County Durham fire service wins top UK iESE honours 2026

Key Points

• County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service (CDDFRS) has been named UK Fire and Rescue Service of the Year at the iESE Public Sector Transformation Awards.
• CDDFRS was also honoured with the prestigious iESE Hall of Fame Award at the same ceremony, recognising sustained excellence in transforming public services.
• The awards, held as part of the annual iESE Public Sector Transformation Awards, celebrate excellence and innovation across the UK public sector.
• Judges commended CDDFRS for its “Outstanding” inspection results, a game‑changing productivity app, an award‑winning apprenticeship programme and extensive community work.
• His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has previously rated CDDFRS as one of the best performing services in the country, including an ‘Outstanding’ grade for protecting the public through fire regulation.
• CDDFRS has been highlighted nationally as a standout modern, forward‑thinking public service that combines strong operational performance with innovation and workforce development.
• Chief Fire Officer Steve Helps said the double honour was “an incredibly proud moment”, paying tribute to the dedication, professionalism and commitment of staff.
• Helps stressed that the awards “belong to every member of our Service and to the communities who support us every step of the way.”
• The iESE Hall of Fame induction is reserved for exceptional organisations that have demonstrated sustained excellence over time in transforming public services.
• CDDFRS’s leadership, including Chief Fire Officer Steve Helps, has overseen a period of innovation that includes digital tools to improve productivity and a strong apprenticeship route into the service.
• The service responds to a broad range of emergencies, including fires, flooding, road traffic collisions, animal rescues and missing‑person searches, and runs extensive prevention work such as home fire safety checks and school visits.
• CDDFRS’s latest recognition reinforces the North East’s reputation for high‑performing emergency services at a time of rising public expectations and financial pressures.
• News outlet ChronicleLive reported that the County Durham‑based emergency service secured two separate honours on what has been described by local leaders as an “exceptional night”.
• ChronicleLive also underlined that the accolades reflect outstanding performance, innovation and impact across prevention, protection and response functions.
• CDDFRS has shared its success across official channels, including its website and social media, emphasising pride in being “once again” named UK Fire and Rescue Service of the Year.
• The recognition follows earlier years in which CDDFRS has been shortlisted and celebrated within the iESE awards ecosystem for its transformation work.
• Sector‑wide, iESE awards have previously highlighted innovation in other fire services, such as Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service’s technology‑driven ‘FireServiceRota’ system, showing the benchmark against which CDDFRS has been judged.

Durham (Britain Today News) March 5, 2026 – County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service has been named the UK’s best fire and rescue service after securing the Fire and Rescue Service of the Year title and induction into the iESE Hall of Fame at a national awards ceremony in London.

How was County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service recognised at the iESE awards?

As reported by ChronicleLive, County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service (CDDFRS) was named UK Fire and Rescue Service of the Year at this year’s iESE Public Sector Transformation Awards, a flagship event celebrating excellence across the public sector. The County Durham‑based service also received the iESE Hall of Fame Award on the same evening, with local coverage describing it as an “exceptional night” for the organisation.

According to the official statement published by CDDFRS, the dual success at the awards has been framed internally as “an exceptional night of national recognition” for the service. The iESE Hall of Fame induction places CDDFRS among a small group of public bodies celebrated for sustained excellence in transforming how services are delivered over a number of years, rather than for a single project alone.

The iESE Public Sector Transformation Awards, run annually by the not‑for‑profit Improvement and Efficiency Social Enterprise (iESE), are regarded within local government and emergency services circles as a respected national benchmark for service transformation. Past recipients of iESE recognition have included other fire and rescue services, such as Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, which previously received a Certificate of Excellence for its ‘FireServiceRota’ innovation, illustrating the high standard required for success.

Why did judges select CDDFRS as UK Fire and Rescue Service of the Year?

In its own announcement, CDDFRS explained that the Fire and Rescue Service of the Year accolade is intended to recognise

“outstanding performance, innovation and impact across prevention, protection and response”.

Judges singled out several specific areas of strength: “Outstanding” inspection results, a “game changing” productivity app, an “award winning” apprenticeship programme and the breadth of work delivered with communities across County Durham and Darlington.

The service’s performance has also been endorsed by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). In a 2025 report, HMICFRS rated CDDFRS as one of the best performing services in England and gave it an ‘Outstanding’ grade for its ability to protect the public through fire regulation, underscoring the inspection results referenced by the iESE judges.

Observers within the sector note that CDDFRS’s combination of operational excellence and innovation has been built over a number of years. The advent of its productivity app, cited by iESE as “game changing”, reflects broader efforts across UK fire and rescue services to harness digital technology to improve deployment, planning and day‑to‑day efficiency.

What did Chief Fire Officer Steve Helps say about the awards?

As reported by ChronicleLive and the CDDFRS official statement, Chief Fire Officer Steve Helps described the recognition as

“an incredibly proud moment for our Service”.

