Source: https://bucksfire.gov.uk/contact-us/making-general-request-information/responses-information-requests-201718/
Timestamp: 2019-05-26 14:19:17
Document Index: 275248198

Matched Legal Cases: ['ART-2', 'art 1', 'art 2', 'art 3', 'art 2', 'art 3']

BFRS disclosure log 2017/18
BFRS DISCLOSURE LOG 2017/2018
Listed below are the requests we have responded to under the Freedom Of Information Act 2000. These requests have been received between 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018.
I refer to the above incident and attach some photographs of the location xxxx (redacted to remove personally identifiable information). One of the vehicles is seen in the photographs, but I do not have any contact details for the driver of this vehicle or the other vehicle involved. Would you be able to provide the names and addresses of the drivers involved, if these were recorded?
This information is not recorded on Authority systems.
Could you provide me with a list of domestic properties in Aylesbury Vale that BMKFRS are preventing occupation for any reason.
This request was dealt with outside of the Freedom of Information Act.
I would like information about recorded incidents of fire service call-outs related to electronic cigarettes, or vaping, in 2018 (to date), 2017, 2016 and 2015.
urther to your request for information about electronic cigarettes I can confirm that vaping and electronic cigarette callouts are currently not recorded as their own separate category and are included under the general category of smoking itself. Although we don't record this now, this is something that we are looking at implementing into our systems for future.
1. The total value of the courier service contracts that were outsourced?
2. The name of your primary and any secondary Courier supplier
3. The value of your primary supplier contract, its expiry date and the services they provide (e.g. same day/next-day/overnight)
4. The value of your secondary supplier's contract, its expiry date and the and services they provide (e.g. same day/next-day/overnight)
5. The total cost of the courier services that were managed in-house?
6. The number of staff employed in managing those contracts
8. The name and email of the person responsible for the procurement/management of these services?
7. The number of vehicles owned or leased to meet the in-house courier requirement
2. PDX Logistics
3. £200, no expiry date as not under contract and no requirement to do so. Next Day Delivery
5. We do not have a mechanism for costing this as this forms part of the role of all of the stores team. Therefore this information is not held.
8. We do not routinely release the names and contact details of our employees other than Directors and other public – facing roles. The details of the relevant Director (Finance and Assets) are available on our website. Alternatively please ring our Reception.
How many complaints of sexual harassment; generalized harassment (any harassment that does not have sexual element to it) have been against fire fighters in your area in the last 3 years by other fire fighters either operational or non-operational.
Fire Fighters Operational
Fire Fighters Non Operational
Any other Fire service Staff
Please provide the information as to the total number of allegations regardless as to whether they were proved or not proved, I seek only the number of allegations by 3 years from 21.03.2015 to 21.03.2018.
Further to your request for information about harassment cases, there has only been one case in the last 3 years. which was general harassment of an operational employee to another operational employee.
1, ICT structure
2, Lead ICT team member (the person responsible for making decisions with regards to your IT services, IT asset management and IT data destruction). Please provide me with a full name, job title, contact number and email address
3, Are you currently under any contract or agreement for your current IT asset management and data destruction requirements and if so who is it with?
Further to your request for information about the ICT structure please note our response below:
Disclosure Log - response to request 1505.pdf
1, (above)
Julian Parsons (please see organisational chart attached).
IT Asset management – Under contract with Red Kite
Data destruction – Ad hoc as required no contract in place with Dynamic Asset Recovery.
a. The total number of confidentiality clauses agreed in severance deals or agreements for staff per year from 2015-2017 inclusive.
b. The total number of severance deals or agreements agreed per year from 2015-2017 (inclusive) that included confidentiality clauses for staff who had made an allegation of sexual assault or sexual harassment against another member of staff.
c. The total amount of financial compensation paid to former employees where confidentiality clauses were included as part of severance deals or agreements from 2015-2017 inclusive.
d. The total amount of financial compensation paid to former employees where confidentiality clauses were included as part of severance deals or agreements and where that person had made an allegation of sexual assault or sexual harassment against another member of staff from 2015-2017 inclusive.
Please provide individual figures for all parts of the request. Please note 'former employees' relates to those who left the organisation at the point of the severance agreement but may now be back working at the organisation. Please do not preclude these people from the response if it is known they have rejoined.
Between 2015 – 2017 (inclusive)
c)£329,113
X2 of the 24 were at no cost. The majority were Control related.
I wondered if you could provide any reports available from visits to inspect premises during the last three years.
Information provided – no longer current.
3. Do you adhere to the Equality Challenge Unit’s Athena SWAN Charter?
5. List any specific initiatives in place during the selection and recruitment process to attract females to the organisation, both to an operational. Please explain.
7. What percentage of the workforce are female in the following categories of managerial roles:
1. As at 1/4/2018 – 4.4 per cent
2. 2012/13 – 2.3 per cent
2013/14 – 2.4 per cent
2014/15 – 2.7 per cent
2015/16 – 2.8 per cent
2016/17 – 3.5 per cent
In 2016/17 the female firefighter headcount increased by three followed by a further one female employee in 2017/18.
Further statistics can be found in our Gender Pay Gap report which has been published on our website: http://bucksfire.gov.uk/ (under key documents –search for gender pay gap report).
In addition, BFRS are supporting a number of firefighters employed by an Apprenticeship Training Agency. A few of the apprentices are approaching the end of their apprenticeship and will transfer to our employment upon completion, two of whom are female. A further three female apprentices have begun training and should become fully competent in 2019/20.
3. No. Our current focus is on following national guidelines such as the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Equality Framework for Fire and Rescue Services.
You may wish to refer to the following documents which provide further information on improvement strategies.
Equality & Diversity Objectives 2016-20 (Public Sector Equality Duty) file:///N:/Human%20Resources/SERVICES/HR%20Reporting/READING/ITEM_15_ED_Cover_Paper_FA_Annex_and_Appendices.pdf
National Fire and Rescue People Strategy 2017/2022 https://www.nationalfirechiefs.org.uk/write/MediaUploads/NFCC%20meetings/April%202017/223_Item_01-09a_National_People_Strategy_2017-2022.pdf
National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services – Inclusive Fire Service Group – improvement strategy
https://www.fbu.org.uk/circular/2017hoc0286ad/njc817-–-inclusive-fire-service-group-–-improvement-strategies
4. We are following the LGA’s Fire Vision 2024 which “…calls for 30 per cent of new recruits to be women by the middle of the next decade.”
https://www.local.gov.uk/about/news/lga-unveils-vision-fire-and-rescue-services-focus-workforce
Following publication of the Gender Pay Gap report, further analysis will be done by obtaining comparison data. Once the analysis has taken place, further actions will be agreed.
5.Holding familiarisation days where candidates can come along and gain an understanding of the role and the requirements
Positive action – a number of advertisements placed on Facebook targeting women in particular
Positive action – personal contact/support from a female operational firefighter (Resourcing Officer)
Fitness – where females have either previously failed the practical role-related tests, or attended a familiarisation day and struggled with the tests. Personal fitness plans have been issued with support from local stations to improve their fitness to reapply for future recruitment intakes
In 2016 the first tranche of Firefighter Apprentices was introduced into BFRS.
BFRS is the first Fire and Rescue Service to join the Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network (ADCN). A paper was submitted to the Fire Authority in February 2018 which outlines our pledge. Item 12 P183
file:///N:/Human%20Resources/SERVICES/HR%20Reporting/READING/FIRE_AUTHORITY_AGENDA_AND_REPORTS_140218-min.pdf
June 2017 CFA meeting – papers Item 17 P123 The Authority’s People Strategy 2016 to 2010 Annual Update
http://bucksfire.gov.uk/files/3614/9563/2194/small_FIRE_AUTHORITY_AGENDA_AND_REPORTS_7_JUNE_2017.pdf
6. We share learning through collaboration with other Fire and Rescue Services and work with external agencies, such as the National Apprenticeships Service.
Please also refer to the response to Question 9.
Percentage of management percentage of total workforce
Supervisory 15.44 per cent 4.65 per cent
Middle Management 20 per cent 1.99 per cent
Senior Management 27.27 per cent 0.66 per cent
8. It is our intention to determine targets following the steps outlined in the response to Question 9. (From 2019)
9. Focus groups containing representative female participants to identify any barriers to career development within the organisation for females, particularly for those who are operational.
Consideration to be given to multi entry schemes into the organisation, whilst simultaneously providing opportunities for our existing employees to progress.
Reviewing flexible working options for employees
10. We already have flexible working practices in place which are reviewed regularly and work is already underway to develop these further. We offer a variety of flexible contracts and job sharing options to employees. We also align to the national shift pattern.
11. Refer to the Inclusive Fire Service Group’s inclusive strategy improvement and recommendations document.
Work has already been carried out on improving diversity across the organisation. Our initial focus was on age. The introduction of apprentices has lowered the average age of our operational staff and this work also forms part of our workforce and succession planning.
Focus is now on improving our female and BAME ratios across the organisation.
ED&I working group made up of staff from across the organisation who identify and propose ways to improve inclusion and champion and organisational positive culture
Membership of ADCN and pledge made to achieve this
Birthday forums
12. We monitor and review our practices regularly and make improvements where needed.
Reporting on data for applications, particularly looking at where people were unsuccessful
Questionnaire for those that have been unsuccessful, asking for feedback
Monitoring of case management and absence levels through a performance board
1) I have been compiling a study of the number of domestic battery powered smoke alarms that were fitted by the brigade authorities and the number that failed in the same year since 2014. Statistics received from that period had shown a failure of smoke alarms fitted by brigade authorities at approximately 10%. Would it be possible for your brigades to once again provide the relative information under the freedom of information Act 2000 to the questions below, to enable this study to be updated please.
2)The number of battery powered smoke alarms have your brigade fitted in the years Jan 2016-2017 / 2017-2018.
3) The number of battery powered smoke alarms were returned faulty that were fitted in those years.
4) The type of alarms your brigade are fitting ie: 10 years alarms or replacement battery alarms
5) Have you a dedicated team to install the smoke alarms or your fire crews when they carry out Home Safety Checks.
1) Our records on faulty alarms that have replaced for us on the Fit and Forget Service does not state when the alarm was actually fitted.
2)Between 01-01-16 – 31-01-17 5244 alarms were fitted; and between 01-01-17 – 31-01-18 4624 alarms were fitted.
3) As stated, our records on faulty alarms that have replaced for us on the Fit and Forget Service does not state when the alarm was actually fitted.
4) 10 year battery alarms – if needed.
5) We use fire crews and Community Safety Co-ordinators when carrying out Home Fire Risk Checks.
The number of callouts where obese people had to be rescued from their homes by firefighters between 2013 and 2017 broken down by district area and showing the year-by-year statistics.
District 2015 2016 2017 Grand Total
Aylesbury 0 3 2 5
Chilterns 0 1 0 1
Milton Keynes 2 3 5 10
South Bucks 1 3 2 6
Wycombe 2 4 2 8
Grand Total 5 14 11 30
Data from pre-2015 for this incident type was not collected so we have only been able to provide data from 2015-2017.
