Agenda item

(i)           Report of the Corporate Director of Resources.

(ii)          Presentation by the Area Manager, County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service.

The Committee received a report of the Corporate Director of Resources which provided supporting information to a presentation to provide an overview on the approach and future actions to tackle arson within County Durham (for copies see file of minutes).

Keith Wanley, Area Manager, County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service (CDDFRS) gave a presentation which provided local and national data relating to primary/vehicle/secondary fires which was further broken down into areas of County Durham.

The data showed that County Durham and Darlington had the highest rate of deliberate primary fires in the country and there were more fires the north of the County than in the south.  Members were informed that this seemed to be a cultural issue in certain localities were people were more likely to fly tip, set fires and set fires to property, vehicles and buildings.  The Safe Durham Partnership agreed to form an arson suppression group, which had six thematic groups to focus on specific areas.

Although Durham had the highest level, this was also a regional issue within the North East of England with high levels of incidence in Cleveland, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear. Member were also advised that Fire and Rescue Services in the areas of Yorkshire and Humberside were also experiencing similar concerns.

With regards to primary fires, they were predominantly vehicle related and more prevalent in east coast with some links to organised crime. Members were informed that known long term issues in Horden were being addressed by a multi-agency group, Horden Together, to understand local concerns and hopefully improve the situation.  The Area Manager advised the Committee that, it was found to be culturally acceptable to start fires in some areas, therefore educating children and young people was crucial.

A multi-agency fly tipping task force had also been set up to combat fly tipping, there was also a Fire Stoppers telephone line that was freephone number for people to report incidents anonymously and extremely valuable to gather intelligence to understand and address the problem.  Members were also advised that a research work by Psychologist, Dr Fay Horsley from Newcastle University, had been commissioned to understand the cause of this behaviour.

The Area Manager, CDDFRS asked the Committee to use their platform to promote and assist with the work being undertaken.

Councillor Martin was disappointed that County Durham was the worst in the country, but the data also gave the impression that no progress being made.  He asked what was causing the lack of ability to make improvements, whether the Council were doing enough to support CDDFRS and if there was anything more they could do. 

The Area Manager, CDDFRS confirmed that the Council were supportive and represented in the multi-agency groups that were working to combat these problems and he understood the pressures that organisations had, especially during times of reduced budgets, but this needed to be a priority.  He referred to the figures across the last four years and advised that there had been some reductions locally and nationally, reducing the number of fires, however other areas had also reduced and County Durham remained the highest.  Some areas had made better progress so there was a lot more work to do to make significant progress.

Councillor Quinn asked for details on how statistics were recorded and he wondered whether the size of County Durham compared to other areas, would explain some of the data.  The Area Manager, CDDFRS advised that the data was broken down into station areas and the west of county, which was predominantly rural had lower rates and risk, which were factored in.  With regards to national benchmarking, the data was normalised by calculating the number of fires per hundred thousand of population.  This allowed comparisons with Tyne and Wear which was geographically a much smaller area but higher population.

Councillor Quinn asked whether COVID-19 had impacted on the figures and the Area Manager, CDDFRS advised that there had been a slight reduction of outside fires during lockdown but an increase in false alarms.  Controlled burning in allotments had increased and moving out of the first lockdown, there had been a spike of reported incidents.

Councillor Fenwick made a statement with regards to the north and south divide and noted that the rate was double in some areas in the North East.  The main problem, in her opinion, was inequality and lack of jobs and investment in the east of county.  Opportunities and resources had been taken away from younger people and this was reflected in their hopes and ambitions.  Councillor Fenwick confirmed that children should be doing productive activities within supervised settings instead of being exposed to organised crime gangs that used arson as a tactic in disputes between gangs.  She added that in the absence of education and positive services, young people would learn from the community and environment around them, which was that arson was an acceptable means of resolving disputes. 

Councillor Fenwick advised that the Council, Fire Authority and Police Service, needed to work together to highlight and resolve the underlying problems.  She was interested to know what services were being provided in areas with high levels of antisocial behaviour, arson and crime.  The Area Manager, CDDFRS, advised that arson was linked to many other areas such as social deprivation and inequalities.  The work commissioned by Dr Horsley was trying to address what it was that caused this issue as the North East was higher overall, but the same issue was prevalent in Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Humberside.  The complexity was such that it was linked to longevity of life, health and lifestyles, opportunity, low education and attainment.  Significant work was done with school children and had led to some of the positive reduction.  He referred to research by Dr Horsley which had confirmed that fire was used all over the world but for different reasons.  In the northern hemisphere, it’s main use was for entertainment whereas in the southern hemisphere it was used in a more natural state, for cooking on stoves.  When children grew up with it in its natural state, they saw it as a part of normal life and did not have the fascination that many children growing up in this part of the world had.  Children understood the dangers of fire, however it was essential to get them to grow up and not have the fascination. 

