Lancashire Combined Fire Authority

Performance Committee

Meeting to be held on 3 September 2025

Performance Management Information for quarter 1, 2025/26

(Appendix 1 refers)

Contact for further information – Sam Pink, Assistant Chief Fire Officer (ACFO)

Tel: 01772 866801

Executive Summary

This paper provides a clear measure of our progress against the Key Performance

Indicators (KPI) detailed in the Community Risk Management Plan 2022-2027.

Recommendation

The Performance Committee is asked to note and endorse the Quarter 1 Measuring Progress report, including three positive, and three negative exceptions.

Information

As set out in the report.

Business Risk

High.

Environmental Impact

High – the report apprises the Committee of the Authority's progress.

Equality & Diversity Implications

High – the report apprises the Committee of the Authority's progress.

HR Implications

Medium.

Financial Implications

Medium.

Legal Implications

None.

Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985

List of background papers

Paper:         

Date:           

Contact:      

Reason for inclusion in Part 2 if appropriate: N/A

Appendix 1

Measuring Progress

Performance Report

Quarter 1: April 2025 – June 2025

Introduction

The following pages set out Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service’s (LFRS) Performance Framework, an explanation of how our Key Performance Indicator’s (KPI) are measured and how we are performing.

The document illustrates our performance across all our KPI’s and where appropriate, by an analysis of the KPI’s which are classified as being in exception, along with an analysis of the cause and actions being taken to improve performance.

Contents	Page (s)
Introduction	2
Table of Contents	3
Explanation of Performance Measures	4
Performance Framework and Indicator Trends	5 – 7
Key Performance Indicators	8 – 47

Table of contents

Explanation of Performance Measures. 4

Performance Framework and indicator trends. 5

1.1 Overall Staff Engagement 8

1.2.1 Staff Absence Wholetime (WT) 10

1.2.2 Staff Absence On-Call (OC) 13

1.2.3 Staff Absence Green Book. 14

1.3.1 Workforce Diversity. 17

1.3.2 Workforce Diversity Recruited. 18

1.4 Staff Accidents. 19

2.1 Risk Map. 20

2.2 Overall Activity. 21

2.3 Accidental Dwelling Fires (ADF) 23

2.3.1 ADF – Harm to people: Casualties. 24

2.3.2 ADF – Harm to property: Extent of damage (fire severity) 25

2.4 Accidental Building Fires (ABF) - Commercial Premises. 26

2.4.1 ABF (Commercial Premises) – Harm to property: Extent of damage (fire severity) 27

2.5 Accidental Building Fires (Non-Commercial Premises) 28

2.5.1 ABF (Non-Commercial Premises: Private Garages and Sheds) – Harm to property: Extent of damage (fire severity) 30

2.6 Deliberate Fires Total: Specific performance measure of deliberate fires. 31

2.6.1 Deliberate Fires – Dwellings. 32

2.6.2 Deliberate Fires – Commercial Premises. 33

2.6.3 Deliberate Fires – Other (Rubbish, grassland, vehicles etc.) 34

2.7 Home Fire Safety Checks (HFSC) 36

2.8 Prevention activities delivered. 37

2.9 Business Fire Safety Checks. 38

2.9.1 Fire Safety Activity. 40

2.10 Building Regulation Consultations (BRC) 41

3.1 Critical Fire Response – 1^st Fire Engine Attendance. 42

3.2 Critical Special Service Response – 1^st Fire Engine Attendance. 43

3.3 Fire Engine Availability. 44

4.1 Progress Against Allocated Budget 45

4.2 Partnership Collaboration.. 46

4.3 Overall User Satisfaction.. 47

Explanation of Performance Measures

KPI’s are monitored either by using an XmR^[1] chart, comparing current performance against that achieved in the previous year’s activity, or against a pre-determined standard - for example: the response standard KPI’s are measured against a range of set times.

The set times are dependent upon the risk rating given to each Super Output Area (SOA), which is presented as a percentage of occasions where the standard is met.

^[1]XmR chart explanation (Value [X] over a moving [m] range [R]).

An XmR chart is a control chart used to highlight any significant changes in activity so that interventions can be made before an issue arises. It can also highlight where activity has decreased, potentially as a result of preventative action which could be replicated elsewhere.

Activity is deemed to be within standard if it remains within set upper and lower limits. These limits are based upon the previous three years activity and are set using a statistically derived constant, approximately equivalent to three standard deviations.

An exception report is generated if the upper, or lower, XmR rules are breached.

The following rules are applicable to the XmR charts and define when an exception has occurred:

· A single point beyond the Upper Control Limit is classified as a negative exception.

· A single point beyond the Lower Control Limit is classified as a positive exception.

Example XmR chart: In the example below, this KPI would produce a negative exception for meeting rule 1, as the activity, represented as a dark blue line, for May 2021 (    ) is above the Upper Control Limit (UCL) and a positive exception in September 2021 (    ) for meeting rule 2, being below the Lower Control Limit (LCL).

Performance Framework and indicator trends

The Combined Fire Authority sets the Service challenging targets for a range of key performance indicators (KPI) which help them to monitor and measure our performance in achieving success and meeting our priorities. Performance against these KPI’s is scrutinised every quarter at the Performance Committee.

The following graphic illustrates our priorities and how their respective KPI’s fit within the overall performance framework.

This section also provides an overview of the performance direction of the KPI’s. Each KPI is shown within its priority, with an indicator called Sparkline’s; which are the inset summary charts and indicate the relative direction of travel over the last four quarters. The last point of the chart represents the most recent quarter. Sparkline’s are simple indicative indicators and are not intended to have labelled points or axes.

1.1 Overall Staff Engagement

A written update on staff engagement will be provided on a quarterly basis.