1) Do you have a specialist dedicated Fire Investigation Team.
2) If you have answered no to the previous question what other arrangements are in place for the investigation of fires.
3) Approximately what is your budget allocation for Fire Investigation (including salaries).
1) No we do not have a dedicated team.
2) Smaller and less complicated fires are investigated to gather data for the incident recording system ‘IRS’. For investigations requiring a more in depth investigation or that the investigation requires a report this is carried out by Level 2 flexi duty officers – Station Commanders who undertake other roles. If a multi-agency investigation is being carried out then this is overseen by a level 3 manager – Group Commander.
3) No dedicated budget for this reference in service however costs are met from the services Protection budget.
We are contacting all Fire brigades with regards to holiday pay for on-call fire fighters (RDS). Could you please advise how the holiday pay for the on-call firefighters is calculated? And when it is paid eg. Monthly or when holiday is taken?
On call firefighter holiday pay is based on a 12 week average, taken from the first day of absence and going back 12 week and is paid in arrears (month after taken).
It would be very helpful for me to contact someone who can answer questions about using and experience of Extinguishing Fognails. I am addressing you with the request to send a contact to a person, preferably an email, who can provide me this information. Please write to me even when you are not using this technology.
In relation to your enquiry; we don’t have any experience of them within BFRS yet but we are looking at the prospect of considering them in the future.
As an FOI request, please could you tell me these numbers relating to your pension scheme for the last year (2016/17)
- the number of people in your scheme who are receiving an annual pension of £100,000 or more
- the number of people in your scheme who are receiving an annual pension of £50,000 or more.
- the number of people in your scheme who are receiving an annual pension of £26,500 or more. (£26,500 being the national average wage).
Further to your request for information about pensions in payment for the last year (2016/17). The payments were as follows:
FireFighters pension schemes:
Over £100k - none
Between £50k and £100k - 6
Between £26.5k and £50k - 54
Between £50k and £100k - none
Between £26.5k and £50k – none
The information that I require relates to a specific telephone maintenance contract.
Maintenance for telephone systems (maintained in-house)
2. Hardware Brand: The primary hardware brand of the organisation’s telephone system
I can confirm that our telephones, switchboards & PBX’s are not under support contracts but are maintained in house. We will shortly be moving to a Lync / skype for business solution delivered through Buckinghamshire County Council contract from Updata (Capita).
1. 450 however the majority of our users are working a 4 shift system 24 x 7 x 365
2. Inter-Tel / Mitel
3. Some voice mail, otherwise, just the basic telephony provision
4. Jarvis Osborne josborne@bucksfire.gov.uk 01296 744620
I have been researching my family history - would be possible for you to answer a few questions, regarding the fire station at Bellingdon Road in Chesham. Does the fire station occupy 197 and 198 Bellingdon road and do you know when the fire station was built? Please provide location details if applicable.
I understand that the station was opened in November 1994 but we have no information as to whether the station occupies the original 197 and 198 Bellingdon Road.
Please could you provide the following details for the financial years 2016/17, 2015/16, 2014/15. Please provide the information separately for each incident, for questions two, three and four.
1) The number of times staff were called out to rescue an animal(s) for each year. For each incident could you provide the following;
2) The cost of responding to each incident for the Fire Brigade.
3) The animal that was rescued in each incident (e.g. a cat, bird, cow, dog etc).
4) Why the animal had to be rescued in each incident.
Further to your request for information about animal rescues, please see:
Disclosure Log - response to request 1491.xlsx
This has been redacted to remove the addresses, Officer in Charge and appliance details.
1. Count of Incidents in relation to question 1:
Tax Year 14/15 - 58
Tax Year 15/16 - 49
Tax Year 16/17 - 55
Charges for services are not broken down per-incident but further information about “special service” charges can be found on our website. I have discussed this with our Finance Department. Within the Statement of Accounts there is some further breakdown of the figures in Note 1 (page 42) although it is will not meet the level of granularity you require to identify the cost of animal rescue as we don’t hold that information for internal reporting purposes.
Enclosed within Spreadsheet within the column 'Animal'.
Apologies, we don't have this detail
This request concerns information about the number of deaths and serious injuries in relation to the use of paraffin-based emollients from January 2010 – January 2018. It is for a follow-up report, based on a BBC 5 Live Investigation in March 2017 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39308748)
1) The number of fatal incidents linked to the use of paraffin-based emollients (for example – but not exclusive to, Cetraben, E45, Diprobase, Epaderm) from January 2010 – January 2018
2) For each incident, the age of the victim
3) The number of serious injuries linked to the use of paraffin-based emollients (for example – but not exclusive to, Cetraben, E45, Diprobase, Epaderm) from January 2010 – January 2018
4) For each incident, the age of the victim.
I can confirm that following a search of our records, we have found no record of any serious injuries or fatalities where reference is made to paraffin-based emollients being present or impacting on / resulting in injuries.
How many fire in Milton Keynes housing stock have resulted in a death or serious injury.
We have run a query to find the number of fires in council properties in MK. We only started recording this information in May 2015.
2015 (From May) - 32
It has come to public notice that, Chief Fire Officers and other Officers were invited to an event on 3/4 October 2017. The invitation included the following:
* did the Chief Fire Officer and/or other Officers attend the above Events?
* how many officers attended each of the above (a-d) aspects of the above funded event?
* was the above hospitality accepted and declared in accordance with the FRA financial regulations?
* what was the value of hospitality accepted of each of the above (a-d) aspects of the event?
I can confirm that the Chief Fire Officer and/or other Officers did not attend the PBI Events therefore questions 2, 3 and 4 are not applicable.
As to question 5, offers of hospitality, please find attached the code of conduct for employees of the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority.
Disclosure Log - response to request 1488.xlsx.docx
Disclosure Log - response to request 1487.xlsx
We I have looked through all search options within our Incident Recording System but this information is not held. – This is not about the information exceeding the cost of compliance. We do not set out to capture this information and have no fields for doing so. Whilst I recognise that we have a duty to assist, I do not believe that I can do so as I cannot identify any way that your request could be refined in a way.
Disclosure Log - response to request 1485.docx
Please find attached table of Facebook and Twitter accounts.
The Authority does not advertise or spend any money on Google or Twitter or rely on Google for any services.
1. Whether your fire service has any plans to establish or move any of its support, administrative and back-office functions to new premises or to modify or refurbish existing premises in the coming five years.
2. Whether, as part of an estates strategy, your service has plans to co-locate with any of the following services: Central Government, Local Government (including district or county), Other Fire & Rescue services, Police, Ambulance services, NHS.
3. Any further information you have regarding the timescale, floorplan size, cost of the project and staff numbers involved (full time-equivalents). For your own convenience, if your service holds any business plan or strategy documents available for public release on these topics that would more easily answer my questions, I would be happy for you to forward to me the relevant files.
Dealt with outside of Freedom of Information.
Further to your request for information about electric vehicle fires:
Q1: Operational crews have access to an eLearning package that relates specifically to hybrid vehicles. The package focuses on key aspects, such as how to identify a hybrid vehicle, the hazards posed and operational considerations. The learning is included within the ongoing maintenance of competence for our front-line staff, therefore the time devoted toward this particular subject can vary.
Q2: Please find attached training materials for hybrid vehicles. May I ask you not to reuse this as a training package as it is copyright material.
Q3: No additional operational equipment has been specifically purchased to tackle electric or hybrid vehicle fires. However a recent decision was taken to increase the pairs of insulated electrical gloves carried on our appliances.This is to ensure an adequate number of these types of glove are available, whenever there is a need to touch any hybrid components, especially when isolating the high-voltage system.
1. a) The total number of current vacancies for retained (part-time) personnel for your stations.
2. a) The current number of vacancies for full time (wholetime) personnel in your area for stations. Please detail which station.
3. On how many occasions, has a fire appliance been unavailable due to insufficient crewing levels? For each occasion, please provide the date, length of time the appliance was unavailable, type of appliance and the station it is based at.
We have assessed that it would take approximately 24 hours to locate the information regarding whole-time employees and appliances which is held in multiple files. Therefore the information is exempt under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as the cost of compliance exceeds the appropriate limit. The appropriate limit for Fire Authorities is 18 hours (the prescribed formula is one person @ £25.00 per hour to a maximum of £450.00). However, Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority recognise it has a duty to assist (section 16 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000) and is able to collate this information for “on-call” employees.
Please advise if the information regarding on-call employees will be of assistance to you or if there is other information that you believe we can assist you with. If you have any queries about this email please contact me quoting reference 1482.
Q1. Please could you confirm the % of time during the 2017 calendar year that each of your appliances crewed by On Call/Retained Firefighters have been available. This should only include time where the appliance has been 'fully' available to respond to any type of emergency incident with a full crew. If appliances are permitted to be available with deficient crews to respond in a restricted capacity this time should not be included. If possible this should be broken down by each month of the year.
Q2. Please could you confirm if your FRS has any arrangements in place to support the availability of on call appliances with wholetime personnel? For example a group of dedicated personnel to who are used to strategically cover deficiencies during weekday daytimes or the use of HQ staff or excess riders on wholetime stations to complete outstaffing at on call stations.
Q3. Where a dedicated establishment exists in this capacity please provide details of the number (FTE) and role of such personnel and a brief overview of their function, responsibilities and ways of working (i.e. who makes a decision on their deployment; Fire Control or an other area of the service).
Disclosure Log - response to request 1481.docx
The Service supports the availability of on-call appliances in several ways:
Use of staff that have signed up to work additional shifts ( ops-pool ). Currently a total of 167 staff both whole time & on-call are on the list, to self-populate their own availability.
Use of the flexi firefighters (there are currently 12 of these). Staff who work a flexible shift pattern covering days both weekday & weekends. Can be utilised to cover any appliance anywhere in county.
If the global crewing figure is high and allows movement, then whole-time crew members that are not required for standby can be utilised to provide availability support for the on call appliance at their station or one in close proximity.
The decision on how best to support on-call availability is made by the Resource Management Team (based at the Bucks HQ) in conjunction with the Duty Officer. This information is shared with Thames Valley Fire Control through the crewing availability software system.
Network Provider(s) -
1. Please provide me with the network provider name.
2. £47,500
4. 24 months with option to extend for up to an additional 24 months
6. 14/01/2019
7. 01/09/2018
8. In the main, we do not release information about our employees. The person responsible for ICT is Julian Parsons details can be found on our website.
Disclosure Log - response to request 1479.xlsx
Further to your request for information about ill-health absence, please find attached. – There is a little more information than requested as we have recently provided this in response to a similar request.
You will note that there are no figures for Control employees from 2013. This is because Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes ceased operating a Control Room and shares a Control room with the other Thames Valley Fire and Rescue Services.
Could you kindly provide me with the below information about your organisation:
1.Vivantio ITSM
3.£15,984 incl.
4.Not planned.
