Release date: 30 June 2026
West Sussex County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service Scrutiny Committee elected a new Chair and Vice-Chair at their latest meeting held on Friday 19 June.
Cllr Alex Jeffery was elected as the committee’s Chair, and Cllr Louise Potter was subsequently elected as the Vice-Chair. Speaking of the appointment, Cllr Jeffery said: “I am delighted to have been elected to this role.
“West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service (WSFRS) plays a huge part in keeping local communities safe. Through these meetings we will continue to monitor the service’s programmes of work in great detail and use the quarterly performance measures as evidence to ensure the fire and rescue service is being run efficiently and effectively.
“Our focus over the coming year must be on ensuring West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service enters the new Sussex & Brighton Strategic Authority as a high-performing, well-governed and resilient service. Through scrutiny, oversight and constructive challenge, we will do all we can to ensure the service is in the strongest possible position ahead of the transition.
“That will be our shared priority, and I look forward to working with committee colleagues, the service and our partners over the coming year to achieve it."
During the meeting, the committee received an update on the service’s performance in the final quarter of 2025/26. Of the 30 performance measures that WSFRS is benchmarked against, 23 had a green status, five were amber, and two were red.
Figures show that the number of accidental dwelling fires for the year were below the threshold, but there were six casualties in the final quarter, with five recorded at one single incident.
The number of fire safety audits held throughout the year exceeded the target - a total of 1,068 buildings were audited under the Risk Based Inspection Programme. While undertaking these audits, our team of fire safety regulators and have had several significant legal cases taken before the courts.
Quarter 4 saw a 6% improvement in on-call appliance availability. While the service is still operating below its target, as reflected in the national picture, locally we are starting to see the benefits of the on-call improvement project which aims to maximise on-call availability in strategic geographical areas, aligned to community risk.
Members were presented with the service’s latest Statement of Assurance report – an annual document which outlines how West Sussex County Council, and its Fire and Rescue Service, delivered the requirements contained in the National Fire and Rescue Framework and the authority’s Community Risk Management Plan during 2025/2026.
You can watch the meeting back here.