Scope and definition:

Staff engagement is achieved through a variety of activities carried out every day across the service including station visits, digital staff sessions, appraisals, and team meetings. This includes a programme of wellbeing interactions such as workplace toolbox talks, station visits, workshops, and wellbeing support dog visits.

All members of staff can raise questions, ideas and improvements on the Service’s intranet and staff are regularly involved in testing and trialling new equipment and ways of working. Surveys and consultations are held on specific matters when required such as proposals for emergency cover reviews and working the on-call duty system.

A comprehensive staff survey is undertaken periodically to gain insight from all staff on a range of topics including leadership, training and development, health and wellbeing, and equality, diversity, and inclusion. The feedback is used to shape future activity and bring about improvements and new ideas. The survey includes a staff engagement index which is a measure of overall staff engagement based on levels of pride, advocacy, attachment, inspiration and motivation. The current staff engagement index score is 74% (2023).

Measurement/update:

Between April and June 2025, 15 station visits were carried out by principal officers and area managers as part of our service-wide engagement programme. In addition, two online events were held with flexi duty officers on the financial outlook.

Forty-seven wellbeing interactions were undertaken ranging from workshops with crews to wellbeing support dog engagements.

Four ‘On the Menu’ digital sessions were held on the following topics: development opportunities for operational and service support staff; supporting staff with neurodiversity; and using social media.

Surveys were conducted in relation to social media use and a new operational welfare unit.

Four in-person workshops were held at Service headquarters on how to use different apps and tools in Microsoft 365.

The Service engaged with staff over several topics relating to our fleet and equipment including duty rig uniform, body worn cameras, and new water tower appliances. Staff engagement over the redevelopment of the Service's staff newsletter also took place.

An engagement index is calculated based on five questions measuring pride, advocacy, attachment, inspiration and motivation; factors that are understood to be important features shared by staff who are engaged with the organisation.

For each respondent, an engagement score is calculated as the average score across the five questions where strongly disagree is equivalent to 0, disagree is equivalent to 25, neither agree nor disagree is equivalent to 50, agree is equivalent to 75 and strongly agree is equivalent to 100. The engagement index is then calculated as the average engagement score in the organisation. This approach means that a score of 100 is equivalent to all respondents saying strongly agree to all five engagement questions, while a score of 0 is equivalent to all respondents saying strongly disagree to all five engagement questions.

During the survey period, the corporate communications department visited wholetime and on-call crews on 51 occasions to encourage participation in the survey. Five focus groups were held with on-call units by the Service’s independent researcher to obtain qualitative feedback on on-call specific matters, to complement the survey data.

1.2.1 Staff Absence Wholetime (WT)

Quarter shifts lost 1.982

The cumulative number of shifts (days) lost due to sickness for all wholetime staff divided by the total average strength.

Annual Standard: Not more than 8 shifts lost.

This is represented on the chart as annual shifts lost divided by 4 quarters, which equates to a quarterly standard of two.

Cumulative total number of shifts lost:

1.982

This is a positive exception report due to the number of shifts lost through absence per employee being below the Service target for quarter 1.

The element of this section of the report refers to sickness absence rates for the period 1 April 2025 to June 2025.

The agreed target performance level is 2 shifts lost per employee per year for wholetime staff. The actual shifts lost for the period for this group of staff is 1.98, which is 0.02 shifts below target. During the same period the previous year, 2.14 shifts were lost which is a reduction of 0.16 shifts lost per wholetime employee compared to the same period last year.

Analysis

1,243 wholetime absence shifts lost = 1.98 against a target of 2.00

The number of cases of long-term absence which spanned over the total of the 3 months increased from 1 case in Q4 of 2024-25 to 4 cases in Q1. The absence reasons being:

Reason	Case/s
Mental Health	2
Other absence types	2

179 shifts were lost during the quarter as a result of the case of long-term absence, this is in comparison to 80 shifts were lost during the same quarter of 2024-25. These cases account for 0.29 shifts lost per person over the quarter.

There were 27 cases of long-term absence which were recorded within the 3 months:

Reason	Case/s
Hospital/Post Operative Procedure	9
Musculo Skeletal	8
Mental Health	5
Unknown causes, not specified	2
Other absence types	3

61 shifts lost were related to Respiratory related absences, this includes Coronavirus absence. This is compared to 117 shifts lost in the same quarter of 2024-25.

Measures the Service takes to manage absence

The Service has an Absence Management Policy which details our approach to managing absences to ensure that staff time is managed effectively, and that members of staff are supported back to work or exited from the Service in a compassionate way.

The Human Resources (HR) system i-Trent automatically generates monthly reports to line managers and HR Business Partners in relation to employees and their periods and reasons for absence, and these are closely monitored. Where employees are absent due to a mental health, or a stress related condition, they are referred to Occupational Health Unit (OHU) as early as possible. Employees returning to work have a return-to-work interview and stress risk assessment, or individual health risk assessments are completed where required.

The Service has several support mechanisms available to support individuals to return to work or be exited as appropriate including guidance from Occupational Health, access to Trauma Risk Management (TRiM), access to an Employee Assistance Programme and the Firefighters Charity.

Where an employee does not return to work in a timely manner an absence review meeting will take place with the employee and the line manager and a representative from Human Resources. The meetings are aimed at identifying support to return an individual back to work which can include modified duties for a period, redeployment, but ultimately can result in dismissal, or permanent ill health retirement from the service.

The Absence Management Policy details when a formal review of an employee’s performance levels would normally take place. In terms of short-term absence, a formal review would take place where an employee has 3 or more periods of absence in 6 months, or an employee has 14 days absent. In terms of long-term absence, a formal review will normally take place at 3, 6, 9 and 11 months.