Dealt with outside of the Freedom of Information Act.
Which departments in your Fire Brigade/Service use Body Worn Cameras/Videos (BWC/BWV). Please include:
1.Is this part of a pilot programme or has this been adopted on a permanent basis?
2. How many BWC/BWV has your Fire Service/Brigade purchased over the last 3 years?
3. Who is the portfolio lead for the purchase, deployment and maintenance of BWC/BWV in your Fire Brigade/Service?
4. If you do not currently have BWC/BWV, does your Fire Brigade/Service propose to introduce BWC/BWV over the next 2 years?
5. If your Fire Brigade/Service proposes to introduce BWC/BWV over the next two years, which departments will be provided with BWC/BWV.
1 A list of complaints made about employees of the London Fire Brigade regarding sexual abuse, sexual assault, inappropriate behaviour of a sexual nature, sexual harassment, and sexual discrimination.
Data going back to 1 January 2010
The most up-to-date information possible
The gender of each person complaining
A description of what the complaint is about
Details on who the complaint is about - what role they have in the fire brigade
What action was taken in response to the complaint
I would like the data to be supplied in Excel format.
2 I would like to request the following information:
A list of complaints made by employees of the London Fire Brigade about sexual abuse, sexual assault, inappropriate behaviour of a sexual nature, and sexual discrimination Can you please include (if possible):
Details on who the complaint is about (Is the complaint about another employee of the LFB or someone who is not part of the organisation?)
Further to your requests for information about sexual harassment, I can now confirm that we have had no instances of complaints by employees or about employees in the timescale specified.
Please provide a list of all facilities for Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service staff members to make written feedback or suggestions to senior management. As general examples, this answer could include (but would not be limited to) physical feedback systems like suggestion boxes, and electronic resources such as internal intranet forums (including 'rumour mills'), and dedicated feedback email addresses.
If it is not possible to provide any of the information requested due to the request exceeding the cost of compliance limits identified in Section 12, please provide advice and assistance, under your Section 16 obligations, as to how I can refine my request to be included in the scope of the Act.
Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service have a number of forums to facilitate this. For non-work related issues – such as social event notifications, charity fundraisers and non-work-related staff opportunities we have an online “Staff Room” on our intranet, which is sub-divided into sections so that employees can post directly to the message board or to, for example, the fire fighters charity, sports association, history and heritage.
New /draft procedures guidance notes etc are normally subject to consultation and anyone can comment on these during the consultation period or even once the procedures have been approved.
The Chief Fire Officer holds a monthly “birthday forum” so all employees whose birthday occurs in the month is invited to meet with the Chief Fire Officer and discuss any issue that is of interest to them.
The Senior Management Team periodically publish a core brief covering key issues and this is available to all employees via the intranet where a summary explanation of a new issue is included. – More detailed information is also normally available through line management or on our website – where member meeting papers and minutes are published.
A number of teams have regular team briefings / meetings and information arising from these is cascaded through the management structure.
Employees can also raise “Bright ideas / suggestions” through the intranet and these are escalated to relevant managers to consider.
During projects specific project areas are often created on our intranet so that employees can become involved with the Authority plans.
Managers try to schedule periodic one to one meetings with their employees to assist with their development and identify any concerns they may have.
17. Number of sites: Please state the number of sites the WAN covers. Approx. will do.
Disclosure Log - response to request 1473.docx
All callouts to unregistered schools since January 1st 2014. These sites are premises which are not formally registered as a school. Please detail:
a/ the type or nature of the callout (e.g. oven fire etc.),
b/ the month and year the callout occurred,
d/ details of any injuries sustained where known,
e/ and the deployment for the callout (i.e. two fire engines etc.).
Further to your request for information about unregistered schools. We have made inquiries with the fire safety offices and we have not carried out any audits or inspections at these types of premises to date.
I would like to submit an FOI request about the following please:
Does the Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service use the Vision system in the Control Room to assist staff with mobilising fire appliances?
If so, for the years 2015, 2016 and 2017, how many faults with the Vision system have occurred, that affected mobilising a fire appliance? Please could you provide separate data sets for the three years.
For the years 2015, 2016 and 2017, how many times have crews raised a query or debrief, saying that the wrong appliance was sent to an incident as a result of the Vision system. (for example, that the closest available fire engine was not sent, or anything else that went wrong as a result of Vision).
Please could you provide separate data sets for the three years.
Thank-you for your request for information about the mobilising system Vision. Since April 2015 Thames Valley Fire Control Service has provided Control Room services to the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority. Therefore I would ask for your consent to transfer your request to them as that information is not held here.
Clarification requested but not received so closed after three months.
Details of our gas and electricity suppliers can be found on our website specifically here.
The bill for electricity and gas in the last financial year:
Electricity 2016-17
Gas 2016-17
11. WAN Provider- please provide me with the main supplier(s) if there is not information available please can you provide further insight into why?
12. WAN Contract Renewal Date- please provide day, month and year (month and year is also acceptable). If this is a rolling contract please provide me with the rolling date of the contract. If there is more than one supplier please split the renewal dates up into however many suppliers
13. Contract Description: Please can you provide me with a brief description of the contract
14. Number of sites: Pleas state the number of sites the WAN covers. Approx. will do.
15. WAN Annual Average Spend - Annual average spend for each WAN provider. An estimate or average is acceptable.
16. If the following contract is in relation to N3 can you please provide me with details on when the Trust is planning to migrate to the HSCN contract.
17. Internal Contact: please can you send me there full contact details including contact number and email and job title.
Disclosure Log - response to request 1468.xlsx.docx
Recently your brigade has had many changes with new appliances being delivered. I wish to update my album with the information, please could you send me updated fleet list.
Information intended for future publication is exempt under section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
(1)Information is exempt information if he information is held by the public authority with a view to its publication, by the authority or any other person, at some future date (whether determined or not).
Therefore please accept this as a refusal notice as defined in section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
I am trying to understand the number of suppliers the Fire Service purchases from so please can you send me a list of all suppliers you purchase goods or services from and the annual value you bought from them in your last financial year.
Disclosure Log - response to request 1466.xlsx
I request the following information under the FOI act:The number of incidents you have responded to where "YouTube", "You Tube" or "utube" was mentioned on the callout record as part of the incident, in each calendar year from 2013 to 2016 inclusive, broken down by calendar year (I appreciate that 2017 may not have a full calendar year's worth of results, but would appreciate the data year to date).
We have looked through all the mobilising details of text crew receive when mobilised, during the requested period, and found no reference to YouTube in these notes.
I am interested to know what agreements the organisation has around General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance services, replaces the 1995 EU directive (Directive 95/46/EC) and was introduced in May 2016 with full enforcement due in May 2018. If the organisation does have agreement in place, please can you provide me with the information below?
a) Supplier- name of the supplier;
b) Contract Spend - The total annual spend of the agreement;
c) Contract Duration- please provide me with the number of years and any potential extensions on the agreement;
d) Contract Description- Brief description sentence of the service provided under the agreement;
2. When do you plan to go out to market for GDPR;
3. Who within the organisation will be responsible for this agreement?;
(Following clarification of information required) Data Protection services are provided internally and will continue that way unless members decide otherwise. It is likely that an external training provider will be employed to deliver training a broad range of employees whereas more specialist training has been delivered to others.
A: How many domestic emergencies have you responded to in the past year which have been caused by an electrical fire?
B: How many domestic emergencies have you responded to in which a gas leak has been reported?
C: How many domestic emergencies have you responded to that have been caused by a faulty gas appliance?
Question: A: How many domestic emergencies have you responded to in the past year which have been caused by an electrical fire? B: How many domestic emergencies have you responded to in which a gas leak has been reported?
Your answer: 238 16 6
Incident numbers taken from 01-10-2016 > 31-10-2017
2) Please provide a breakdown stating the make and model of the white goods appliance involved in each fire and please also indicate if any loss of life occurred in relation to that fire. I do not require this year by year - just the total amounts of make and models and,
b) deaths for the three year period.
2014/201531
2016/201740
ALLIANCE LAUNDRY SYSTEM LE227AWG3018
white knight CL300 tumble drier
Giabau HS6013LCE
Bush WM 1270 TVE Washing Machine
BOSCH EXXCEL SGS45E68GB/56
Haler washing machine
Hotpoint First edition TDL11
Indisit IWME126
HAIER, HW-C1270TVE-V, CEOH15EOFOOCS9740091
Indesit IWDC 125
Hoover Washing Machine - HP13 - 80
Servis easi logic 1200
indesit IDC85(UK)
AQAURIUS 609190261
Zanussi TC 7102 W
There have been no recorded fire deaths in Buckinghamshire or Milton Keynes related to white goods during the requested time periods.
Would you be able to provide an up to date fleet list of where operational vehicles are assigned?
Information intended for future publication is exempt under section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. (1)Information is exempt information if -
Please disclose the amount paid in compensation in the financial years 2015/16 and 2016/17 for personal injuries to firefighters and civilian staff;
Please disclose in each case whether the claimant was a firefighter or civilian staff member;
I can confirm that in the financial years 2015/16 and 2016/17 for no compensation was paid to employees (either firefighters or support staff).
How many pigeons have you have rescued in the last five years? This number may also include other wild birds such as ravens, pigeons and magpies.
Where have the birds been rescued from?
How much has been spent in total on the rescue of pigeons or other wild birds?
If it is not possible to provide the information requested due to the information exceeding the cost of compliance limits please provide advice and assistance as to how my request could be refined.
Further to your request for information about animal rescues, I can confirm that since January 2013 BFRS have rescued the following birds:
Moor Hens 10
Unknown Bird 13
Between Walls 1
Unknown Location 25
Overflow Lake 1
Sofits 1
Storm Drain 8
Please could you supply details of car fire incidents with the following information for the last 5 years: Date, Time, appliances and callsigns, specialist appliances (and what this is), officers and callsigns, Incident end time, type of incident, location, type of premises i.e. hospital, outcome i.e. fire or secondary fire, vehicle make, vehicle model, vehicle year.
Email address no longer valid so request closed.
1.How many operational fire stations are in your Fire and Rescue Service area? 2. How many fire stations have closed in your Fire and Rescue Service area in the last 10 years? Of these closed stations, how many were situated in rural areas?
3. How many new fire stations have opened in your Fire and Rescue Service area, in the last 10 years? Of these newly opened fire stations, how many are situated in rural areas?
4. How many fire stations in your Fire and Rescue Service area are partially staffed by Retained Firefighters? What proportion of these stations, partially staffed by Retained Firefighters, are situated in rural areas?
5. How many fire stations in your Fire and Rescue Service area are entirely staffed by Retained Firefighters? What proportion of these stations, wholly staffed by Retained Firefighters, are situated in rural areas?
4. Unsure what is meant by “partially” staffed; they are either staffed or not and all of ours are, in some form or another. If they are referring to stations with both WT and OC personnel, then all 6 WT + one DC station have OC units attached to them where they may mix crew.
5. 10 stand alone On-call stations.
