2023 - Freedom of Information requests

Please can you supply me with the following information?

Registration number: Under GDPR regulations I am not able to provide you with the Registration numbers for these vehicles.

Make and Model of all vehicles currently on your fleet list and all vehicles sold between 14/11/2022 - 05/09/2023

 Vehicles sold between the period 14/11/2022 - 05/09/2023 are:

• 1. Vauxhall Corsa Qty 4

• Land Rover Freelander Qty 3

• Citroen Berlingo Qty 4

• Land Rover Range Rover Qty 1

   

Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you with a notice which a) states that fact, b) specifies the exemption in question and c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies: 

After careful consideration I am able to confirm that the vehicle registration numbers of any vehicles sold are exempt by virtue of Section 40 (2) of the act (as amended by Schedule 19 of the Data Protection Act 2018). 

The information you have requested may directly or indirectly identify an individual and is therefore the personal data of a third party (as defined by the GDPR (a4.1) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (s3.2)). Releasing this personal data would be likely to contravene the first data protection principle (as defined by the GDPR (a5) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (s35)). This is an absolute exemption therefore neither the public interest test nor evidence of harm in disclosure needs to be outlined.

• Please provide data regarding the number of lithium battery related fires you have recorded. Specifically:

- Annual totals for the years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and so far in 2023

- Those annual totals split by the type of lithium device involved (such as e-bike, e-cigarette, e-scooter).

- Those annual totals split by the number of related injuries or fatalities

• Please provide data regarding the number of lithium battery related fires you have recorded. Specifically:

- Annual totals for the years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and so far in 2023

- Those annual totals split by the type of lithium device involved (such as e-bike, e-cigarette, e-scooter).

- Those annual totals split by the number of related injuries or fatalities

 Currently the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Incident Recording System (IRS) has insufficient facilities for the comprehensive recording, and subsequent analysis, of the involvement of lithium batteries at fires attended. Therefore, due to the specific information asked for, we cannot provide the data requested.

My request relates to the number of incidents in which ‘hoarding’ played a part.

 For avoidance of doubt, we are defining hoarding as the accumulation of possessions in one’s home, often to an extreme and impractical degree.

1. In the last 5 years, how many incidents have your Fire and Rescue Service been called out to attend, where hoarding was identified?

 Please break down the data as follows:

1st July 2018 – 30th June 2019

1st July 2019 – 30th June 2020

1st July 2020 – 30th June 2021

1st July 2021 – 30th June 2022

1st July 2022 – 30th June 2023

•  For each year, how many of those incidents led to injury, and how many to deaths? Please state whether the injured/deceased where civilians or firefighters in each instance.

•  For each year, in how many of those incidents was access to the fire or emergency obstructed due to hoarding at the property?

•  Can you also please provide information regarding the number of incidents you have attended for each level of the Clutter Image Ratings? 

Currently the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Incident Recording System (IRS) has insufficient facilities for the comprehensive recording, and subsequent analysis, of the involvement of hoarding at incidents attended. Therefore, due to the specific information asked for, we cannot provide the data requested.

Under the FOI Act 2000, please provide me with the number of fires involving e-scooters and e-bikes in each of 2021 and 2022.   Please provide a breakdown for e-scooters and e-bikes please.

 If also possible within the time constraints, can you provide the number of people injured/killed in such fires.

2021;  X fires involving e-scooters, X fires involving e-bikes + X killed, X injured in fires involving e-scooters, X killed, X injured in fires involving e-bikes.

2022;  X fires involving e-scooters, X fires involving e-bikes + X killed, X injured in fires involving e-scooters, X killed, X injured in fires involving e-bikes.

FOI 1917 data

Thank you for providing information on your entity’s spending at this page: https://www.cheshirefire.gov.uk/your-service/transparency/what-we-spend/

 However, I am currently unable to find information on your expenditure for certain periods of time.

Therefore, I’d like to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act for all of your entity’s Invoice Payments over £500 for the following month:

1. November 2018

The relevant information is on the attachment below:

FOI 1916 -data

Would you be able to provide me with the following information for your fire fleet please.

1. A list of registration, make, model, VIN number, Bodybuilder job number, Bodybuilder manufacturer,  role, location and vehicle type such as WrL or TL of every vehicle in your fire fleet.

Please refer to our webpage where a complete Fleet list is detailed. Please note we do not give out VIN numbers or body builder job numbers. The on line fleet list will be updated in the near future when the next vehicle relocations have all been completed. All of our appliances are the same we do not have special to role WrL etc.

