Agenda item

(i)       Report of Corporate Director of Resources

(ii)      Report of Chief Fire Officer

(iii)     Community Risk Management Plan

(iv)     Chief Fire Officer Presentation

The Committee received a report of the Corporate Director of Resources which provided background information on the consultation of County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Authority’s (CDDFRA) CRMP and consultation process (for copy of report and presentation, see file of minutes).

The Chief Fire Officer gave a presentation setting out details of the CRMP and consultation invited comment on proposals for new emergency response standards and comments on the CRMP and approach to allocating resources. Members noted that the CRMP consultation process runs from the 15 November 2021 to 7 February 2022.

The Committee gave support to the proposals in relation to the new emergency response standards and Community Risk Management Plan.

In response to a question from Superintendent Bickford with regards to dwelling fires during the COVID pandemic, the Chief Fire Officer advised that the number of dwelling fires and road traffic collisions had reduced significantly during lockdown. It was noted with more people working from home, there was an increase in false alarm incidents reported in relation to burning rubbish when household disposal sites were closed. He added there was some concern that those figures would distort the data, therefore the data was removed for analysis purposes.

Councillor Boyes queried how County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service compared to other similarly sized authorities. The Chief Fire Officer explained that each authority had a different response standard, therefore it was difficult to measure. It was noted that County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue has stringent standards in place and in comparison, to other areas have the fastest response times within rural areas. Regarding performance, he advised that County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service were one of the most productive Fire and Rescue Services, carrying out more business fire safety audits than any other Fire Service in the Country and second in the Country in relation to home fire safety checks and safe and wellbeing checks which had significantly reduced the number of incidents.

Responding to a question from the Chair in relation to the safe and wellbeing visits, the Chief Fire Office advised that visits were on target with pre-pandemic figures. It was noted that wellbeing checks continued during Covid restrictions by adapting a different model and additional safety measures were carried out when attending face to face visits to support individuals that were most vulnerable and at greater risk.

Resolved:

i)       That the report and presentation be noted.

ii)      That a response containing comments from the Committee to the consultation be submitted to County Durham & Darlington Fire and Rescue Service.