1. Between November 2 2016 and October 30 2017 how many fire deaths has your fire service recorded where emollient/paraffin-based cream was listed as a factor?
2. Between November 2 and October 30 2017 how many fire incidents were you called to in which a person was injured but did not die, where emollient/paraffin-based cream was listed as a factor.
Again could you please provide details.
3. Could you please state whether your incident reporting system contains a category specifically for reporting the presence of emollient/paraffin creams?
Since 02/11/16, Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority have had no recorded fire deaths or fire injuries where the presence of emollient/paraffin-based cream has been recorded as a factor. Our incident recording system is based on the core questions and answers provided by the Home Office and does not specifically record emollient/paraffin creams.
Can you tell me average number of call outs you have per night (between 2300 and 0700) from the Gerrard’s Cross Fire Station (at Neal Close, Denham)? (Just look at an average over a time period that is easy for you to evaluate. Can tell me the maximum and minimum numbers too).
Can you also tell me what your policy is regarding the use of sirens when leaving the station overnight? Would you expect sirens to be sounding, or just lit, or do you assess case by case?
Between 1st November 2016 to 31st October 2017 Gerrards Cross were mobilised 80 times between the hours of 23:00 and 07:00 (please note there is an assumption that all of these mobilisations were from the fire station). This is equivalent to a mobilisation roughly every 4.5 days.
The highest number of mobilisations during this period was 3 over a 1 night period. The lowest was 0.
Use of sirens at night, is the driver should use their training and Dynamic Risk Assessment (DRA) to see if the use of tones would benefit other road users to warn of their presence, taken from procedure and term auxiliary means either lights or tones (could be both)
When Emergency Response Drivers (ERD) avail themselves of an exemption, then some form of auxiliary warning equipment must be used in all but the most exceptional circumstances. Remember, these decisions will need to be justified.
Additional factors will need to be considered in order to determine an appropriate assessment of risk which will include:
Is it an emergency response?
Traffic / Pedestrian volume
The above list is not exhaustive but is a guide to some of the issues that an ERD driver will need to consider.
Clarification requested but not received therefore request closed after three calendar months.
2014 - 15 : 491
2015 - 16 : 469
I write in reference to an accident which occurred on 18 November 2016 at East Claydon Substation, East Claydon Road, Winslow, MK18 3NF. We would like to request if you would kindly provide a copy of the Fire Brigades call out transcript and service log for this incident.
1). What UAV capabilities does your service currently have?
2). Are there plans to increase the service’s UAV capabilities in the future?
1) Our present UAV capabilities are two Inspire 1 UAVs with both normal visual and thermal imaging capability.
2) Since the CAA regulations have changed regarding the use of UAVs for blue light activity we are in the process of identifying options should we decide to improve upon our existing capability but as yet we have no decision on this.
Requests for information held in personal record files (PRF's) are treated relatively informally with an employee /ex-employee making a request and either being given access to their PRF or a copy of it. When we receive a request for a broader range of personal information we charge £10.00 and provide a copy either electronically or as a hardcopy.
These records are recorded as SAR and are held for one year following the request being closed. We do maintain a register of these requests but only as far back as 2015/16 during which time we received four such requests. - None of these request was refused.
We do not calculate the cost in responding to SAR's - these may vary from one subject to another.
1449 (Number duplicated)
I would like to find out about insurance cover for firefighters, and am contacting all the fire services in the UK to ask the same questions.
I’d like to ask if your firefighters are covered by the force’s insurance in the event of injury or death while attending a terrorist attack – ie, will they or their family receive compensation ? If not generally available to all firefighters, do you have specialist MTFA teams and do they have this insurance?
Also – in the event of injury while attending an MTFA, meaning they are no longer able to work, would your firefighters or specialist teams receive a full pension?
I can confirm that the Firefighters Compensation Scheme 2006 which makes provision for the payment of pensions, allowances and gratuities to and in respect of persons who die or are permanently disabled as the result of an injury sustained or disease contracted while employed by a fire and rescue authority.
Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority (the Authority) frequently reviews its insurance arrangements for adequacy. However, as to details of insurance coverage and whether the Authority have Marauding Terrorist Firearms Attack (MTFA) specialist teams please accept this as a partial refusal notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
The Authority will Neither Confirm Nor Deny (NCND) whether the information is held under the exemption at section 24(2) - National Security. This is a qualified exemption therefore the Authority has considered whether the public interest in releasing the information outweighs the public interest in refusing to disclose it.
Balance Test - Section 24
Factors against NCND
The public are entitled to know how public funds are spent and confirmation or denial that the Authority holds such information may assist the public in understanding the use of public funds in carrying out their national security obligations, provide reassurance as to the level of capability in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes and may also enhance public confidence in the Fire and Rescue Service. This in turn would add to the accuracy of public awareness and debate whilst providing an insight into the service and enable the public to have a better understanding of effectiveness of the FRS and the use of public resources. It would inform other issues that are currently the subject of public debate in relation to response capabilities and improve the quality and accuracy of public debate.
Factors favouring NCND - Evidence of Harm
The UK continues to face a sustained threat from violent extremists and terrorists and the current UK threat level is set at ‘severe’ and on two recent occasions this has escalated to critical. A number of police services have stated that FOIA releases are monitored by terrorists /criminals therefore to confirm or deny individual FRS’ capability to respond to MTFA could enable those engaged in terrorist /criminal activity to formulate a national picture and identify vulnerabilities which could be exploited and damage national security.
Whilst there is a public interest in the transparency of the use of public funds and the accountability of the Service, there is a stronger public interest in maintaining confidence in the Authority with regard to national security. Therefore the Authority has concluded that the public interest is better served by not disclosing this information.
"How many health and safety incidents have been logged at your organisation in the last two years (2015/16 and 2016/17)?"
Please provide the details of what happened in each incident and what action was taken.
"Health and safety incidents" being defined as an incident which has resulted in someone being injured or nearly injured while at your organisation.
Incident type 2015/16 2016/17
Near miss 18 41
Personal injury 27 46
Vehicle damage 37 44
Equipment damage 23 36
Disclosure Log - response to request 1448.xlsx
In terms of your organisational structure within the Fire Safety Department, where do your trainee ‘Green Book’ Fire Safety Inspectors and fully qualified ‘Green Book’ Fire Safety Inspectors sit and what career progression is available to them?
What is the annual salary for a ‘Green Book’ Fire Safety Inspector both in development and once fully competent in role?
If applicable, what is the annual salary for those roles that a competent ‘Green Book’ Fire Safety Inspector can progress into?
What qualifications and experience does a Fire Safety Inspector require in order to be deemed fully competent in role and how long does this take to achieve?
1) There is currently a review of the structures within the Fire Safety Department. At the moment ‘Green Book’ inspecting officers, whether developing or competent, are line managed by a ‘Grey Book’ Station Commander and they work alongside Grey Book Watch Commanders. The review is looking to create a career path so that any inspecting officer can achieve a management role (irrespective of terms and conditions). Ensuring equal pay is a part of this review.
2) Development £27, 521; Competent £28, 017
3) Currently N/A (subject to current review)
4) To be deemed competent an inspecting officer (grey or green book) must achieve the Level 4 certificate and the Level 4 Diploma aligned to the national competency framework. The competency framework is at the centre of the current review as it is now possible to align roles to those qualifications and not merely on hierarchy and terms and conditions. These qualifications are relatively new; the current teams have all just undertaken them and it has taken approximately a year to achieve. The length of time to achieve competency in the future will be governed by course availability and maintaining business as usual within the teams; we feel 18 months is more realistic in the future.
Please could you provide the following figures, for each year since 2007:
1. How many full time-equivalent Fire Safety Officers have been employed by the fire service in each year?
2. How many on-site inspections were carried out by the fire service in each year?
3. How many enforcement notices were issued by the fire service each year?
4. How many prosecutions were brought by the fire service each year?
We are unable to retrieve any accurate data prior to 2013. Unfortunately our system doesn’t provide job titles as we were only using limited modules and the organisation structure was one of the last we adopted. Therefore please accept this as a partial refusal notice for pre-2013 data as information not held by Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority.
Data from 20010/11 is held on the .GOV website here and additional data can be sourced through the Chief Fire Officers Association here.
Therefore please accept this as a refusal notice as this information is accessible to applicant by other means and for that reason is exempt under sections 21 Information and also under section 22 where information, as yet not available, is intended for future publication.
The information I was able to locate is included here (annotated to show operational and non-operational employees):
The FTE staff who work in our Protection / Fire Safety department are called Inspecting Officers and the numbers of which are detailed below. The Milton Keynes office is additionally supported by a Station Commander (Operational) whose role is ‘Protection Manager Milton Keynes’ and both the Marlow and Aylesbury office are additionally supported by a Station Commander (Operational) whose role is ‘Protection Manager Bucks’. All Inspecting Officers conduct audits of premises to ensure compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, they also carry out consultation work which has been passed through the planning process.
2013 – 8 (2 Operational Watch Commanders & 6 Non Operational members of staff)
2014 – 9 (3 Operational Watch Commanders & 6 Non Operational members of staff)
2015 – 9 (3 Operational Watch Commanders & 6 Non Operational members of staff)
2016 – 8 (2 Operational Watch Commanders & 6 Non Operational members of staff)
2017 – 9 (3 Operational Watch Commanders & 6 Non Operational members of staff)
Additionally we have a ‘Protection and Enforcement Policy Manager’ (Operational Station Commander) based at Headquarters in Aylesbury who manages our Unwanted Fire Signals Officer (Non Operational) and our Water Officer (Non Operational). These two roles are not part of the numbers above as they are not considered true Inspecting Officers, although they do assist from time to time.
Essentially 9 staff are distributed with 3 looking after the Milton Keynes office covering the whole of the Milton Keynes area, 3 looking after the Aylesbury office covering the districts of Aylesbury Vale and Chiltern District and then 3 based at Marlow covering both the High Wycombe and South Bucks District areas.
I am e-mailing to place a request for all information available under the Freedom of Information Act; relating to the Estates & Facilities/Property Maintenance and Projects directorates of your organisation. I would like to request an Organisation chart for all Directors, Managers, and employees within the Estates, Facilities, Maintenance, Property and Projects departments.
We post information about our Senior Management Team on our website here, and here. David Sutherland is the director responsible for Estates, Facilities, Maintenance, Property and [related] Projects departments. We do not put information about other employees in the public domain as they have an expectation of privacy therefore this part of your request is exempt under section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Therefore please accept this as a partial refusal notice.
Does BFRS employ green book Fire Safety Officers within Technical/Business side of Community Safety? Current salary within NJC pay scales? Has it been evaluated? What type of evaluation e.g. Hay?
An Inspecting Officers salary ranges between £27,521 - £36,745. On the NJC spinal column it sits between 30 and 42.
Please could you send me a current fleet list. I know you have some new appliances? Have these been allocated with hand down moves?
This list is for my own personal use as I updated my album of your brigade. Thank you for reading this. Please provide location details if applicable.