 2. A list of recently disposed of vehicles.

 Y495PTU Mercedes, DA02 OZX Mercedes, DA02 MZU Mercedes

 3. A list of vehicles awaiting disposal.

Nil

 4. A list of vehicle awaiting to enter service, currently in build/on order and vehicles out to tender.

MX23 AYJ, MX23 AYK & MX23 AYL are about to enter service. We have no vehicles out to tender currently.

The information I require is to do with the organisation’s CCTV maintenance and support contract.  Please can you send me the information stated below:

1.  Supplier of the contract for CCTV maintenance and support

2.  How much does the Org/s spend annually with the supplier? (if multiple suppliers please list the annual spend for each)

3.  What is the renewal date of this contract?

4.  What is the duration of the contract?

5.  What is the review date of this contract? If possible the likely outcome of this review

6. The primary brand of the CCTV equipment. I don’t require the model just the brand. If there is various brands could you please list?

7.  What is the total number of cameras in use/under this contract?

8.  The description of the services provided under this contract. Please state if this contract includes more than just CCTV services.

9.  Contact details of the employee responsible for the contract between the supplier and the organisation.      Can you please provide me with their full contact details

This information is publicly available – it used to be on www.blpd.gov.uk (do not click this as site no longer there)  but that public contract database view has been replaced by a new system from In-Tend – current link to the public contract register can be found at:  In-Tend Electronic Tendering Site - Home (in-tendhost.co.uk)

Select Contracts from the menu and then Contracts Register

Then use the filter and select Cheshire Constabulary or Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service )or you can leave it as ALL)

And if you put “SECURITY MAINTENANCE, SERVICING,REPAIRS AND SMALL WORKS SERVICES” in the search box – you will be able to select the contract and view the details

Please note the contract is the same for Police and Fire, due to implementation of the new In-Tend system – the information on the Police contract list is completed the Fire contract list is still in implementation and will be updated later in September once access to update/amend records is re-instated.

Is there is a CCTV maintenance contract in place   -  Not applicable

If there is no maintenance contract or in-house maintenance in place, is there an ad-hoc agreement?

- Not Applicable

Please may you provide me with answers to my questions:

FOI 1911 data

Over the past 5 years have there been incidents of data loss at Cheshire Fire and Rescue.

By data loss I mean:

-Material copied from police computer systems illegally/hacking

-Material misplaced, lost or incorrectly stored

 Between 1^st August 2018 and 1^st August 2023

 If there has been data loss, please could you detail the date of loss and what happened.

Incidents of Data Loss:

FOI 1909 data

How many times were you called out for bariatric assists / bariatric incident in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 (broken down by year, and, if possible, by month)

FOI 1907 data

Can I please request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act.

1) The number of fires that the service responded to in listed buildings (to include Grade I, Grade II*, Grade II) between January 2018 and August 2023 (or the latest available date).

 2) The names and addresses of the buildings referred to in Q1.

 3) If possible, information on whether each fire referred to in Q1 was considered deliberate.

Please find attached the data requested regarding fires attended by Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service at listed buildings between 1^st January 2018 and 20^th August 2023.

FOI 1905 - data

Please supply me with data relating to fires on balconies on residential buildings in your area, as follows;

 How many fires involving balconies occurred in total between 1st August 2022 and 31st July 2023?

 In the same period, how many fires occurred where balconies where found to have contributed to the spread of the fire across the external walls?

 Please provide data on the causes of any fires that started on balconies in the period (ie; barbecue, discarded cigarette, electrical appliance fault, etc) and please provide the number of occurrences for each cause.

 If your incident recording system does not include "balcony" as a recorded location, could you please perform a search on free text fields in your database for the term, as I have found in the past that this often returns useable data.

Currently the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Incident Recording System (IRS) has insufficient facilities for the comprehensive recording, and subsequent analysis, of the involvement of balconies at fires attended. Therefore, CFRS can only provide information based on a keyword search (‘balcony’). Consequently, the search may not locate all fires involving balconies unless this keyword was recorded on the incident logs.

During period 1st August to 31st July 2023, Total fires = 2

Both incidents involved the careless disposal of smoking materials.

1.    How many wildfires did your fire brigade deal with from 2017 to 2022? Please break down your response by year, size of fire, date, cause and if possible, location.