A key challenge for supporting operational staff return to work is that the threshold for fitness and return to work for operational firefighters is higher than in other occupations due to their hazardous working conditions.

1.2.2 Staff Absence On-Call (OC)

Cumulative Absence 1.24%

The percentage of contracted hours lost due to sickness for all OC contracted staff. An individual’s sickness hours are only counted as absent where they overlap with their contracted hours.

Annual Standard: No more than 2.5% lost as a percentage of available hours of cover.

Cumulative On-Call absence, as a percentage of available hours of cover at end of the quarter, 1.24%.

Cumulative On-Call absence (as % of available hours of cover):

1.24%

1.2.3 Staff Absence Green Book

Quarter shifts lost 1.848

The cumulative number of shifts (days) lost due to sickness for all Green Book staff divided by the average strength.

Annual Standard: Not more than 8 shifts lost.

This is represented on the chart as annual shifts lost divided by 4 quarters, which equates to a quarterly standard of two.

Cumulative total number of shifts lost:

1.848

What are the reasons for an Exception report

This is a positive exception report due to the number of shifts lost through absence per employee being below the Service target for quarter 1.

The agreed target performance level is 8 shifts lost per employee per year for Green book staff. The actual shifts lost for the period for this group of staff is 1.85, which is 0.15 below target. During the same period the previous year, 1.35 shifts were lost which is an increase of 0.50 shifts lost per green book employee compared to the same period last year.

Analysis

During the period, April - June 2025, absence statistics show non-uniformed personnel absence below target for the quarter, with 1.85 shifts lost in the quarter against a target of 2.00 shifts lost.

425 non-uniformed absence shifts lost = 1.85 against a target of 2.00 during the quarter 1. There was one case of long-term absence which spanned over the total of the 3 months, this related to Mental Health – Stress.

The number of long-term absence cases recorded in the quarter reduced from 10 in Q4 of 2024-25 to 8 in Q1:

Reason	Case/s
Mental Health	2
Heart, Cardiac and Circulatory problems	2
Other absence types	4

245 shifts were lost during the quarter as a result of the above 8 cases of long-term absences, this is in comparison to 206 shifts lost during the same quarter of 2024-25. These cases account for 1.07 shifts lost per person over the quarter.

27 shifts lost were related to Respiratory related absences, this includes Coronavirus absence. This is compared to 38 shifts lost in the same quarter of 2024-25.

Measures the Service takes to manage absence

The Service has an Absence Management Policy which details its approach to how it will manage absence ensuring that staff time is managed effectively, but also members of staff are supported back to work or exited from the Service in a compassionate way.

The Human Resources (HR) system iTrent automatically generates monthly reports to line managers and HR Business Partners in relation to employees and the periods and reasons for absence and these are closely monitored. Where employees are absent due to a mental health, or a stress related condition, these employees are referred to Occupational Health Unit (OHU) as early as possible. Employees returning to work have a return-to-work interview and stress risk assessment, or individual health risk assessments are completed where required.

The Service has several support mechanisms available to support individuals to return to work or be exited as appropriate including guidance from Occupational Health, access to Trauma Risk Management (TRiM), access to an Employee Assistance Programme and the Firefighters Charity.

Where an employee does not return to work in a timely manner an absence review meeting will take place with the employee and the line manager and a representative from Human Resources. The meetings are aimed at identifying support to return an individual back to work which can include modified duties for a period, redeployment, but ultimately can result in dismissal, or permanent ill health retirement from the service.

The Absence Management Policy details when a formal review of an employee’s performance levels would normally take place. In terms of short-term absence, a formal review would take place where an employee has 3 or more periods of absence in 6 months, or an employee has 14 days absent. In terms of long-term absence, a formal review will normally take place at 3, 6, 9 and 11 months.

1.3.1 Workforce Diversity

Diversity Percentage (Refer to charts)

Workforce diversity as a percentage: Performance measure of how representative our staff are of our communities, to monitor equality and diversity within LFRS.

Combined diversity percentage of Grey Book and Green Book staff. Outer circle represents the position at the current quarter, with the inner circle illustrating the position at the same quarter the previous year.

Diversity percentage by Grey Book staff and Green Book staff. Counts will include double counts if dual contract between Grey and Green Book.

Characteristic	Diversity	Grey Book	%	Green Book	%
Gender	Female	Grey	11%	Green	61%
	Male		89%		39%
Ethnicity	Other than white	Grey	3%	Green	5%
	White		92%		85%
	Not stated		5%		10%
Sexual orientation	LGBT	Grey	5%	Green	3%
	Heterosexual		60%		67%
	Not stated		35%		30%
Disability	Disability	Grey	3%	Green	5%
	No disability		94%		88%
	Not stated		3%		7%

1.3.2 Workforce Diversity Recruited

Diversity Percentage (Refer to charts)

Workforce diversity recruited as a percentage: Performance measure of our success in recruiting a diverse workforce to monitor equality and diversity within LFRS.

Combined cumulative diversity percentage of Grey Book staff and Green Book staff. Outer circle represents the current period, with the inner circle illustrating the same period of the previous year.

During quarter 1, there were a total of 28 new recruits.

No further breakdown is provided to prevent the possible identification of individuals due to the small numbers of recruits during certain periods.

1.4 Staff Accidents

Activity 9

This KPI details the numbers of accidents which have involved LFRS staff members at work within the quarter.

As part of our Health and Safety Management System we report and investigate all accidents which occur within LFRS to identify any learning opportunities which can contribute to improving our safety culture within the Service.

As the body ultimately responsible for health and safety performance, this KPI enables Fire Authority members to view LFRS progress on managing health and safety risks within LFRS.