Information intended for future publication is exempt under section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. (1)Information is exempt information if—
(a)the information is held by the public authority with a view to its publication, by the authority or any other person, at some future date (whether determined or not).
Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service did not take part in any of these trials therefore the information you require is not held.
I am writing to you regarding the closure of the M1 motorway between junctions 14 and 15 yesterday, Tuesday September 19, due to reports of a suspicious object.
- The results of the chemical analysis conducted on the suspicious object
- A list of items found at the scene
- How many Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue staff and vehicles were involved in the operation
- How much the operation is estimated to have cost Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue
Firefighters assisted Thames Valley Police with their investigation into, and the removal of, a suspicious object containing a corrosive substance found underneath a motorway bridge, M1 southbound between junctions 15 (Northampton) and 14 (Milton Keynes). One appliance and crew from Newport Pagnell, two from Broughton, one from Great Holm, the Environmental Protection Unit from Aylesbury, the tri-service Detection, Identification and Monitoring Unit from Bicester and five officers attended.
I can address this under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 but in the first instance it may be in your interest to contact Thames Valley Police.
I am writing to you in respect of the policy your organisation has in relation to replacement of vehicle tyres.
a) What is the number of vehicles is owned by your organisation (vehicle fleets both directly managed by the organisation or by an external organisation)?
b) What are the types of vehicle owned by your organisation (e.g. car, small delivery van, larger delivery vehicle, 4x4, special purpose vehicle etc.)?
c) Is there a minimum tread depth at which tyres must be replaced? This might be at a tread depth greater than the 1.6mm legal minimum or it might be that drivers are reminded of the legal minimum.
d) If an instruction is not in place, is there advice or guidance given and if so, what is that guidance?
e) If the organisation has vehicles that provide an emergency response and/or have to contend with specific conditions, e.g. sometimes operate off-road, as well as vehicles involved in routine journeys, please provide details if there a variance between the instruction and/or advice given.
f) If some or all of the vehicles used for a work purpose are managed by an external provider, please detail whether the policy on tyre replacement is that of your organisation or something in place from that provider.
g) Please provide details of any related instructions and/or guidance related to tyres - for example (though not exhaustive) how regularly tyre checks (tread, wear, inflation, damage) should happen? whether winter tyres and summer tyres are used during the appropriate seasons? and so on.
h) Please provide details if tyres used on vehicles for a work purpose have to be from an identified list of manufacturers or might be recommended to be from an identified list of manufacturers or whether there is more general guidance, e.g. 'only premium tyres should be fitted' or 'budget tyres are not advised'. Please provide this information covering vehicles that might be directly managed or managed by an external provider or in the circumstance of a private vehicle being used for a work purpose - identifying any variance on the requirement or advice in every instance.
a) Approx. 130
b) Cars. Small, medium and large vans from car derived size up to 7t, fire appliances from 7-26t GVW.
c) Light vehicles: 2-3mm, heavy vehicles: 4mm
d) Instruction given to lease car drivers, appliances monitored by maintenance technicians
e) Assuming this question relates to tyres – no difference in advice
f) Specific agreement for replacement at 3mm (lease cars)
g) Driver checks relating to tyres are – visual inspection daily/at start of every shift, pressures checked weekly. Winter tyres not used.
h) Agreement for leased vehicle tyres to be replaced like for like as originally fitted. Appliances supplied from new with Michelin as preference or other premium brand if Michelin not available. Michelin fitted for all in service replacements.
I am writing to request the following information from your IT Department.
1. Vivantio – Viva Desk
2. £0 initial setup / deployment as it is web based SaS solution. Ongoing costs of £13,000 per annum
3. Procured directly from Vivantio using three quotes, as the value of the contract is within purchasing guidelines for quotes only purchase
4. One year rolling contract renewed in April annually
5. Dave Thexton IT Manager
Please could you let me know how many times in
the fire service has responded to emergency calls made about fireworks being posted through letterboxes at
(i) residential and
(ii) commercial properties.
I can confirm that there were two incidents involving fireworks through letterboxes at residential properties in 2015 and, in 2016, there was one incident at a commercial property and one incident at a residential property.
Please can you tell me how many inspection officers you employ/have employed, and whether they are full time or part time, for every year from 2000 to the present day.
For clarity, inspection officers refer to officers who carry out audits of fire risk assessments of buildings. Please also tell me how many inspection officers in each year since 2000.
We are unable to retrieve any accurate data prior to 2013. Unfortunately our system doesn’t provide job titles as we were only using limited modules and the org structure was one of the last we adopted. Therefore please accept this as a partial refusal notice for pre-2013 data as information not held by Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority.
The FTE staff who work in our Protection/Fire Safety department are called Inspecting Officers and the numbers of which are detailed below. The Milton Keynes office is additionally supported by a Station Commander (Operational) whose role is ‘Protection Manager Milton Keynes’ and both the Marlow and Aylesbury office are additionally supported by a Station Commander (Operational) whose role is ‘Protection Manager Bucks’. All Inspecting Officers conduct audits of premises to ensure compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, they also carry out consultation work which has been passed through the planning process.
Information re an incident at a specific address.
No incident at the address in the period.
Over each of the last 5 financial years, what your average incident response time was to incidents, broken down by type of property (i.e. residential, commercial)
- how many staff have taken sick leave due to work-related stress;
- what proportion of the entire workforce is that;
- how many working hours/days have been lost due to work-related stress?
Disclosure Log - response to request 1434.xlsx
Can you please separately provide me with data for incidents where your fire services have been called out in relation to mobile phones. This would include fires caused by the phones themselves, their batteries or their chargers. For both could you please provide the following information:
Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority has completed its search of its records and have found one fire involving an e-cigarette charger in 2015 and two fires involving mobile phones in 2012, two in 2013 and two in 2015.
Since the 1st of July 2014 How many of your staff firefighters have faced disciplinary action for any form of Misconduct or Gross Misconduct.
Please where possible provide month and year and where possible brief details of the misconduct or gross misconduct and if possible the disposal in each case.
Disclosure Log - Response to request 1432.pdf
Information about the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority’s media team.
Response made outside of the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act.
Please could you tell me the number and type of resources deployed as part of the response to the 2014 winter floods in Marlow. If you also have a plan for flood incidents this would also be gratefully received.
Further to your request for information about the number and type of resources deployed as part of the response to the 2014 winter floods in Marlow. Owing to the flooding in Marlow being under spate conditions a single incident number was used to mobilise to all incident. Below is a list of all the appliances which were added to this incident. Each appliance might have been used multiple times during this one incident.
4X4 Pump 2
Hose Layer 1
Small Fires Unit 1
Specialist Equipment Vehicle 1
Water Carrier Pumping 2
Although we do not have a defined plan for future incidents, please find attached debrief report which may form the basis of a future plan.
Disclosure Log - Response to request 1430.pdf
Under The Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004, I would like to request access to data on fire sprinkler systems in the UK. Currently, we’re working on a statistical analysis report of fire risk management in the UK. Our aim is to understand the likelihood of a fire occurring in commercial buildings and the measures that can be taken to minimise fire risk. The report will only include anonymised data and will not reveal individual or business identity.
We come to the understanding that commercial buildings need to register with their local water supply company when they install a fire sprinkler system.
I’d be grateful if you could provide me with the following data, from 2012 to 2017
Full Address (address and postcode) of buildings that have installed a fire sprinkler system
The Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004 require bodies that do public work that affects ‘the environment to provide any information that impacts the state of human health and safety, conditions of human life, cultural sites and built structures. It also states that the above bodies should interpret ‘any information on’ broadly on the above criteria, and not test whether the information directly mentions the environment or any environmental matter.
We believe that through analysing this data, we would able to gain a better understanding of fire risks in commercial buildings and thereby provide insight concerning safety, as well as conditions of human life and built structures, all of which fall under the remit of EIR 2004.
Disclosure Log - response to request 1429.xlsx
I would like to know how many times including standbys each RDS appliance including those at WDS stations turned out in 2016/2017 regardless of station ground.
Number of Times Mobile
I live in Linfields Little Chalfont and we are having an increasing problem with on street parking. We do see parking on both sides of the road on occasions and would like to understand what is the minimum width you require for access in the case of a fire please? Also, can you confirm that access must be provided to fire hydrants 24x7?
Further to your request for information about street parking and access to fire hydrants, I can confirm that Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service ask that people allow 3 metres for the passage of a fire engine. It is an offence to obstruct a fire hydrant, BUT that offence is only committed if the hydrant is required for emergency purposes. A fire officer can take reasonable steps to move an obstructing vehicles in an emergency situation.
I require the organisation’s to provide me with the following contract information relating to the following corporate software/enterprise applications: 1. Enterprise Resource Planning Software Solution (ERP) -this is the organisation’s main ERP system and may include service support, maintenance and upgrades. 2. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Solution-this is the organisation’s main CRM system and may include service support, maintenance and upgrades. Example of CRM systems the organisation may use could include Microsoft Dynamics, Front Office, Lagan CRM, Firmstep 3. Human Resources (HR) and Payroll Software Solution-this is the organisation’s main HR/payroll system and may include service support, maintenance and upgrades. In some cases the HR contract maybe separate to the payroll contract please provide both types of contracts. Example of HR/Payroll systems the organisation may use could include iTrent, Resourcelink, 4. The organisation’s primary corporate Finance Software Solution-this is the organisation’s main finance system and may include service support, maintenance and upgrades. Example of finance systems the organisation may use could include E-Business suite, Agresso (Unit4), eFinancials, Integra, SAP In some cases you may come across contracts that provides service support maintenance and upgrades separate to the main software contract, please also provide this information in the response following the requested data below. For each of the categories above can you please provide me with the relevant contract information listed below: 1. Software Category: ERP, CRM, HR, Payroll, Finance 2. Software Supplier: Can you please provide me with the
software provider for each contract? 3. Software Brand: Can you please provide me with the actual name of the software. Please do not provide me with the supplier name again please provide me with the actual software name. 4. Contract Description: Please do not just state two to three words can you please provide me detail information about this contract and please state if upgrade, maintenance and support is included.
Please also include any modules included within the contract as this will support the categories you have selected in question 1. 5. Number of Users/Licenses: What is the total number of user/licenses for this contract? 6. Annual Spend: What is the annual average spend for each contract? 7. Contract Duration: What is the duration of the contract please include any available extensions within the contract. 8. Contract Start Date: What is the start date of this contract? Please include month and year of the contract. DD-MM-YY or MM-YY. 9. Contract Expiry: What is the expiry date of this contract? lease include month and year of the contract. DD-MM-YY or MM-YY. 10. Contract Review Date: What is the review date of this contract? Please include month and year of the contract. If this cannot be provide please provide me estimates of when the contract is likely to be reviewed. DD-MM-YY or MM-YY. 11. Contact Details: I require the full contact details of the person within the organisation responsible for this particular software contract (name, job title, email, contact number).
Disclosure Log - response to request 1426.docx
May I ask for a list of all merits awarded for 2017 by the moderation panel.