Specific work had been done within schools which had pupils who had been linked to fire setting.  There was Phoenix Fire Champions and FLAME which was a referral process for individuals.

Councillor Sutton-Lloyd noted that figures may be skewed with regards to COVID-19 and there had been lot more fly tipping in the previous year.  He was interested in the psychological data that had been commissioned and asked how long it would be until the Committee would receive the data.  The Area Manager, CDDFRS advised that an initial report had been received and he would present the findings to Committee if required.  Councillor Sutton-Lloyd responded that there needed to be a joint approach and targeting psychological factors was extremely important.

Councillor Mckenna referred to the number of arson attacks in East Durham on vehicles.  These acts of revenge sent massive shockwaves through communities and he queried whether assailants were being caught and convicted.  He queried the response of the police to deliberate fires and asked whether they were deployed straight away.  The Area Manager, CDDFRS advised that vehicle fires were a key issue within the primary fire group, of which some were linked to crime and family feuds, but some malicious.  CDDFRS worked closely with police and other agencies to address these incidents.  If a vehicle was completely burnt out there was very little forensic investigation that could be gained and therefore vehicles were prioritised and a joint investigation carried out.  If a fire crew could stop a fire before the vehicle was completely burnt out, evidence would be gathered in order to prosecute.

Chief Superintendent Adrian Green, advised that Police Officers were deployed if a crime was committed and in non-criminal incidents where roads were blocked and there was a risk to life.  The issue of backyards full of rubbish and waste in back allies was an investment issue and a community issue that would be more difficult long term to address.

Councillor McKenna referred to an arson attack on a vehicle had occurred in County Durham and the fire service  had arrived at 3am but police had not arrived until 11am.  He suggested that if police were deployed at the same time as the fire service they may have found evidence to lead to a prosecution.

The Chair referred to the appeal for Councillors to do their bit and referred to her own division which had suffered a spate of bin fires a number of years prior, around old peoples bungalows.  Bin locks had been purchased through funding from Councillors and she asked if asking Councillors to consider funding through Neighbourhood Budgets would be helpful to assist in supporting the fire service.

The Area Manager, CDDFRS advised that in could work in some areas however some residents did not want to use bin locks as they believed it hindered them from putting out their rubbish.  There were two types, one which prevented the bin from being moved and one that prevented the bin from being opened.  There had been occasions where bins had been dragged towards properties and used to ignite so there were benefits for both but could roll out into areas, worked with collection services, worked to ensure types of locks fitted didn’t hinder that.

With regards to changing culture, Councillor Lines referred to the importance of school education and asked whether the campaigns which had been referred to were multi agency and which organisation was leading them.  The Area Manager, CDDFRS confirmed that some were delivered by the fire service, some by police, but wherever possible they worked together.

Councillor Lines asked if information was shared with the Council so that they could be promoted and the Area Manager, CDDFRS advised that one of the benefits of the arson suppression group was the sharing of information.  The data shared today was fire data but there was a lot of other data shared with regards to antisocial behaviour, bin collections, school education statistics and by considering the data together, they were able to work towards reducing the statistics.  He advised that there would be a presentation shared at later date with regards to the work of the arson suppression group.

Councillor Heaviside presented feedback as there had been bin fires in his area the previous weekend and after the bins were emptied, there had been large bonfires every evening.  After contacting the wardens, police and housing provider, out of hours patrols had let to young people being returned home.  The evening prior to the meeting had resulted in zero 101 calls.  The housing provider had also advised that if perpetrators were identified, warnings would be issued on their home tenancies.  This concluded that a multi agency approach did work and prevented this type of behaviour.

Councillor Deinali referred to a number of contributing factors listed in the report and asked whether other cross cutting Committees could be notified of this item in order for the County Council to assist where there were specific issues such as social housing and the economy.

Resolved

That the report and presentation be noted.