Quarterly activity decreased 57.14% (12 incidents) over the same quarter of the previous year.

Total number of staff	Year to Date	2025/26 Quarter 1	Previous year to Date	2024/25 Quarter 1
accidents	9	9	21	21

2.1 Risk Map

Risk Score 30,532

This indicator measures the fire risk in each Super Output Area (SOA). Risk is determined using fire activity over the previous three fiscal years along with a range of demographic data, such as population and deprivation.

Specifically, the risk score for each SOA is calculated using the formula shown below. Once an SOA has been assigned a score, it is then categorised by risk grade.

The County risk map score is updated annually before the end of the first quarter. Standard: To reduce the risk in Lancashire - an annual reduction in the County risk map score. An improvement is shown by a year-on-year decreasing ‘Overall Risk Score’ value. The inset table below shows the latest count of risk areas against the previous year, along with the overall risk score compared to the previous year.

Risk Grade	Very High	High	Medium	Low	Overall Risk Score
2025 count	12	51	333	545	30,532
2024 count	11	54	340	536	30,750
Direction / % Change

2.2 Overall Activity

Quarter Activity 5,086

The number of incidents that LFRS attend with one or more pumping appliances. Includes fires, special service calls, false alarms and collaborative work undertaken with other emergency services. For example, missing person searches on behalf of the Lancashire Constabulary (LanCon) and gaining entry incidents at the request of the North west Ambulance Service (NWAS).

A breakdown of incident types included within this KPI are shown on the following page.

Quarterly activity increased 19.03% over the same quarter of the previous year.

Incidents	Year to Date	2025/26 Quarter 1	Previous year to Date	2024/25 Quarter 1
attended	5,086	5,086	4,273	4,273

	Current mean	3 Year mean	2024/25	2023/24	2022/23
Current mean activity and the monthly mean activity over the previous 3 years.	1,695	1,477	1,413	1,449	1,570

2.2 Overall Activity Breakdown

Quarter Activity 5,086

Incidents attended by LFRS consist of a myriad of different types. The breakdown below, whilst not an exhaustive list, aims to illustrate how activity captured within KPI 2.2 Overall Activity is split by the different types of incidents.

The chart figures represent the count and percentage each activity contributes to the quarter’s activity, whilst the inset table breaks the incident types down further.

	FALSE ALARM incidents make up 39% of activity, with 57% being Fire alarm due to Apparatus incidents, 40% good intent false alarm and malicious false alarms accounting for 3%.
	FIRE PRIMARY incidents encompass Accidental Dwelling Fires, which account for 37% of primary fires and are shown in KPI 2.3.
	FIRE SECONDARY incidents are caused by either a deliberate or accidental act, or the cause is not known. Deliberate fires mainly involve loose refuse and currently account for 50% of secondary fires, with 50% being an accidental or not known cause.
	SPECIAL SERVICE incidents are made up of many different activities, so only a selection of types, such as Gaining entry to a domestic property on behalf of NWAS and Road Traffic Collisions (RTC), effecting entry, and animal assistance incidents can be shown, Other types can range from hazardous materials incidents, to spill and leaks or advice only.

2.3 Accidental Dwelling Fires (ADF)

Quarter Activity 193

The number of primary fires where a dwelling has been affected, and the cause of fire has been recorded as ‘Accidental’ or ‘Not known’.

A primary fire is one involving property (excluding disused property) or any fires involving casualties, rescues, or any fire attended by five or more pumping appliances.

Quarterly activity increased 16.27% over the same quarter of the previous year.

Accidental Dwelling	Year to date	2025/26 Quarter 1	Previous year to date	2024/25 Quarter 1
Fires	193	193	166	166

	Current mean	3 Year mean	2024/25	2023/24	2022/23
Current mean activity and the monthly mean activity over the previous 3 years.	64	60	58	59	64

2.3.1 ADF – Harm to people: Casualties

Quarter Activity 10

ADF criteria as 2.3. The number of fire related fatalities, slight and serious injuries.

· A slight injury is defined as: a person attending hospital as an outpatient (not precautionary check).

· A serious injury is defined as: at least an overnight stay in hospital as an in-patient.

Casualty Status	Year to Date	2025/26 Quarter 1	Previous year to Date	2024/25 Quarter 1
Fatal	1	1	2	2
Injuries appear Serious	1	1	0	0
Injuries appear Slight	8	8	10	10
Total	10	10	12	12

	Current mean	3 Year mean	2024/25	2023/24	2022/23
Current mean activity and the monthly mean activity over the previous 3 years.	3	3	4	3	3

2.3.2 ADF – Harm to property: Extent of damage (fire severity)

Quarter Percentage 86%

ADF criteria as 2.3. Extent of fire, heat and smoke damage is recorded at the time the STOP message is sent and includes all damage types.

The table below shows a breakdown of fire severity at ADF’s, with a direction indicator comparing the current quarter to the same quarter of the previous year.

An improvement is shown if the combined percentage of fires limited to heat and/or smoke damage only, the item 1^st ignited or to the room of origin, is higher than the comparable quarter of the previous year.

Combined quarterly percentage remained static over the same quarter of the previous year.