Further to your request for information about merit awards, please be advised that under section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act this information is exempt as it is other people’s personal information. I don’t know if there is other related information that would be of assistance to you – if so please let me know.
We are looking for fire safety advice for a rental property.
As required by law we provide working long-life smoke alarms on both floors as well as carbon monoxide alarms, which we test at the beginning of each tenancy, and have asked tenants to test them regularly.
We want to ensure that we have fulfilled all our legal requirements as well as doing everything needed to ensure our tenants have their fire risk safety needs met.
We are members of the Resident Landlords Association www.rla.org.uk which have provided some generic advice in the wake of the Grenfell Towers tragedy on fire safety for landlords. https://news.rla.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Fire-safety-helpful-tips-document-V.02-PART-2ROJMD-v3-1.pdf
Having read the RLA document, we then called Buckinghamshire Fire Service today to seek advice on whether and what additional steps we need to take in our rental property (additional to the alarms). I was advised that the Buckinghamshire Fire Service policy is to advise people not to have fire blankets and extinguishers in their homes, nor to install first floor escape windows (with ladders). Rather the advice is, in the event of fire, to stay in a safe place in the home, call the Fire Service and wait for rescue. I would be grateful if you could confirm that this advice is correct, and if there is anything else we need to know as landlords.
(Following this phone call with Buckinghamshire Fire Service, we called RLA, who told us that we should follow the advice of our local authority and fire service.)
I also asked if the Buckinghamshire Fire Service provided a service of coming to rental properties to assess the fire risk and provide advice. I was told that the free home risk assessment only looks at whether there are working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in the property and does not provide other advice. Grateful also for confirmation that I have understood this correctly, or if it is possible to ask the Buckinghamshire Fire Service to come to our rental property and assess if we need to make changes to our property to provide better fire safety for our tenants. If the Fire Service does not provide this service, do landlords of single household rental houses get this type of assessment from elsewhere, and if so, from who?
I was informed by the Buckinghamshire Fire Service about an old leaflet by Alarms 4 Life produced to educate landlords when the law changed in 2015. I found this on the internet: www.cheshirefire.gov.uk/Assets/1/Alarms-4-life-A5.pdf Is this still up to date?
Responded to outside of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Further to your request for information about training please note our response below:
With regards to questions one and two, all figures taken from the budgeted Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for the previous 3 years, plus current year.
Further to your request about rescues, Please find below the information requested. These figures relate specifically to individuals who were rescued and not to individuals who were evacuated by fire service personal.
1) Rescues at fires (with injuries) = 9
2) Rescues at fires (unharmed) = 2 (Q1 + Q2)
3) Total rescues at fires = 11
4) Rescues at non-fire incidents (with injuries) = 245
5) Rescues at other non-fire incidents (unharmed) = 467
6) Total rescues at non-fire incidents = 712 (Q4 + Q5)
7) Total rescues = 723 (Q3 + Q6)
2014-15 = £331,333
(Includes: Staff Training, Water Awareness, USAR, Fire House, First Aid and Driver Training)
2015-16 = £391,765
(Includes: Staff Training, Water Awareness, USAR, Fire Service College, First Aid and Driver Training)
2016-17 = £386,425
2017-18 = £296,570
2014-15 = £19,933
2015-16 = £11,910
2016-17 = £61,435
2017-18 = £8,180
We currently retain the option if required, to utilise the Hydra system at Marlow. However much of our immersive and interactive learning is undertaken at the Fire Service College using their ‘BLUEHAWK’ technology.
I was wondering if you had documents or information regarding your service policies such as user expectation and business expectation?
Clarification sought but no response received after three months therefore request closed.
This is a request for updated information, following on from a request sent to all fire and rescue services last year,
1) Please state the total number of staff who were on long term sick leave, defined as being on leave for 28 or more days, during each of the following financial years.
i) 2016/17
ii) 2017/18 to 26/07/2017
2) Please state the total number of staff who were on long term sick leave due to psychological issues (including stress) during each of the following financial years.
3) Please state the total number of staff who left the employment of your service due to psychological issues (including stress) during each of the following financial years.
1i) 66
1ii) 25
2i) 7
2ii) 1
3i) 1
3ii) 0
For each of the types of server ICT contracts above can you please send me the following data types
2. Contract Type: Please can you provide me with one or more contract types the contract relate to:
We do not have any server support contract
4. Hardware Brand:
5. Operating System / Software (Platform): (Windows, Linux, Unix, Vsphere, AIX, Solaris etc.)
Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 10 Enterprise,
Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter / Standard, Windows Server 2016 Datacenter / Standard
HPE iLo 3 / 4
HPE On Board Administrator
6. Annual Average Spend:
9. Contract Review Date:
We are currently moving to Azure cloud services, which will remove our requirement for physical server going forward
Currently work on to reduce our number of servers and merge a couple of server in to one. This will be more easier as we move to Microsoft Azure
13. Brief Contract Description:
14. Internal Contact:
Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service, Brigade Headquarters, Stocklake, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP20 1BD.
Whilst involved in pursuits or attending emergency incidents where the blue lights have been activated or when attending any incidents.
How many Ambulance Service/Police Service/Fire Service personnel have been involved in accidents in the last 2yrs with the date range being 25 July 2015 until 21.07.2017(inclusive)
Please provide details of the incident and if any persons required hospital treatment
Please confirm weather and insurance claim was made and if so what was the cost of any pay out my the insurance company ( if at all)
Please provide information on a month by months basis.
Locker damaged on verge
Appliance and third party vehicle made contact on roundabout
Q1 Date range to be used 21.07.2014 to 21.07.17
Q2 Total number of FOI requests answered within 20 days
Q3 Total number of FOI requests NOT answered within 20 days
Q4 Total number of recorded breaches of the Freedom of Information Act
Q5 Total number of FOI requests yet to start working on
Further to your request for information about requests for Freedom of Information requests, I must advise you that information about Freedom of Information requests is only held by Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire Authority for the current and previous financial years. Therefore this is a partial refusal notice for information for the period 21 July 2014 to the 31 March 2016 as the information is not held. I can confirm that in the period 1 April 2016 – 21 July 2017 169 requests were received as follows:
Q1 total number of FOI requests received on a month by month basis
9 - January
Q2) 144 (+ 1 review)
Q5) 0, 7 not yet answered
If not, can I find out how many of the above were made by Hotpoint?
Our Incident Recording System only records fridge freezer and does not break it down further than that. Our system records that in 2015 crews attended 4 fires, Beko Freezer, Hotpoint freezer built in, Beko fridge freezer and Unknown.
In 2016 2 fires were attended, both of unknown brand. In 2017 1 fire has been attended so far, the brand has been recorded as John Lewis.
a) Please can you tell me for each financial year since 2000, how many full time equivalent specialist technical fire safety officers (i.e., those whose primary role was in planning, building control support, fire safety inspection or audit roles) the service employed?
b) Can you identify the numbers of staff in each role - where one individual has more than one specialist fire safety role, please allocate that position to the largest role.
c) How many enforcement notices, prohibition notices or other enforcement actions were taken by the service in respect of residential buildings or hotels over 6 storeys high in each of those years, specifying each type of enforcement action undertaken?
d) For each financial year since 2000, what was the total budget for fire prevention measures?
a) The FTE staff who work in our Protection / Fire Safety department are called Inspecting Officers and the numbers of which are detailed below. The Milton Keynes office is additionally supported by a Station Commander whose role is ‘Protection Manager Milton Keynes’ and both the Marlow and Aylesbury office are additionally supported by a Station Commander whose role is ‘Protection Manager Bucks’. All Inspecting Officers conduct audits of premises to ensure compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, they also carry out consultation work which has been passed through the planning process.
Additionally we have a ‘Protection and Enforcement Policy Manager’ based at Headquarters in Aylesbury who manages our Unwanted Fire Signals Officer and our Water Officer. These two roles are not part of the numbers above as they are not considered true Inspecting Officers, although they do assist from time to time.
b) Essentially 9 staff are distributed with 3 looking after the Milton Keynes office covering the whole of the Milton Keynes area, 3 looking after the Aylesbury office covering the districts of Aylesbury Vale and Chiltern District and then 3 based at Marlow covering both the High Wycombe and South Bucks District areas.
c) Access to the public enforcement / prosecution registers can be found at: www.cfoa.org.uk/20782.
The table below details the numbers of alterations, enforcement, prohibitions and prosecutions we have made over the years. Unfortunately because of the systems currently in use we can’t detail whether they were on residential buildings or hotels.
Question / Year
"Alterations Notices" served
"Enforcement Notices" served
"Prohibition Notices" served
“Prosecutions Notices” served
FS7 & 8a-c
d) The word Prevention relates to safety in the home for us and as your questions above have been pointed towards Protection / Fire Safety I have listed the Protection / Fire Safety budget first but have also included the Prevention budget as well.
Unfortunately, our Finance System only goes back to 2003/04 and I am unable to recover budgets before this date. However below are the Total budgets for Protection first then Prevention from Financial year 2003/04 to 2017/18
Protection / Fire Safety Budget (Commercial Compliance)
2003/04 £678,552
2004/05 £779,202
2005/06 £821,468
2006/07 £1,019,544
2007/08 £1,171,248
2008/09 £1,059,959
2009/10 £1,051,640
2010/11 £1,066,257
2011/12 £133,863
2012/13 £145,732
2013/14 £608,985
2014/15 £637,520
2015/16 £578,030
2016/17 £625,190
2017/18 £623,470
Prevention Budget (Domestic Premises)
2003/04 £174,978
2004/05 £309,454
2005/06 £406,407
2006/07 £428,737
2007/08 £701,137
2008/09 £690,405
2009/10 £718,663
2010/11 £728,405
2011/12 £477,677
2012/13 £465,142
2013/14 £336,971
2014/15 £383,725
2015/16 £328,590
2016/17 £326,450
2017/18 £326,860
Figures include – Salaries, Supplies and Services, Third party payments Etc
The FTE staff who work in our Protection / Fire Safety department are called Inspecting Officers and the numbers of which are detailed below. The Milton Keynes office is additionally supported by a Station Commander whose role is ‘Protection Manager Milton Keynes’ and both the Marlow and Aylesbury office are additionally supported by a Station Commander whose role is ‘Protection Manager Bucks’. All Inspecting Officers conduct audits of premises to ensure compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, they also carry out consultation work which has been passed through the planning process.
Q1. How many callouts did your service attend, in each of 2015-16 and 2016-17, on behalf of the ambulance service?
Q2. Income the service received in regards to Co-Responding Callouts
Q3. Please state how many:
a) wholetime and
b) retained firefighters
you had as of the start of the current financial year.
YearNo. Incidents
15-161707
16-171483
Q2. As follows:
2015-16 = £101,095.18
2016-17 = £94,227.29
Q3. a) Wholetime establishment - 250
b) RDS establishment - 110 s of the start of the current financial year.
On the morning of the arson x 2 could you please clarify what the issue was.