Please find attached a spreadsheet providing this information. We have provided this based on the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and National Operational Guidance (NOG) definition of a wildfire which includes all incidents which meet the following criteria: 

1. The incident was classified as an outdoor fire and

2. The fire covers at least 1 hectare of damage or

3. At least 4 appliances/resources attended the incident or

4. Length of attendance at the incident was at least 6 hours

FOI 1902 data Q1

2.    Please let me know any new equipment your service has purchased or plans to purchase in the last 5 years to combat wildfires.

Please find attached an equipment list which summarises our assets. This is provided to the Peak District Fire Operations Group. The items highlighted in yellow were purchased during the last five years.

FOI 1902 data Q2

3.    If possible, please let me know the annual cost of dealing with wildfires to your brigade 2017 to 2022. Please break the figure down by each year.

We are unable to provide the specific cost associated with our response to the incidents disclosed in question 1 as we do not record this information. Resources and vehicles which are deployed from Wholetime fire stations are covered by a single budget for all ongoing emergency response and staff at these fire stations, therefore it is not possible to determine which of these funds should be apportioned specifically to these incidents. 

The service allocates an annual budget of £8000 for the replenishment and maintenance of wildfire equipment and PPE. 

The service allocates an annual budget of £3100 for annual training in relation to wildfire incidents. 

The service made an additional £130,000 investment in the procurement of additional wildfire equipment in 2021/22. This includes all of the items marked in yellow on the attachment to question 1, with the exception of the Water Bowser based at Ellesmere Port. This was procured via a separate project as its use it not solely for wildfire incidents.

How many call outs to homes made by the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service were related to injuries or problems with stairlifts in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021, and (d) 2022?

Currently the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Incident Recording System (IRS) has insufficient facilities for the comprehensive recording, and subsequent analysis, of the involvement of stairlifts at incidents attended. Therefore, CFRS can only provide information based on a keyword search (‘stairlift’, ‘stair lift’). Consequently, the search may not locate all incidents involving stairlifts unless this keyword was recorded on the incident logs.

What course do firefighters complete for their trauma care/casualty care/first aid as operational firefighters? 

CFRS currently complete a 3 day Rescue Trauma And Casualty Care (RTACC) course which was written for CFRS. to meet the Immediate Emergency Care standard, by our Medical Director and is accredited by Faculty of Trauma & Critical care, The ATACC group and the Royal College of Surgeons, London.

Is this done in-house or through an external provider? 

This is completed internally (in house) and overseen by our Medical Director and the CFRS Clinical Governance Group.

What is the cost to the service either for certification costs if done in-house, or if done by an external provider, how much has been paid to them for this service in the last 5 years? 

Certification is done through our Medical Director and the Clinical Governance Group, there is no certification cost as this is all internal.

If this training is provided by an external training provider, when is this contract due for renewal/retendering? 

 N/A - all internal

If this training is done by an external provider, when was the current contract/provider appointed? 

N/A

I was wondering if you would be able to release a full list of Callsigns of operational vehicles at stations. I understand a few, such as E28P1 would be Lymm's pump and ES060 is some sort of station manager. I would also like to know what the callsigns would be for a group manager or area manager if they had to tip out to an incident. A bit like how shropshire have done it; https://www.shropshirefire.gov.uk/call-signs 

I was wondering if you would be able to release an inventory list of what is onboard a fire appliance. 

FOI 1899 data

Could I please request data on the following: 

• The total number of domestic fires attended in the most recent one-year period you have available.

• The cause or category of each fire, if possible.

FOI 1898 data

The specific information I am requesting is:  

• The number of fires caused by electric vehicles broken down by each city/town your fire service is responsible for during the last fiscal year (2022/23).

• The type of electric vehicle involved in each fire caused by an electric battery throughout the last fiscal year (2022/23).

 Currently the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Incident Recording System (IRS) has insufficient facilities for the comprehensive recording, and subsequent analysis, of the involvement of electric vehicles at fires attended. Therefore, CFRS can only provide information based on a keyword search (‘electric vehicle’, ‘electric car’, ‘electric vehicle battery’ or ‘electric car battery’). Consequently, the search may not locate all fires involving electric vehicles unless these keywords were recorded on the incident logs.

After a thorough search of our Incident Recording System, no fire incidents were found involving electric vehicles/cars or electric vehicle/car batteries between 1^st April 2022 and 31^st March 2023.

Please can you provide me with your wholetime establishment figures for the following ranks/roles that are filled:

 1. Chief Fire officer

2. Deputy Chief Fire officer

3. Assistant Chief Fire Officer/Assistant Chief Officer 4. Area Managers 5. Group Managers 6. Station Managers 7. Watch Managers 8. Crew Managers 9. Firefighters

 10. Area Managers (Control)

11. Group Managers (Control)

12. Station Managers (Control)

13. Watch Managers (Control)

14. Crew Managers (Control)

15. Firefighters (Control)

FOI 1896 data

For each of the financial years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 to date:

 How many complaints have your Fire and Rescue Service received?  

• Please can this be broken down by who has made the complaint, including by members of the public and by members of your staff.

• Please can this be broken down by who/what the complaint has been made against, including against members of your staff.

• Please can this be broken down by the type of complaint, including sexual harassment/assault.   

• Please can you outline the outcome of the complaint, including whether there was an investigation, whether misconduct by your staff was found, and whether a member of your staff was dismissed.

The information provided below summarises the number of complaints (i.e. concerns raised by members of the public or colleagues) and grievances (i.e. concerns raised internally by colleagues) for the last five financial years as noted in the Freedom of Information request.

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service duty of confidentiality to its employees and members of the public mean it cannot disclose the full details of complaints or grievances, nor any resolutions or sanctions resulting from them. These are not necessarily recorded in the categories outlined in the request.

However, we have endeavoured to provide as much information as we are able to.

FOI 1895 data

1.    The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, came into force on 23 January 2023. Since its implementation, how many up-to-date electronic building plans and information on the design and materials of external walls have you received in relation to high rise buildings in your jurisdiction?

Since the implementation of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 we have received 12 electronic floor plans and 3 electronic building plans. We have received information on the design and materials of external walls for 15 premises. 

2.    How many up-to-date electronic building plans and information on the design and materials of the external wall did you receive in relation to high rise buildings in your jurisdiction in 2022?

 We didn’t receive any electronic building plans or information on the design and materials of the external wall in 2022.

I write to request information from you regarding the statistics surrounding the number of fires in the construction industry and the number of fires, injuries and fatalities caused by hot works in the areas this fire service is responsible for.

• The number of fires in the construction industry (buildings under construction) in 2022/23.

             - One

• The number of fires caused by hot works in the construction industry in 2022/23.

            - One

• The main causes of hot works incidents in the construction industry.

            - The one hot works fire cause was recorded as ‘Negligent use of equipment or appliance (heat                                source)’ and the source of ignition was recorded as ‘Industrial equipment - Welding/Cutting                                   equipment’ on the Incident Recording System

• The number of injuries and fatalities caused by hot work incidents in the construction industry.

             - None

1. Please state how many non-disclosure agreements with former or current staff at your fire brigade have been signed in the following years 2020-2023:

2. Please state how many non-disclosure agreements were signed by female former or current staff in the following years 2020-2023: 

 3. For each year please state the total amount paid out to staff through non-disclosure agreements in the following years 2020-2023: 

FOI 1892 data

1. Please can you advise if you currently supply front line public facing staff within your service a Swabbing Kit for Forensic DNA Analysis to use if they are assaulted (for example spat at, have blood/ bodily fluids thrown at them) by a member of the public/ service user?

CFRS use DNA Transport Swab Collection Kits’ and are standard on all appliances.

2. If you do, please can you provide any information such as policies, procedures or guidance issued to staff relating to the use them?

 Yes. We have an Equipment Order and Service Instruction document for the kits.

3. Please can you provide the number of assaults on staff where they have been spat at or have blood/ bodily fluids thrown at them for the calendar years 2021 and 2022.

There have been no instances of employees being spat at or had bodily fluids thrown at them.

I am looking to retrieve information about your headquarters for our company research. Can you let me know the following with the relevant contact details please:

 - Head of Learning – Carmine Rabhani – Phone: 01606 8687000  carm.rabhani@cheshirefire.gov.uk

- Head of HR – Carmine Rabhani (details as above)

- Head of Procurement – Anita Gibbs - 01606 868700 – anita.gibbs@cheshire.police.uk

- Head count of employees in your organization  = 850

Could you please supply me with the number of fires that have been attended relating to solar / photovoltaic panels from 2010 to date.

Please find below the information requested regarding fires caused by Solar Panels or Photovoltaic Panels from 1^st January 2010 to date.

FOI 1888 data

Could tell me how many house fires or incidents have been caused by non branded phone chargers?

Currently the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Incident Recording System (IRS) has insufficient facilities for the comprehensive recording, and subsequent analysis, of the involvement of fake or non branded phone chargers at fires attended. Therefore, due to the specific information asked for, we cannot provide the data requested.