Fire severity	25/26 Q1	25/26 Q2	25/26 Q3	25/26 Q4	Ç/ò	24/25 Q1	24/25 Q2	24/25 Q3	24/25 Q4
Limited to heat and/or smoke	26%	-	-	-	Ç	23%	22%	24%	22%
Limited to item 1st ignited	15%	-	-	-	Ç	13%	16%	14%	22%
Limited to room of origin	45%	-	-	-	ò	50%	47%	48%	41%
Limited to floor of origin	9%	-	-	-	Ç	8%	7%	8%	11%
Spread beyond floor of origin	3%	-	-	-	ò	5%	6%	4%	3%
Whole Building	2%	-	-	-	Ç	1%	2%	2%	1%
Combined percentage	86%	-	-	-	ó	86%	85%	86%	85%

2.4 Accidental Building Fires (ABF) - Commercial Premises

Quarter Activity 55

The number of primary fires where a building has been affected, which is other than a dwelling or a private building associated with a dwelling, and the cause of fire has been recorded as Accidental or Not known.

A primary fire is one involving property (excluding disused property) or any fires involving casualties, rescues, or any fire attended by five or more pumping appliances.

Quarterly activity decreased 23.61% over the same quarter of the previous year.

Accidental Building Fires	Year to Date	2025/26 Quarter 1	Previous year to Date	2024/25 Quarter 1
(Commercial Premises)	55	55	72	72

	Current mean	3 Year mean	2024/25	2023/24	2022/23
Current mean activity and the monthly mean activity over the previous 3 years.	18	21	21	20	21

2.4.1 ABF (Commercial Premises) – Harm to property: Extent of damage (fire severity)

Quarter Percentage 65%

ABF criteria as 2.4. Extent of fire, heat and smoke damage is recorded at the time the STOP message is sent and includes all damage types.

The table below shows a breakdown of fire severity at ABF’s, with a direction indicator comparing the current quarter to the same quarter of the previous year.

An improvement is shown if the combined percentage of fires limited to heat and/or smoke damage only, the item 1^st ignited or to the room of origin, is higher than the comparable quarter of the previous year.

Combined quarterly percentage decreased 12.32% over the same quarter of the previous year.

Fire severity	25/26 Q1	25/26 Q2	25/26 Q3	25/26 Q4	Ç/ò	24/25 Q1	24/25 Q2	24/25 Q3	24/25 Q4
Limited to heat and/or smoke	20%	-	-	-	Ç	15%	27%	16%	23%
Limited to item 1st ignited	18%	-	-	-	ò	19%	17%	21%	18%
Limited to room of origin	27%	-	-	-	ò	44%	38%	33%	35%
Limited to floor of origin	20%	-	-	-	Ç	13%	13%	12%	17%
Spread beyond floor of origin	2%	-	-	-	Ç	1%	2%	9%	2%
Whole Building	13%	-	-	-	Ç	8%	3%	9%	5%
Combined percentage	65%	-	-	-	ò	78%	82%	70%	76%

2.5 Accidental Building Fires (Non-Commercial Premises)

Quarter Activity 39

The number of primary fires where a private garage, private shed, private greenhouse, private summerhouse, or other private non-residential building has been affected, and the cause of fire has been recorded as Accidental or Not known.

A primary fire is one involving property (excluding disused property) or any fires involving casualties, rescues, or any fire attended by five or more pumping appliances.

Quarterly activity increased 85.71% over the same quarter of the previous year.

Accidental Building Fires	Year to Date	2025/26 Quarter 1	Previous year to Date	2024/25 Quarter 1
(Non-Commercial Premises)	39	39	21	21

	Current mean	3 Year mean	2024/25	2023/24	2022/23
Current mean activity and the monthly mean activity over the previous 3 years.	13	6	6	6	7

What are the reasons for an Exception report

This is a negative exception report due to the number of accidental non-commercial building fires being above the upper control limit during April and May of quarter one.

Analysis

A high number of accidental fires involving private garden sheds were responsible for breaching the upper control limits in April and May, with each month recording 10 garden shed fires, however, there was only one garden shed fire in the following month of June.

This totalled 21 incidents over the three-month period and equals the 21 garden shed fires over the whole of the previous 2024/25 year.

Due to the nature of the construction, the majority of the sheds resulted in the extent of damage affecting the whole building.

The most common cause of ignition was spread from a secondary fire due to the burning of garden or household waste.

Activity levels in June have now returned to below the previous three year average.

Actions being taken to improve performance

Due to the prolonged period of dry weather in the first 2 months of quarter 1 (Met Office indicate that April 2025 was the sunniest on record), we have seen a large increase in domestic accidental building fires, primarily sheds.

The main reason for this is the lifestyle changes during periods of hot weather, such as spending more time outdoors, with activities using hot processes, such as barbeques, along with burning away if weeds and having fires to discard of garden waste and other waste.

The key actions taken across all districts seeing an increase:

· Utilising the virtual library to provide leaflets for Home Fire Safety Checks (HFSC), warning of the dangers of garden fires and barbeques.

· Social Media posts by the service and individual service accounts.

· Post fire activity and leaflet drops in areas of accidental building fire activity.

2.5.1 ABF (Non-Commercial Premises: Private Garages and Sheds) – Harm to property: Extent of damage (fire severity)

Quarter Percentage 28%

ABF criteria as 2.5. Extent of fire, heat and smoke damage is recorded at the time the STOP message is sent and includes all damage types.

The table below shows a breakdown of fire severity at ABF’s, with a direction indicator comparing the current quarter to the same quarter of the previous year.

An improvement is shown if the combined percentage of fires is limited to heat and/or smoke damage only, the item 1^st ignited or to the room of origin, is higher than the comparable quarter of the previous year.

As the property types of sheds and garages are typically of a single room construction, there is an increased likelihood of the whole building being affected.

Combined quarterly percentage decreased 9.89% over the same quarter of the previous year.