1. difficulty in reaching the fire due to obstruction of vehicles
2. had someone parked over the water supply on the verge
Further to your request for information about parking issues at an incident xxxxxx on Saturday 24th June, 4.20am. I have received some feedback from the crew as follows:
There was a slight issue arriving at this incident due to vehicles parked on both sides of the road. There was limited road space between these vehicles which made it difficult, but not impossible, to squeeze through. The vehicle in question was a large, transit type van which had been parked over the fire hydrant.
a. Photocopiers/MFD’s
b. Printers -
a. Photocopiers/MFDs:
1a. Photocopiers/MFD’s – Konica Minolta
1b. Printers - No contract use of small local printers
1c. Print room / reprographics - N/A
2a. Photocopiers/MFD’s – Konica Minolta
2b. Printers - No contract use of small local printers
2c. Print room / reprographics - N/A
3a. Currently out of contract
3c. N/A
4a. 20
4b. 15 (local mainly USB HP desk printers)
4c. N/A
5a. Information not collected
5b. Information not collected
5c. N/A
6a. £22,000
6b. Information not collected
6c. N/A
7a. Framework
7b. CCS
8. SafeQ
9. Included in the SafeQ
11. Free versions of Adobe Acrobat
12.Jarvis Osborne josborne@bucksfire.gov.uk Assistant Procurement Manager
Further to your request for information I can confirm that we do not have any firefighting platforms that reach over 33 metres.
Information about a retirement village.
Advice and guidance can be found in the new guide by Colin Todd which I have also attached.
The hierarchy of storing and charging of scooters can be found in Appendix 5 on pages 276 – 280.
Disclosure Log - response to request 1409.docx
2) For each building, please state the building's name and what it is used for (residential/business etc)
6) Please state whether or not each building is cladded with Aluminium Composite Material (also known as Aluminium Composit Panels)
Further to your request for information about tower blocks, I can confirm that Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire Authority have completed its search of its records and much of the information you have requested is not held.
Please accept this as a partial refusal notice under section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
The attached spreadsheet (a) included the limited information we do hold and I have also attached some guidance notes (b and c) and a link to a Home Office document:
Disclosure Log - response to request 1408_a.xlsx
Disclosure Log - response to request 1408_b - Purpose-built blocks flats.pdf
Disclosure Log - Response to request 1408_c - A Guide to Choosing a Competent Fire Risk Assessor - Version 2 published.._.pdf
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/622114/fires-in-purpose-built-flats-england-april-2009-to-march-2017.pdf
Please see the email below that we circulated to all responsible persons to remind them of the importance of reviewing their fire risk assessment.
Progress of an incident investigation
Referred applicant to Thames Valley Police.
There was a fire risk assessment done on this site on 11th August 2016 which included all pitches. Please would you send me a copy of the report?
Further to your request for information about a risk assessment report, I can confirm that we do not carry out Fire Risk Assessments for any type of business as we are an Enforcing Agency.
We also would not audit this site (which would include looking at their Fire Risk Assessment) as responsibility for fire safety standards on mobile home parks lies with the Local Authority, who in this case is South Bucks District Council. We audit commercial premises, or the common parts leading to domestic dwellings under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 or RRO.
The number of on site inspections of premises carried out by fire service personnel
The number of specialist fire safety inspectors (not fire station firefighters) in post
The numbers of "Alterations Notices" served by the fire authority in respect of major works proposed on any tower block
The number of "Enforcement Notices" served by the fire authority on any tower block
The number of "Prohibition Notices" served on any tower block because the risk to persons from fire was "excessive"
The number of prosecutions of any "Responsible Person" with control of the common parts of the tower block because of the offence of placing relevant persons at risk of death or serious injury from fire. NB the term "at risk" which implies that a fire does not have to occur for the offence to be committed.
Any documents relating to the training of fire inspectors.
Further to your request for information about inspections, I can confirm that Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service (BFRS) do not carry out Fire Risk Assessments (FRA). BFRS do audit commercial premises, or the common areas leading to domestic dwellings under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 or RRO.
Most FRAs are carried out by commercial companies who have been appointed as the Fire Risk Assessor by the Responsible Person.
In the case of Wyatts Covert Residential Park Site, the park owner or landlord who has the tenancy agreement with the person requesting it may be able to either supply a copy of the FRA or at least the ‘Significant Findings’ – this may be part of their tenancy agreement. – Therefore this information is not held by BFRS.
I have attached a spreadsheet with as much information BFRS holds with reference to the balance of your request. – You will note that we do not hold information for the complete period requested.
Disclosure Log - response to request 1405.xlsx
In the wake of the fire at Grenfell Tower, BBC News is collecting data about the number of fires recorded in which cladding contributed to a building fire. In particular, where this cladding was made of Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding or plastic-based insulation products PIR or PUR were a factor in the spread of the fire.
This may involve searching free text sections of your incident reporting system for information.
Please state what type of building was involved in the fire, whether it was commercial or residential and what the height of the building (as far as your recording system records) was. Please provide information for each of the following financial years:
Plastic-based insulation products PIR or PUR
Again, please state what type of building was involved in the fire, whether it was commercial or residential and what the height of the building (as far as your recording system records) was in each case. Please provide information for each of the following financial years:
Further to your request for information about cladding contributing to building fires I have searched through our records and I have been unable to find any incidents which specifically include reference to Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding or plastic-based insulation products PIR or PUR. Therefore this is information not held.
We searched for general references to insulation and cladding and found one incident. The Officer in Charge and he said this was normal fire spread and the cladding did not excessively impact on the spread. This incident was April of this year. The cladding appears to be fake wood plastic cladding.
Part 1 I would like the service to provide me with details of the Retained/On-Call fire appliances that have been off the run over the most recent 12 month period. I would like these details to be broken down into the number of hours per month that an appliance has been unavailable on a station by station basis and also expressed as a percentage figure of the time that the appliances have been off the run. In addition, if possible, to include whether an appliance's lack of availability has been due to a lack of crew or a lack of skills (BA, OiC etc).
Part 2 The number of Wholetime operational staff who also have a Retained/On-Call contract.
Part 3 The number of Retained/On-Call personnel expressed as both a headcount and FTE.
Further to your request for information about on-call availability, I can confirm that, in respect of part one, the percentage of availability of our on-call pumps between July 16 and June 17 (inclusive) was 27.1%. Of a possible 157,680 hours there was 42,744 available. This information applies across all Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service Stations. The information is not being broken down further as the Authority considers this information to be exempt under section 24 (National security) the disclosure of the information in question would, or would be likely to have, a prejudicial effect or identifiable harm if we were to release detailed information of particular areas of vulnerability.
Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority is obliged to consider the public interest in maintaining the exemption and believes that the public interest in safeguarding national security far outweighs the disclosure of the information to promote the openness and transparency. Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority take the safety of the public very seriously and will not knowingly release information that may endanger the public in any way. In accordance with the Act, this letter represents a partial Refusal Notice.
Part 2 - The number of wholetime/operational staff who also have an on call contract:
Part 3 - the number of on call personnel expressed as both a headcount and FTE:
Headcount 139
Full Time Equivalent 103.42
How many full time-equivalent fire safety officers have been employed by the FRS for each FY since 2006/2007? (if figures are not available this far back, I would request data from the earliest year available).
Further to your request for information about fire safety officers, we only hold information from 2013 – therefore information from 2006/07 – 2012 is not held.
As at 1st April the numbers were as follows:
Please could you send me a current fleet list. I see on your web site you have 3 new appliances.
Disclosure Log - response to request 1401.xlsx.xls
No energy Management System – all stand alone.
Q7 Energy Procurement through Inspire Energy on 3 year Call Off Framework agreement (18 months in to three years term)
Q8 Published on website
Q9 Published On website
Q13 Mr Gordon Wylie, Property Manager Contact gwylie”bucksfire.gov.uk or 07808181855 happy to discuss
Q14 We have no Policy at this time.
Further to your request for information, about on-call contracts, whilst the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority have nominal contracts of 75% and 100% contracts, for some years the authority has not restricted ourselves to these two traditional on-call contracts of 75% and 100%. Whilst the majority may well be based on either of those two models, there are a number of other contract terms we offer and use a range of contracted weekly/monthly commitments.
In relation to the other point; there are opportunities which have been routinely explored for on-call staff to engage in prevention activities. As for payment, again this ranges based on the type of activity being undertaken and the contract that is being utilised. Whilst payment is usually at the normal hourly rate there are also occasions where on-call staff are paid at an enhanced rate based on skills and the nature at type of duties.
1. maximum height each of your Aerial Ladder platforms/turntable ladders/hydraulic platforms/combined platform ladder/multistar can reach
2. How many aerial appliances in your brigade?
3. if there any plans to buy new aerials and at what height
Thank-you for your request for information about aerial appliances.
I can confirm that we have two aerial ladders both are 32 metres and we have no plans to buy more at this time.
Has Sir Ken Knight, the Government's former Chief Fire and Rescue Advisor, or an organisation of which he is a senior executive, provided any consultancy services to Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service &/or the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority over the last 3-years, i.e from April 2014 to the current time? If so, can you please confirm details of:
The company name under which the consultancy services in question were provided;
The formal route through which the services were procured;
The number of days of consultancy support provided during the periods: 2014/15 financial year; 2015/16 financial year; 2016/17 financial year; and April 2017-May 2017; and
The quantity of spend during each of the above periods.
Further to your request for information about consultancy services. I can confirm that following a search of our records I have located this information:
Company: Gresham (SMS) Ltd
Procurement: Procured in line with contract standing orders as published here.
Nature of Service: Retention Services for specialist advice
Number of Days: Multiple as on a subscription basis.
Total Spend: £33065.95
£6,389.90 (2014/15)
£15,732.35 (2015/16)
£10,943.70 (2016/17)
The total budget for the Fire Service for each year from FY 2006/2007- FY 2016/2017 or, if that is not possible, starting with the earliest figures available
I would also like to know how much of the annual budget for each year stated was raised through central government funding, and how much was raised through other sources such as council tax.
Further to your request for information about the Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes budget from 2006 – 2017, I am only able to provide you with data from 2007 which can be found here within the Annual Financial Statements. The information will be held in a table within the section titled ‘Explanatory Foreword.’
Is there a map available to the general public showing fire hydrants in Chesham?
Today's tragic fire in London has prompted me to recall the fire in the Howard Estate in Chesham in January 2009 when the lack of fire hydrants left the fire brigade unable to find adequate water. Has this situation been remedied?
I can confirm that Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority holds this information but this information is exempt under section 24(1) of the Act (national security) and is, therefore, being withheld. Section 24 provides that information is exempt from disclosure under Section 1(1)b if it is required for the purposes of safeguarding national security. In this case, it is believed that provision of such detailed information could enable a “map” of the water network to be built and enable the network to be targeted by terrorists to carry out attacks on the water supply infrastructure. Disclosing a list of hydrants would assist in the planning of such an attack as this would show where there are access points to this infrastructure placing the national critical infrastructure – and the people within in it, at risk of harm.
Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority is obliged to consider the public interest in maintaining the exemption and believes that the public interest in safeguarding national security far outweighs the disclosure of the information to promote the openness and transparency. Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority take the safety of the public very seriously and will not knowingly release information that may endanger the public in any way. In accordance with the Act, this letter represents a Refusal Notice.
Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority wish to highlight to you the Information Commissioner’s Office Decision Notice FS50585724 here in which the Commissioner decided that West Midlands Fire Service cited section 24(1) correctly in relation to locations of fire hydrants and so it was not obliged to disclose that information.
Please note that the contact details for all our employees are through the main switchboard and Service Headquarters address. General email enquiries can be made through enquiries@bucksfire.gov.uk. We do not release contact details for our employees other than those published on our website. Fleet Management comes under David Sutherland the Director of Finance and Assets.
I am trying to ascertain whether or not the tender at Thornbury, West Ashland, Milton Keynes for New Build Emergency Centre tendered 16th February 2017 has been awarded yet and if so, are you able to tell me who to?
At this time no contract award has been made and that a second procurement process begun on 9th June 2017. Further information is included in the report to CFA on Wednesday 7th June and can be found on our website.
Under the FOI Act please can you let me know your organsation’s budget for:2016 and 2017. This is the total operating budget for your organisation across all departments etc.
Financial information, including budget information, is available on our website.
I am emailing concerning some details I would like to know about Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire & Rescue Service. Could you please either point me in the right direction of finding the details, or send me the information for the following;
1. Total number of Employees.
Further to your request for information about the number of employees working for Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority the most recent number is 469.
Please could you let me know the names and email addresses for your: Head of Research; Head of Analysis; Head of Intelligence; Head of Performance. If this/these exact job title is not in post at Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service then the closest person to the role who performs statistical or survey analysis would be helpful.
Section 40(2) of the Act provides an exemption from the duty to disclose information where it constitutes someone else’s personal data, as defined in the Data Protection Act section 1(1). The Authority does not routinely provide details of its employees other than its senior management team (see our website here). Therefore this is a refusal notice under section 17 of the Act.
Please could you supply me with a list of all fire hydrants for which you have coverage. I understand that all fire and rescue services have access to a list of hydrant locations. Further to this, I would like to know the following for all fire hydrants in your administrative region:
I can confirm that Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority holds this information but find it to be exempt under section 24(1) of the Act (national security) and is, therefore, being withheld. Section 24 provides that information is exempt from disclosure under Section 1(1)b if it is required for the purposes of safeguarding national security. In this case, it is believed that provision of such detailed information could enable a “map” of the water network to be built and enable the network to be targeted by terrorists to carry out attacks on the water supply infrastructure. Disclosing a list of hydrants would assist in the planning of such an attack as this would show where there are access points to this infrastructure placing the national critical infrastructure – and the people within in it, at risk of harm.
Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority wish to highlight to you the Information Commissioner’s Office Decision Notice FS50585724 ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-taken/decision-notices/2015/1560234/fs_50585724.pdf in which the Commissioner decided that West Midlands Fire Service cited section 24(1) correctly in relation to locations of fire hydrants and so it was not obliged to disclose that information.
Monday 15 May, 12.33am - House severely damaged by fire, Jasmine Crescent, Princes Risborough. One appliance and crew from Princes Risborough, two from High Wycombe, one from Aylesbury and an officer attended. Firefighters used two main jets, two hose reels, four sets of breathing apparatus, a turntable ladder and two thermal imaging cameras. A man is believed to have died in the fire, but his body has not yet been recovered. Firefighters and Thames Valley Police have been working at the scene throughout the day.
Can you give me the time of call for this incident also time the first and second truck arrived at this incident below.
Looking at the times I noticed that the second vehicle went mobile 20 seconds after the first but appeared to take 13 minutes longer to reach the incident.
This is an error in the record which will be corrected.
How many incidents have Bucks and MK Fire responded to which involved them having to rescue a person or persons from a lift so far in 2017?
How many people in total have been rescued from a lift by Bucks and MK Fire so far in 2017?
Since January 2017, crews have attended 56 lift rescues where they released a total of 130 individuals.
Thank you for providing this information. With regards to cost, I have a number of questions. I can see from your accounts your expenditure on ‘Fire and Rescue Operations’ from 2014-2016. Is there any way that this could be broken down further? I am not looking for ‘per incident’, I would just like some sort of annual figure.
From the way the table is structured, I take it £28,635,000 was spent on operations in 2015/16? Just want to make sure I have the right end of the stick.
If you are able to break the financial data down further, is there any way we can get it expressed in calendar not financial years?
Further to your request to further breakdown the incident cost figures I will pass this to our Finance Department. You will appreciate that our accounting practices are based on data that is beneficial to the citizens of Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes and in ensuring that service provision is as cost-effective as possible.
Although I note that in our “Services we Charge For” it does indicate that we only undertake animal rescues following acceptance of a written quotation. However, this would depend on the nature and urgency of the situation.
In response to your request to further breakdown the incident cost figures I have discussed this with our Finance Department. Within the Statement of Accounts there is some further breakdown of the figures in Note 1 (page 42) although it is will not meet the level of granularity you require to identify the cost of animal rescue as we don’t hold that information for internal reporting purposes.
Disclosure Log - response to request 1386.xlsx
Do you have a policy on responding to non-residential automatic fire alarms?
For example, some Services either don’t respond to them at all, don’t respond during the daytime, or charge a fee for call-outs to false alarms.
Procedure for the reduction of Unwanted Fire Signals.pdf
Hotpoint, Indesit, Proline, Swan and Creda (all brands manufactured by Whirlpool) tumble dryers manufactured between April 2004 and October 2015 as a breakdown by month for 2004 to 2017:
The number of fires identified or suspected of being caused by the above appliances.
The resources used in extinguishing these fires (e.g. firefighters, support vehicles, breathing apparatus, fire pump equipment etc.) .
A cost estimate for the resources utilised.
How many incidences of loss of life or injury have been caused by, or suspected to be caused by, tumble dryers as above.
For all tumble dryers (all brands), pleas provide details, as a breakdown by month for 2004 to 20017:
With reference to tumble-dryer fires data from 2004 to 2009. Please find data from our secure archive. As for the data already provided, from the information we hold it is not possible to establish when the tumble dryers were manufactured – therefore this is information not held.
You have also asked for incident data to be broken down based on different manufacturer. From the quality of the data we have relating to make and model I have decided not to separate the data.
Finally you have asked about the estimated costs involved with the resources used. We do not create cost files to this level of granularity – therefore this is information not held. I can only point you to the financial data on our website.
Disclosure Log - response to request 1384.xlsx
Can you give me the time of call for this incident also time the first truck arrived at this incident:
Monday 1 May, 7.18pm - Car fire, junction of Brickhill Street and Portway, Willen Lake, Milton Keynes. One appliance and crew from Woburn attended. Firefighters used two hose reels, two sets of breathing apparatus and a dry powder extinguisher.
Banking Services- contract information relating to the organisation banking services. Audit Services (Financial) – contract relating to internal and external audit services. Accountancy – Contracts relating to TAX advisory services. Card Processing Services This is a contract the organisation may have that relates to the use debit/credit cards used by staff to make payments to suppliers. This also includes procurement cards. Merchant services This is a contract where by people make payments to the organisation via a machine or terminal. This also includes machines that have chip and pin and contact less.
Contract Category: Please see select from the categories provided; Banking Services; Financial Audit Services; Card Processing Services. Existing Supplier Name for each contract. Contract Description: Please do not just state two to three words can you please provide me detail information about this contract and please state if upgrade, maintenance and support is included. Please also include the modules included within the contract.
Annual Average Spend for each contract. Contract Duration: What is the duration of the contract please include any available extensions within the contract. Contract Start Date: What is the start date of this contract? Please include month and year of the contract. DD-MM-YY or MM-YY. Contract Expiry: What is the expiry date of this contract? Please include month and year of the contract. DD-MM-YY or MM-YY. Contract Review Date: What is the review date of this contract? Please include month and year of the contract. If this cannot be provided, please provide me estimates of when the contract is likely to be reviewed. DD-MM-YY or MM-YY.
Contact Details: I require the full contact details of the person within the organisation responsible for this particular contract. Notes: Please provide me with any further information with regards to this contract this could include any contract extension available as well as information on renewals or plans for future tenders.
Further to your request for financial information, please find attached spreadsheet.
- Contact details of our employees, other than our senior management team are not published.
Disclosure Log - response to request 1382.xlsx
Please provide information for the total number of call outs attended by each station in the brigade, regardless of station ground.
I am looking for all call outs per station in the years 2015/2016 and 2016/2017.
If possible, please break down the figures into fires, false alarms and special service calls per station.
Further to your request for information about the number of callouts attended by each station in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes, please find below the two tables with the information requested.
The data provided is based on the same rules defined by the Home Office / IRS reporting structure.
2015 / 2016 Fire Special Service False Alarm Total
125 101 159 385
308 211 350 869
177 149 192 518
381 203 383 967
9 2 7 18
303 210 349 862
93 180 94 367
28 236 27 291
137 98 124 359
326 179 470 975
26 9 26 61
23 11 28 62
457 1412 553 2422
36 62 57 155
157 104 149 410
19 7 11 37
33 10 47 90
17 8 12 371
38 22 28 88
2016 / 2017 Fire Special Service False Alarm Total
107 95 179 381
362 225 378 965
199 154 220 573
287 195 393 875
318 233 392 943
87 193 99 379
14 40 17 71
141 129 190 460
391 267 515 1173
19 6 14 39
439 1195 563 2197
19 24 19 62
143 120 163 426
12 80 5 97
25 7 24 56
23 7 8 38
36 28 38 102
I should grateful if you can kindly provide details of the current vehicles operated.
Please include; registration number; vehicle type and location.
Disclosure Log - response to request 1380.xls
I am tasked with giving a presentation to a xxxx.
I am not specifically covering the Stoke Mandeville Job but would like to mention it and cannot find an awful lot about the incident- in particular I would like to cover the cause.
I can confirm that no detailed information is held as to the cause of the fire, which is recorded on the incident report as “unknown – overheating”.
I’m sorry that the information you are looking for is not held.
During the most recent financial year for which these data are available, could you please tell me the number of pensioners in payment within the public sector pension scheme you administer who were receiving a pension that was greater than the following amounts:
c) £100,000 per year
Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service do not administer any public sector pension scheme as our pension arrangements are outsourced. However the data required is as follows:
a) £24,000 per year = 75
b) £50,000 per year = 6
c) £100,000 per year" = 0
Specifically we would like to know how many
(a) wholetime firefighter
(b) retained firefighter
(c) fire control room
(d) support staff
(e) total staff
there were employed in your Fire and Rescue Service, measured by headcount, on 31 March 2016 and 31 March 2017.
How many people were employed by the fire and rescue service (headcount) in the following roles on 31 March 2016 and 31 March 2017: