Outside body

County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Authority is a combined authority created by the Durham Fire Services (Combination Scheme) Order 1996.

Membership comprises of 21 elected councillors from Durham County Council and 4 from Darlington Borough Council.  The Authority has statutory duty to enforce fire safety legislation and to reduce the risk of fire causing death, serious injury and property related losses to the community.

The Authority must also make provision for rescuing people in the event of road traffic collisions and for protecting people from serious harm in the event of road traffic collisions.

The broad role and functions of the Authority include:

• Determination of policy and strategy relating to the objectives of the authority and its priorities, including approving the strategic plan
• Approving the Authority’s revenue and capital budget strategy, revenue and capital budgets, agreeing the level of precept and approving the Authority statement of accounts. Reviewing the authority’s current financial position compared with approved budgets
• Contributing to the Regional Management Board (RMB)
• Receiving reports and recommendations from authority committees in addition to regularly reviewing the structure and remit of committees, forums and working groups
• Receiving reports from inspectorate bodies
• Ensuring that the Authority fulfils its statutory duties including those under the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 and the National Framework
• Fostering continuous service improvement and progression in the comprehensive performance assessment
• Appointing the Chief Executive and Directors of the Fire and Rescue Service and the Treasurer, Clerk and Monitoring Officer of the Authority
• Being a statutory body, functions, powers and duties are set down in statutes and regulations inspected by the Audit Commission as part of a comprehensive performance audit to which fire and rescue authorities are subject.

You can more information about the Authority here