Fire severity	25/26 Q1	25/26 Q2	25/26 Q3	25/26 Q4	Ç/ò	24/25 Q1	24/25 Q2	24/25 Q3	24/25 Q4
Limited to heat and/or smoke	5%	-	-	-	ò	14%	0%	12%	0%
Limited to item 1st ignited	10%	-	-	-	ó	10%	5%	6%	0%
Limited to room of origin	13%	-	-	-	ò	14%	5%	19%	15%
Limited to floor of origin	5%	-	-	-	ò	14%	19%	19%	8%
Spread beyond floor of origin	0%	-	-	-	ó	0%	0%	0%	0%
Whole Building	67%	-	-	-	Ç	48%	71%	44%	77%
Combined percentage	28%	-	-	-	ò	38%	10%	37%	15%

2.6 Deliberate Fires Total: Specific performance measure of deliberate fires

Quarter Activity 868

The number of primary and secondary fires where the cause of fire has been recorded as deliberate.

This is an overall total measure of deliberate dwelling, commercial premises, and other fires, which are further reported within their respective KPI’s.

Quarterly activity increased 76.78% over the same quarter of the previous year.

Refer to KPI 2.6.3 for exception report.

Deliberate	Year to Date	2025/26 Quarter 1	Previous year to Date	2024/25 Quarter 1
Fires	868	868	491	491

	Current mean	3 Year mean	2024/25	2023/24	2022/23
Current mean activity and the monthly mean activity over the previous 3 years.	289	167	160	151	191

2.6.1 Deliberate Fires – Dwellings

Quarter Activity 19

The number of primary fires where a dwelling has been affected, and the cause of fire has been recorded as deliberate.

A primary fire is one involving property (excluding disused property) or any fires involving casualties, rescues, or any fire attended by five or more pumping appliances.

Quarterly activity decreased 24.00% over the same quarter of the previous year.

Deliberate Fires -	Year to Date	2025/26 Quarter 1	Previous year to Date	2024/25 Quarter 1
Dwellings	19	19	25	25

	Current mean	3 Year mean	2024/25	2023/24	2022/23
Current mean activity and the monthly mean activity over the previous 3 years.	6	7	7	7	7

2.6.2 Deliberate Fires – Commercial Premises

Quarter Activity 42

The number of primary fires where the property type is a building, which is other than a dwelling or a private building associated with a dwelling, and the cause of fire has been recorded as deliberate.

A second incident activity line is shown which excludes Crown premises which fall outside of our legislative jurisdiction.

A primary fire is one involving property (excluding disused property) or any fires involving casualties, rescues, or any fire attended by five or more pumping appliances.

Quarterly activity decreased 14.29% over the same quarter of the previous year.

Deliberate Fires -	Year to Date	2025/26 Quarter 1	Previous year to Date	2024/25 Quarter 1
Commercial	42	42	49	49

	Current mean	3 Year mean	2024/25	2023/24	2022/23
Current mean activity and the monthly mean activity over the previous 3 years.	14	11	12	12	10

2.6.3 Deliberate Fires – Other (Rubbish, grassland, vehicles etc.)

Quarter Activity 807

The number of primary and secondary fires where the property type is other than a building, except where the building is recorded as disused, and the cause of fire has been recorded as deliberate.

The majority of deliberate fires are outdoor secondary fires and include grassland and refuse fires. Abandoned vehicle fires are also included under secondary fires.

Primary fires are when the incident involves casualties or rescues, property loss or 5 or more pumping appliances attend the incident, and can include large scale moorland fires or vehicle fires which are not abandoned.

Quarterly activity increased 93.53% over the same quarter of the previous year.

Deliberate Fires -	Year to Date	2025/26 Quarter 1	Previous year to Date	2024/25 Quarter 1
Other	807	807	417	417

	Current mean	3 Year mean	2024/25	2023/24	2022/23
Current mean activity and the monthly mean activity over the previous 3 years.	269	149	141	132	175

What are the reasons for an Exception report

This is a negative exception report due to the total number of deliberate secondary fires being above the upper control limit during April and May of quarter one.

Analysis

April and May recorded an almost equal number of fires at 325 and 319 respectively, with both months recording a notable increase over the previous five year April and May average.

Whilst a large number of property types are captured within this KPI, the largest increase was seen in the property type of loose refuse (incl. garden waste), which recorded 362 incidents in the quarter, compared to 151 in the same months of the previous year.

Tree scrub recorded 52 fires, against 12 in the previous year’s quarter one, and grassland, pasture, grazing etc. 41 incidents against last year’s 7.

Activity levels in June have since returned to near the previous three-year average.

Fires of this nature are often seasonal, and follow periods of warm, dry weather.

Actions being taken to improve performance

Due to the prolonged period of dry weather in the first 2 months of quarter 1 (Met Office indicate that April 2025 was the sunniest on record), we have seen a large increase in deliberate fires primarily loose refuse, garden waste, tree/scrub and grassland.

This increase is extremely sharp when compared to the same period in 2024 where April was the 6^th wettest since 1836.

Again, the warm protracted weather brings more people into the outdoors and the environment is extremely dry.

Key actions:

· Increase In Environmental Visual Audits (EVA) and the reporting of waste.

· Increase in the reporting of insecure empty buildings.

· Targeting of businesses in the area of high Anti-social activity (ASB) fire activity with Business Fire Safety Checks (BFSC).

· Targeting of homes and businesses within the identified rural/urban interface for Home Fire safety Checks (HFSC) and BFSC.

· Social media post and reminders of the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) in high-risk wildfire locations within Blackburn with Darwen.

· Proactive patrols from wildfire units and crews in high wildfire risk areas.

· Engagement with rural wildfire watch groups and Lancashire Fire Operations Group (LFOG) partners.

2.7 Home Fire Safety Checks (HFSC)

Quarter Activity 52%

The percentage of completed HFSC’s, excluding refusals, carried out by LFRS personnel in the home, where the risk score has been determined to be high.