I am just wondering if the allocations for the latest batch of fire appliances had been confirmed?

 There has been rumours going around for a while of allocation but they are vague and keep changing so I was wondering if we could have the allocations confirmed. I am aware of 3 appliances being built at the minute for Cheshire.

The next appliances will be going into Warrington, Ellesmere Port and Penketh

How many animals/pets the Cheshire fire service has rescued in the last five years?

 Please can you include a breakdown of the figures for each year of the last five years, starting from Jan 2018 to date.

Can you detail (where possible):

 What the animal was

What date the animal was stuck

Where it was stuck

How long it was stuck for

How long it took for you to save the animal

How many crew members were involved?

Please find attached the information requested regarding animal rescues Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service have attended from 1^st January 2018 to date.

FOI 1885 - data

Please be aware that the specific data requested cannot be fully provided. The length of time the animal was stuck and how long it took to save the animal are not available on our Incident Recording System. We have therefore provided the time of the call to the time the incident was stopped.

Please can you respond to this questionnaire.

FOI 1883 - data

• Which finance system/ ERP system, and which version of it, do you currently use?           

      Unit4 (Agresso Business World) Version 7.3

•  What is the expiry date of the current agreement for your finance/ ERP system?      

      Contract for technical support only expires 31/07/24 

• Which HR and Payroll system, and which version of it, do you currently use? 

     Open HR version 9.2.5 

• What is the expiry date of the current agreement for your HR and Payroll system?

February 2024 

• Are you planning on running, or are currently running, a soft market test or procurement/tender process around your finance/ ERP system? If so what and when?

     Nothing planned at this time. 

• Who is the primary contact for your finance/ ERP system?        

      Peter Hayes

Please could you provide me with information with regard to how your organization addressed above, dealt with certain matters during the Covid 19-Pandemic.

 In relation to personnel*, traveling within NON-operation vehicles**:

1. Were personnel prohibited from traveling together in a vehicle at any period during the Covid pandemic?       - Yes

2. If so, during what date period had this prohibition taken effect?

– In line with Government and NFCC guidance and local risk assessment

3. Were personnel permitted to travel together in a vehicle at any period during the Covid pandemic?

- Yes

4. If so, were personnel required to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) while traveling together in a vehicle? - Yes

5. If answer to Q4 is YES, during which date period had the PPE been required?

- In line with Government and / or NFCC guidance

6. What level of PPE*** was specified for occupants traveling together in a vehicle?      - FFP3

7. Was the requirement to wear PPE, mandatory or advisory?     - mandatory

In relation to personnel*, traveling within OPERATIONAL vehicles****:

8. Were employees permitted to travel together in operational-vehicles****, (in particular Fire Engines) at any period during the Covid pandemic?     - Yes

9. If so, were personnel required to wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) while traveling together in a vehicle during any period within the Covid pandemic?      – Yes

10. If answer to Q9 is YES - what level of PPE*** was specified for occupants within ​a vehicle?     - FFP3

11. Was the requirement to wear PPE mandatory or advisory?      - mandatory

12. In relation to Q9 above - during what date period had the PPE requirements been in place?               - In line with Government and/ or NFCC guidance.

My request relates to how many reports of wrongdoing have been made as Whistle blowing (or termed protected disclosure under legislation)

1.  For the year 2020, how many reports of whistle blowing did you receive     - 2

2.  For the year 2021, how many reports of whistle blowing did you receive     - 0

3.  For the year 2022, how many reports of whistle blowing did you receive     - 0

4.  How many serving officers do you currently have ?    - 95                       

Please state the name and email address of:

1 - Your CEO (or similar position if you do not have a role with this exact title)

      Please see our website

2 - Your HR Director (or similar position if you do not have a role with this exact title - this could be Director of People, Head  of HR etc.  I am looking for the person primarily responsible for HR/People/Workforce)

      Please see our website

3 - The person and role responsible for workforce productivity and/or performance

      Each Head of Department is responsible for this within their own department.

4 - The person and role responsible for people/workforce analytics and data

      Our HR Data Analyst is Rosalind Simon Rosalind.simon@cheshirefire.gov.uk

This is an information request relating to Pride Month.    Please include the following information:

1.  Whether any events have been organised for Pride month. If so please provide the date, start and end time, and title/topic of the event

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service has not organised any events of its own for Pride Month, but local crews plan to attend pride events in Northwich on 17 June, and Ellesmere Port, Warrington and Crewe Silver Pride on 24 June as part of their routine community engagement work. It is not possible to provide timings as this will depend on operational demands on the day.