Quoted directly in the CDDFRS release, he said:

“Being named UK Fire and Rescue Service of the Year is a testament to the dedication, professionalism and commitment of our people, who work tirelessly every day to keep our communities safe.”

Before that statement, Helps had already become a prominent figure within the organisation’s leadership, having joined CDDFRS as Deputy Chief Fire Officer in 2020 and taken over as Chief Fire Officer in January 2023, according to a profile on the service’s website. Reflecting on his career in that earlier interview, he said he still starts each day with

“the anticipation of the day ahead not knowing what challenges you will face and the feeling of wanting to make a difference”,

a sentiment that aligns with the tone of his latest awards‑night comments.

In the same awards statement carried by CDDFRS and regional media, Helps went on to emphasise that the recognition extended well beyond senior management.

“To also receive the iESE Hall of Fame Award makes this recognition even more special, as it reflects not just what we’ve achieved this year, but the consistency, culture and values that our teams bring to everything they do,”

he said, adding:

“These awards belong to every member of our Service and to the communities who support us every step of the way.”

What is the iESE Hall of Fame Award and why is it significant?

According to the detailed explanation on the CDDFRS website, the iESE Hall of Fame Award is reserved for

“exceptional organisations that have demonstrated sustained excellence in transforming public services over time”.

This means induction is based on long‑term performance, innovation and impact, rather than a single year’s initiatives or an isolated project.

Sector reporting on iESE’s work indicates that the organisation has, over many years, highlighted transformative projects across UK councils, emergency services and other public bodies. Against that backdrop, CDDFRS’s elevation into the Hall of Fame suggests it is viewed as a model of modern, forward‑thinking public service delivery, combining strong operational results with investment in workforce development and digital innovation.

CDDFRS’s own account of the judges’ feedback underlines this interpretation. The service said iESE judges described it as a

“standout example of modern, forward thinking public service delivery”,

praising its ability to blend strong core performance with innovation and deep community engagement.

How does CDDFRS operate and serve its communities?

HMICFRS’s profile of Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service notes that the service responds to a broad range of emergencies, including fires, flooding, road traffic collisions, animal rescues and searches for missing persons. Alongside emergency response, it also delivers extensive prevention work, such as home fire safety checks and educational visits to schools, and runs cadet schemes at several stations in the area to engage younger residents.

This mix of response, prevention and community outreach aligns closely with the criteria cited by iESE for the Fire and Rescue Service of the Year award. CDDFRS’s own statements stress that its productivity app and apprenticeship programme are part of a wider strategy to modernise how staff work, attract and train new firefighters and support teams, and strengthen ties with the communities they protect.

The service’s geographic focus on County Durham and Darlington means it covers a blend of urban, rural and semi‑rural communities, each with different risk profiles and operational challenges. National inspection reports have previously highlighted the service’s ability to manage these risks effectively, with the 2025 HMICFRS report identifying CDDFRS as one of the best performing services in the country, particularly in relation to protection and regulatory functions.

How has CDDFRS and the local media shared news of the awards?

ChronicleLive, a leading regional news outlet, reported that CDDFRS had been named the best fire service in the UK after winning multiple prestigious national awards, describing the evening as an “exceptional night” for the service. The outlet emphasised that the awards celebrate excellence across the public sector and that CDDFRS had been recognised for its outstanding performance, innovation and impact in prevention, protection and response.

CDDFRS has also publicised the achievement via its own channels, including its official website and social media accounts. In a post shared by the service, staff said they were “absolutely buzzing” to announce that they had “once more” been named UK Fire and Rescue Service of the Year at the iESE Public Sector Transformation Awards, underlining that this was not the first time the service had received the honour.

Ahead of the ceremony, the service had revealed it was a finalist in the awards, using LinkedIn to highlight its shortlisting in the UK Fire and Rescue Service of the Year category. That build‑up has now been followed by messages of congratulations from partner agencies and the public, with CDDFRS portraying the awards as recognition not only for firefighters and staff but for the wider communities that support them.

How does this recognition fit into the wider context of UK fire and rescue innovation?

Within the broader UK landscape, iESE has a track record of highlighting innovative approaches in fire and rescue services. For example, Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service received a Certificate of Excellence from iESE for its ‘FireServiceRota’ scheduling and resource management system, an innovation credited with streamlining processes across operations, fire control, finance and ICT.

By comparison, CDDFRS’s own “game changing” productivity app and its award‑winning apprenticeship programme demonstrate how the North East service has embraced technology and talent development as part of its transformation journey. The fact that iESE judges placed CDDFRS in the Hall of Fame suggests that its blend of digital innovation, workforce development and strong inspection results meets or exceeds the benchmark set by earlier award‑winning initiatives across the sector.

Given ongoing financial pressures and rising service demands faced by fire and rescue authorities across the UK, such examples of innovation and efficiency are closely watched by policymakers and practitioners. CDDFRS’s latest recognition therefore has significance beyond County Durham and Darlington, contributing to a wider national conversation about how emergency services can modernise while maintaining, and in some cases improving, front‑line performance.