An improvement is shown if:

· The total number of HFSC’s completed is greater than the comparable quarter of the previous year and,

· The percentage of high HFSC outcomes is greater than the comparable quarter of the previous year.

Quarterly activity increased 1.5% against the same quarter of the previous year, whilst the high risk outcomes decreased 1%.

	2025/26		Ç/ò	2024/25
	HFSC completed	% of High HFSC outcomes	Progress	HFSC completed	% of High HFSC outcomes
Q 1	5,966	52%	Ç/ò	5,880	53%
Q 2	-	-	-	6,353	52%
Q 3	-	-	-	6,035	51%
Q 4	-	-	-	5,365	55%

Cumulative year to date activity

2.8 Prevention activities delivered

Activity	Description	Targets for delivery	Data for quarter 1 2025/26
ChildSafe	Fire Safety education package to Year 2 (key stage 1)	Offered to all year 2 pupils	71 sessions delivered to 2,201 students
RoadSense	Fire and Road Safety education package to Year 6 (key stage 2)	Offered to all year 6 pupils	88 sessions delivered to 3,271 students
SENDSafe	Fire Safety education package for learners with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)	Offered to all SEND schools	5 sessions delivered to 175 students
Wasted Lives	Pre Driver information session in workshop or assembly format. Aimed at Year 10 or Year 11 in high school (key stage 4)	Increase delivery aligned to district risk in the academic year	17 sessions delivered to 1,389 students.
Biker Down	3 hour course aimed at Powered 2 Wheel riders covering incident management, first aid and the science of being seen	Deliver a minimum of 12 sessions per year	6 sessions 162 attendees
FIRES	Fire setting intervention delivered to 4-17 year olds. Referrals made by anyone who might work or support the family of a child who is setting fires	Deliver an intervention to all referrals	53 referrals opened prior to Q1 and carried over. 66 referrals received in Q1. 31 referrals closed in Q1. 79 referrals carried to 2025-26, Q2
Partner Training (including care providers)	LFRS deliver a ‘train the trainer’ package to organisations/agencies within health and social care. There are currently 190 preferred partners, and 73 standard partners registered with LFRS. Partnerships are reviewed and RAG rated quarterly	Increase the number of partners rated green on the RAG report and continue to review partnerships and provide training	8 sessions delivered to 66 delegates.
Specific education sessions such as Water Safety & Bright Sparx	Education package delivered either virtually or in person to educate about Water Safety, Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB), deliberate fire setting etc. Covers key stages 2,3 and 4	Increase delivery	62 in-school water safety sessions delivered to 11,393 students. And 8 Virtual sessions delivered to 9,135 pupils.
Arson Threat Referral	Bespoke service where a threat of arson has been made. Referrals largely come from the Police.	Meet demand from LanCon	209 completed

2.9 Business Fire Safety Checks

Quarter Activity 769

Business Fire Safety Checks (BFSC) are interventions which look at different aspects of fire safety compliance, including risk assessments, fire alarms, escape routes and fire doors. If the result of a BFSC is unsatisfactory, fire safety advice will be provided to help the business comply with The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. If critical fire safety issues are identified, then a business safety advisor will conduct a follow-up intervention.

· The pro rata BFSC target is delivered through each quarter.

A +/-10% tolerance is applied to the completed BFSC’s and the year to date (YTD) BFSC’s, against both the quarterly and YTD targets. When both counts are outside of the 10% tolerance they will be deemed in exception. This enables local delivery to flex with the needs of their district plan over the quarters.

	2025/26				Ç/ò	2024/25
	BFSC completed	Quarter Target	BFSC Cumulative	YTD Target	Progress	BFSC completed	Quarter Target
Q 1	769	625	769	625	ò	924	625
Q 2	-	625	-	1,250	-	943	625
Q 3	-	625	-	1,875	-	883	625
Q 4	-	625	-	2,500	-	887	625

Cumulative year to date activity

Top five completed BFSC’s: satisfactory and unsatisfactory premise types.

What are the reasons for the Exception

This is a positive exception due to the number of completed Business Fire Safety Checks (BFSC) being greater than 10% of the quarterly target, and the cumulative year to date target.

Targeting Strategy

Service delivery personnel have been carrying out BFSC’s in their respective districts for over 2 years, and this work is now embedded into business-as-usual activity.

The KPI dashboard and District Intel Profiles are used to identify and target both the business types and business locations for this activity.

2.9.1 Fire Safety Activity

Quarter Activity 5%

The number of Fire Safety Enforcement inspections carried out within the period resulting in supporting businesses to improve and become compliant with fire safety regulations or to take formal action of enforcement and prosecution of those that fail to comply. Formal activity is defined as one or more of the following: enforcement notice or an action plan, alterations notice or prohibition notice.

An improvement is shown if the percentage of audits ‘Requiring formal activity’ is greater than the comparable quarter of the previous year. This helps inform that the correct businesses are being identified.

Quarterly activity decreased 1% against the same quarter of the previous year.

	2025/26										2024/25
Quarter	Fire Safety Enforcement Inspections	Formal Activity	% Formal Activity	Informal Activity	% Informal Activity	Satisfactory Audit	% Satisfactory Audit	Business Safety Advice	% Business Safety Advice	Progress	% Formal Activity	% Informal Activity
1	402	19	5%	261	65%	80	20%	42	10%	ò	6%	80%
2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6%	73%
3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8%	66%
4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8%	63%

2.10 Building Regulation Consultations (BRC)

Building Regulations: If a business intends to carry out building work it must do so in accordance with the requirements of current Building Regulations.

There are two building control bodies that can be used, the Local Authority or an Approved Inspector.