2. Whether any LGBT themed merchandise has been purchased for Pride month. i.e. since the beginning of the 2023/24 financial year. If so please provide me with information on what has been purchased and the cost.

Crews will have a selection of small Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service-branded items such as wristbands and badges that promote the jobs section of our website. These will only be handed out in Ellesmere Port, Northwich and Warrington. They cost £750 and have been funded by fire authority members’ local discretionary budget for campaigns and community engagement.

3. Whether the organisation has sponsored any Pride events. If so which events and please provide details of the nature of the sponsorship (particularly the financial value)

The Service has so far sponsored Chester Pride in August, to the value of £500. Again, this cost has been met from local campaign budgets. In return for the sponsorship, fire and rescue service career opportunities will be promoted in the official pride programme, social media and around the festival site. This is in line with our statutory duty to recruit from diverse communities.  

I understand Cheshire Fire & Rescue has an open transparency policy, and it is for this reason why I am reaching out. Can you kindly provide me with the below information? 

Amount spent in £’s on contractor resource in IT in 2022-2023

Planned spend in £’s on contractor in 2023-2024

Details of IT Director and Senior Management team including contact details

If we are talking about an IT contractor as being someone employed in a specific position rather than paying for the services of a company, then I don’t believe we have employed any for CFRS and we don’t plan to spend any on contractor resources in the next year.

If possible, please can you share information on how many fires have been recorded where one of the below items were involved: 

• A heated hair or beauty tool (for example, hair straighteners, curling wands, hair dryers)

• candles 

If possible, please can you provide the above data split by month, and for the calendar years 2021,2022, and 2023 to date. If this request exceeds the allocated time limit for requests, please prioritise data for 2022 as a whole, followed by 2023 to date.

FOI 1874 data

To ask the fire service how many alterations notices have been issued in the past five years? Please break down per year.

To ask the fire service how many enforcement notices have been issued in the past five years? Please break down per year.

To ask the fire service how many prohibition notices have been issued in the past five years? Please break down per year.

The three questions asked in FOI 1873 have been included in the table provided below:

 These figures have been taken from our internal risk management database.

As per my records, The Access Group payroll  contract has expired. I would like to know whether this contract is still valid or replaced by any other supplier.

 If all the information besides the contract dates are the same, I am happy to just receive an update on the contract dates

There is a new contract in place for this, CPA/SPU/2060F  which can be found by following the instructions below:

This information is publicly available.

This used to be on www.blpd.gov.uk (do not click this as site no longer there) but that public contract database view has been replaced by a new system from In-Tend.  

The current link to the public contract register can be found at:  In-Tend Electronic Tendering Site - Home (in-tendhost.co.uk)

1. Select Contracts from the menu and then Contracts Register

2. Then use the filter and select Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service

3. You can use the search criteria to search for the Contract by Title/Supplier or Date Range

How many fires in your area were caused by electric heaters in each of the months listed ?

 How many deaths were caused by fires caused by electric heaters in each of the months listed?

 What was the age of the deceased in each case?

 The spreadsheet attached has been completed using data available from the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Incident Recording System.

Please be aware that there is no specific ignition source category on our data systems for electric heaters. The information provided is based on the ignition source category of Heating equipment >> Heater/Fire which also includes open fires. I have therefore only included Heater/Fires with a power source of electricity.

FOI 1871 data

I would like the service to provide me with details of the Retained/On-Call fire appliances availability over the most recent 12-month period, stipulating the amount of time these appliances were ‘off the run’ (unavailable) to respond to an emergency.

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 expressed as a percentage figure.

In addition, and if possible, could the reason why the appliances were unavailable be included: i.e., lack of crew; lack of Officer in Charge; lack of driver etc?

Please find enclosed our response to your request as an Appendix to this letter

FOI 1871 -data

Please note we are not available to provide the specific reasons for appliances being unavailable due to limitations in our recording systems.

 For information this information is also published on our website on a quarterly basis, albeit in a slightly different format to that which you have requested. This is located within the agenda reports pack for each Performance and Overview Committee which can be found here.

How many firefighters have died as a result of lithium-ion battery fires between April 2022 - April 2023?

None

How many times have your firefighters come into contact with a vapour cloud?

None

How many fires specifically in recycling centres or scrapyards they you encountered between April 2022 - April 2023 (excluding other waste fires)?

6 in total

How many dogs were part of the fire service for each of the last ten calendar years (2012-2022), broken down by job type. (eg. Fire investigation search dog)

Please list the main breeds used in the totals in question1. Please list the most commonly used breeds first.

