12/2/2009 - Audit Commission Fire and Rescue Performance : Cumbria County Council

Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service has been praised for its "energetic programme of change", its approach to risk analysis, its community safety work and strong leadership in its annual assessment.

An increase in the number of people killed in house fires in 2007/8, however, has impacted on the annual score given by the Audit Commission. From April 2007 to March 2008 seven people died in house fires in the county, compared with three people in 2006/7 and two people in 2005/6.

Of the seven fire deaths, five involved people smoking, three happened in houses without a fire alarm and one involved a fire alarm which didn't operate.

The increase in the number of accidental house fire deaths means that Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service can score no more than a maximum of 2 points on the scale of 1 to 4 given by the Audit Commission. A score of 2 is classed as an 'adequate performance' and is a reduction on last year's top score of 4.

The Use of Resources score, which assesses how the authority manages its finances and provides value for money, was 3. This is classed as 'Performing well - consistently above minimum requirements' and is a repeat of last year's score.

Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service outperformed other fire authorities in all of the performance measures apart from accidental dwelling fires and fires in non-domestic properties (where it performed in line with the national average).

The following performances were all 'above the upper threshold':

- Primary fires per 10,000 population

- Injuries arising from accidental dwelling fires per 100,000 population

- Percentage of accidental dwelling fires confined to room of origin

- Number of deliberate primary fires (including vehicles) per 10,000 population

- False alarms caused by automatic fire detection

- Calls to malicious false alarms

- Percentage of fires attended where no smoke alarm was fitted

In the direction of travel assessment, the service was classed as 'improving well' - also a repeat of last year's strong performance.

The direction of travel statement included the following:

"Performance over the past year has been good. Further reductions in deliberate fires and false alarms have been achieved and organisational capacity significantly enhanced. Although the numbers of accidental dwelling fires and fire deaths showed small increases, with both indicators remaining in the bottom quartile of performance nationally, there has been sustained improvement recently. Partnership working continues to be strong, with positive outcomes in the areas of malicious fire-setting, anti-social behaviour and, in particular, road safety. The number of people killed or seriously injured on Cumbria’s roads fell by 19 percent overall and by 24 percent for the priority 16-20 age group. Strengthening equality and diversity is a high priority: internal processes have improved and renewed efforts made to reach out to minority communities. Although this has yet to be reflected in the composition of the service, recruitment of women has been successful at fire-fighter level and within senior management."

Dominic Harrison, Chief Fire Officer for Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service, said:

"Cumbria's fire and rescue service has been improving on all fronts, but the number of accidental fire deaths in the county was unusually high last year. As far as I am concerned, one fire death is one too many and the level of time and resources that we have been putting into fire prevention is greater than ever. In most cases people die in fires before the fire and rescue service has even been called - that's why we focus so much on fire prevention. But the reality is that a number of tragic accidents have capped our potential score and that's just the way the auditing system works. The bigger picture is that the county's fire and rescue service is more efficient and more effective than ever before."