These bodies are then responsible for ensuring compliance with building regulations which generally apply when:

· Erecting a new building

· Extending or altering an existing building

· Providing services and/or fittings in a building

· Altering the use of a building

Purpose of the consultation process: If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) applies to the premises, or will apply following the work, the building control body must consult with LFRS. LFRS then comments on FSO requirements and may also provide additional advice relevant to the building type which may exceed minimum requirements but, if adopted, would further enhance safety or resilience (e.g. use of sprinklers).

LFRS cannot enforce building regulations but can offer observations to the building control body regarding compliance if it is felt the proposals may not comply. In addition to securing a safe premises, an important outcome of the process is to ensure that the completed building meets the requirements of the FSO once occupied, so that no additional works are necessary.

Building Regulation Consultations	25/26 Q1	25/26 Q2	25/26 Q3	25/26 Q4
Received	104	-	-	-
Completed within timeframe^[1]	103	-	-	-
% Completed within timeframe	99.0%	-	-	-

^[1] LFRS should make comments in writing within 15 working days of receiving a BRC.

3.1 Critical Fire Response – 1^st Fire Engine Attendance

Quarter Response 07:40

Critical fire incidents are defined as incidents that are likely to involve a significant threat to life, structures or the environment. Our response standards, in respect of critical fires, are variable and are determined by the risk map (KPI 2.1) and subsequent risk grade of the Super Output Area (SOA) in which the fire occurred.

The response standards include call handling and fire engine response time for the first fire engine attending a critical fire, and are as follows:

· Very high risk area = 6 minutes	· Medium risk area = 10 minutes
· High risk area = 8 minutes	· Low risk area = 12 minutes

We have achieved our standards when the time between the ‘Time of Call’ (TOC) and ‘Time in Attendance’ (TIA) of the first fire engine arriving at the incident, averaged over the quarter, is less than the relevant response standard. Expressed in minutes & seconds.

Critical Fire Response	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Year to Date	Previous Year to Date
Very High (6 min)	05:50	-	-	-	05:50	05:52
High (8 min)	05:47	-	-	-	05:47	07:04
Medium (10 min)	07:05	-	-	-	07:05	07:01
Low (12 min)	09:08	-	-	-	09:08	09:13
Overall	07:40	-	-	-	07:40	07:47

[Out of standard response times are expressed within square brackets]

3.2 Critical Special Service Response – 1^st Fire Engine Attendance

Quarter Response 08:43

Critical special service incidents are non-fire incidents where there is a risk to life, for example, road traffic collisions, rescues and hazardous materials incidents. For these incidents there is a single response standard which measures call handling time and fire engine response time.

The response standard for the first fire engine attending a critical special service call = 13 minutes.

We have achieved our standards when the time between the ‘Time of Call’ (TOC) and ‘Time in Attendance’ (TIA) of the first fire engine arriving at the incident, averaged over the quarter, is less than the response standard. Expressed in minutes & seconds.

Critical Special Service Response	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Year to Date	Previous Year to Date
(13 min)	08:43	-	-	-	08:43	08:22

[Failures are expressed within square brackets]

3.3 Fire Engine Availability

Quarter Availability 89.26%

This indicator measures the total availability of the 1^st fire engine at each of the 39 fire stations. It is measured as the percentage of time the 1^st fire engine is available to respond compared to the total time in the period.

Standard: 90%

Quarterly availability increased 2.35% over the same quarter of the previous year.

Fire engine availability	Year to Date	2025/26 Quarter 1	Previous year to Date	2024/25 Quarter 1
WT, FDC, DCP & OC	89.26%	89.26%	86.91%	86.91%

4.1 Progress Against Allocated Budget

Quarter variance 0.0%*

The total cumulative value of the savings delivered to date compared to the year’s standard and the total.

As a public service we are committed to providing a value for money service to the community and it is important that once a budget has been agreed and set, our spending remains within this.

The annual revenue budget for 2025/26 is £77.5million. The spend of £18.2 million is broadly in line with allocated budget at the end of the first quarter with a small overspend on pay offset by similar underspend on non-pay. Looking ahead, there are some risks around inflation being higher than budgeted, and £0.5m savings are required within the year.

The annual revised capital budget for 2025/26 is £13.9 million and the spend at the end of June was £1.2 million. To date no slippage to 2026/27 has been identified.

*Revenue budget variance:

0.0%

4.2 Partnership Collaboration

A written update on partnership collaboration will be provided on a quarterly basis.

Scope and definition:

The Police, Fire & Rescue Service, and Ambulance Service have a duty to collaborate

under the Policing and Crime Act 2017. The objectives are to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and deliver improved outcomes.

The following are examples of partnership working come from a number of departments across the Service. Their aim is to increase efficiency and effectiveness of working practices whether this relates to equipment, technology, appliances, or training.

· The chair of both the Strategic and Tactical Blue Light Collaboration Boards has transferred to Lancashire Constabulary until 2026. Several workstreams are ongoing with subgroups for Leadership, Wellbeing Mental Health and Welfare, Estates, and Recruitment.

4.3 Overall User Satisfaction

Percentage satisfied 98.66%

The percentage of people who were satisfied with the service received from the total number of people surveyed.

People surveyed include those who have experienced an accidental dwelling fire, a commercial fire, or a special service incident that we attended.

The standard is achieved if the percentage of satisfied responses is greater than the 97.50% standard.

During the quarter, 75 people were surveyed; 73 responded that they were very or fairly satisfied.

Question	Running Total	Number Satisfied	% Satisfied	% Standard	% Variance
Taking everything in to account, are you satisfied, dissatisfied, or neither with the service you received from Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service?	3,946	3,893	98.66%	97.50%	1.16%