How many full time members of staff (trainers, handlers, officers etc) were working in the service’s dog unit for each of the years in the same period?

What was the service’s total budget for each of these years and how much was allocated to the dog unit?

Does the service have its own dog breeding unit?

Further to the above request I can confirm that Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service do not have and have never had and any Fire investigation Dogs.

1. Which departments in your Fire Brigade/Service use Body Worn Cameras/Videos (BWC/BWV) and is this part of a pilot programme or has this been adopted on a permanent basis?

 No operational staff wear BWC/BWV.  Our Corporate Communication and Media Department use handheld cameras

2. How many BWC/BWV has your Fire Service/Brigade purchased over the last 3 years?

No BWC/BWV cameras have been 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?

The purchase request of BWC/BWV would be made by the specific department which would get reviewed by our Finance Department and finally approved by myself as a part of my Research & Development role includes procurement.

4. If you do not currently have BWC/BWV, does your Fire Brigade/Service propose to introduce BWC/BWV, and if so who would be responsible for this?

There are no current plans to introduce or purchase BWC/BWV.  If we were to purchase BWC/BWV it would start off with the department completing a purchase order and I would approve it.

5. What is the process for procuring your BWC/BWV?

There are three main ways of procuring equipment:

a.  < £5,000 - The individual within a department would identify a need for a BWC/BWV and complete a purchase order with a quote from a supplier.  The supplier will need to complete a ‘New Supplier Form’.  The purchase order, quote and new supplier forms are then sent to their specific admin hub who will process the order.  This then gets authorised by our Finance department and then sent to me to give the final approval.

b.  £5,000 - £10,000 – A lead in the department will identify the need to purchase a larger quantity of BWC/BWV.  I will then need to get 3 quotes from different suppliers.  The company we go with will need to complete a ‘New Supplier Form’ then I send the quote, purchase order and new supplier form to my departments admin hub which then goes to Finance and the then authorised by me.

c.  >£10,000 – These orders would require a business case which would get reviewed by the Senior Leadership Team.  Then pretty much the same as (b.) above.

I would like to request under the Freedom of Information Act data held by Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service on vehicle fires attended by your emergency crews for the financial years 2017-18 to 2022-23 inclusive.

The information I am seeking relates directly to vehicles which have caught fire either while parked or while in use. An example would be a car which catches fire while parked outside a house or a car which catches fire while driving along the road.

I am not looking for information on vehicles which have been deliberately set alight or that have caught fire after being involved in a road traffic collision.

I would like information held by Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service broken down into the following categories:

• Type/Class of vehicle (such as Car/SUV/MPV/Van/HGV)

• Make: (Such as Ford/Vauxhall/Mercedes/LandRover)

• Model: (Such as Mondeo/Corsa/E-Class/Discovery)

• Fuel: (Such as Petrol/Diesel/LPG/Hydrogen/Hybrid/Electric)

• I would also like information as to whether the vehicle fire caused any casualties / fatalities or caused damage to other vehicles / buildings.

FOI 1859 - data

Could I please be provided me with the floor plans for Chester, Ellesmere Port  and Nantwich fire Stations and what vehicle is Based there

CFRS can confirm that it holds the requested information but intends to withhold its release by virtue of Section 24(1) of the Freedom of Information Act which is concerned with National Security.

In the past CFRS has provided information about its fire stations but it has reassessed the situation due to the heightened security risk that applies nationally and due to a spate of thefts from fire stations.

The national security exemption is concerned with the effect that the release of the information would have and not about the information itself. CFRS considers that floor plans of its buildings could be used to inform criminal activity or a terrorist attack and, as fire and rescue services are part of the county’s Critical National Infrastructure, it has a duty to protect its assets and provide appropriate security to ensure resilience and to successfully deploy resources. When applying this exemption CFRS must consider whether the public interest favours disclosing or withholding the information. 

CFRS acknowledges that this information is of interest to the general public; however, there is a strong reason favouring non-disclosure, i.e. the need to ensure that national security is not compromised. Disclosing details of the layout of its buildings would potentially compromise national security by putting valuable assets at risk of theft or damage.

 You will appreciate that CFRS must ensure that availability of its assets is not compromised if it is to fulfil its statutory responsibilities. Therefore, CFRS has concluded that, on balance, there is a stronger public interest in withholding this information, than there is in releasing it.

