Customer Care Charter

Our Standards and Commitments:

Emergency Response:

  • we will attend 70% of all dwelling fires within 8 minutes
  • we will attend 70% of all non-domestic fires within 9 minutes
  • we will attend 70% of all road traffic accidents within 10 minutes
  • We will receive 90% of our emergency calls and mobilise resources within 90 seconds.

These are measured through quarterly performance reports which are published in the performance section.

Support Services:

  • all administration telephone calls received by Headquarters' reception team will be answered within 15 seconds
  • we will acknowledge receipt of all correspondence and e-mails within 5 working days of receipt and respond fully within 10 working days

Complaints:

Our Promise:

In seeking to achieve excellence in customer care we aim to ensure that:

  • our staff are welcoming, polite, courteous and helpful
  • all our staff wear identity badges,
  • we respect your right to privacy, confidentiality and safety,
  • we treat everyone fairly and equitably, respecting individual needs,
  • we use clear language and not jargon,
  • we communicate effectively and respectfully with all members of our community,
  • our staff are regularly trained and developed,
  • we regularly seek the views of Service users, and
  • our standards, targets and performance plans are widely published.

Our staff development and appraisal processes seek to ensure that the appropriate values and behaviours are demonstrated by all personnel in order to meet the above aims. We monitor this through the 'After the Incident' survey and 'Community Fire Safety' surveys.

If you have any feedback relating to any of the above, suggestions on how to make our services more accessible for all members of the communities we serve please complete the Comments, Compliments & Suggestions Form or contact Headquarters reception by Telephone: 0345 305 8383 or Email: ServiceHQ@ddfire.gov.uk or by writing to us at the address below:

County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service
Belmont Business Park
Durham, DH1 1TW
 

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