home Fire Safety Visit in Hurworth, and appreciation for a station visit hosted by Darlington White Watch for children.

Car Fires Update

A presentation on car fires was scheduled to be given by the Director of Community Risk Management.

Formal Complaints Quarter Four 2025/26

The meeting was also set to consider a report on formal complaints received by the service during the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 financial year. This item was designated for discussion in Part B of the meeting, meaning it was considered likely that the public would be excluded from this part of the proceedings due to the potential for exempt or confidential information. The report indicated that six formal complaints were received during this period, with none being forwarded to the Local Government Ombudsman.