In consideration of the climate crisis, I would like to request the following information about how the organisation is enabling staff to reduce their emissions through sustainable transport, and more specifically, cycling.

1) over the past five years, broken down by year -
a) how many staff members used the Cycle to Work scheme?
b) what percentage of staff was this?
c) what was the average value of the vouchers claimed on the scheme?
d) what was the number of those who took up the scheme, who then failed to complete, leaving the Council with costs?

2) what tools does the organisation use to encourage cycling for their staff

All employees are encouraged to look after their fitness.  For Firefighters they need to maintain fitness standards as part of their job requirement. Employees have access to workplace gyms at stations across the county, access to Occupational Health, Fitness Advisors and have regular medicals dependent upon role.  Information regarding the Cycle To Work scheme is promoted on our internal Intranet pages and also advertised at points during year in our weekly bulletins to all staff.

 3) with regards to staff, does the organisation -
a) have any monitoring for what modes of transport staff use
i) for their journey to work  -    No
ii) for journeys during work time  - No
b) and if this data is recorded, I request a copy of such data as detailed as it can be reasonably given, while still protecting personal data rights  - N/A

4) how many of the following does the organisation have available for staff use
a) pedal cycles  - none
b) electric bikes - none
c) motorbikes -  2
d) internal combustion cars - 47
e) electric or hybrid cars  - 42
f) internal combustion vans  - 23
g) electric or hybrid vans   -  none
h) heavy trucks   -  55

5) does the organisation mileage scheme clearly state the claim rate for cycling    - no

6) how many cycling miles have been claimed by the organisation's staff in the past five years
     None

7) Regarding your current cycle to work scheme: 
a) what scheme is currently in place -  Green Commute Initiative
b) what is the maximum limit on the cost of a bike, if a limit is currently in place  - £3000.00

After looking into the push we are getting from government to move to battery electric vehicles, I have also looked into the environmental impact which appears to be staggeringly bad for battery production. However it appears there is an impact in that a small percentage of these vehicles can ignite with there being little chance of extinguishing the fire as the chemicals burn with out oxygen.

Could you please comment on the dangers of this and how many of these vehicle fires Cheshire fire brigade have had to deal with and what special measure have you put in place for this.

Nationally, incident recording does not currently report on the fuel type of vehicles.

 In relation to firefighting tactics , Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service follow National Operational Guidance as laid out by the National Fire Chief’s Council.

Information can be found at ukfrs.com

 With regards to environmental considerations, our incident commanders will liaise with partner agencies such as the Environment Agency and always seek to minimise environmental impact via a risk assessment.

Please could you tell me for each of 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023:

 - How many fires suspected of being caused by faulty e-bike or scooter batteries have there been    which have been responded to by your fire service

- How many of these caused injuries?

- How many of these cause death?

E-Bike Battery Fires

Scooter Battery Fires

Please be aware that there is no specific category on our data systems for scooter, e-scooter, e-bike or electric bike. The information provided is based on a keyword search for ‘scooter’, ‘e-scooter’, ‘electric scooter’, ‘e-bike’ or ‘electric bike’ on our incident recording systems. Therefore, the data provided may not include all fires involving scooters or e-bikes unless these keywords were recorded on the incident logs.

Could you please supply me with the following information: 

A full list of all contracts for facilities services delivered by an external provider on behalf of the Fire & Rescue Service relating to the following areas:

• Cleaning

• Catering

• Security

• Other Facilities Management

Contracts which are required to be publicly available are displayed on the Bluelight e-Procurement Hub via the link:   In-Tend Electronic Tendering Site - Home (in-tendhost.co.uk)

A login is not required to access the Contracts Register, just select the Contracts tab to access the contracts register, select current and filter by Customer to identify the Organisation you wish to search.

Invoices paid over £500 are published on Fire’s website each month:

 https://www.cheshirefire.gov.uk/about-us/key-documents/freedom-of-information/what-we-spend/invoices

Please provide the following information:

• The name of the provider for each contract; 

This will be on the Bluelight e-Procurement Hub at the link provided above.

• The value of each contract; 

Spend on each contract can be obtained from the value of the invoices published on Fire’s website each month.

• The number of staff employed on each contract;   - Not Known

• The end date of each contract; and the date that any decision would need to be made regarding renewal; 

End date will be on the Bluelight e-Procurement Hub at the link provided above.  The Cleaning contract has an option to extend for up to two [2] years, a decision will be taken six [6] months before the end date.  We are in the process of running a procurement exercise for a new Catering contract.

• Details of any break clauses within the contact, and/or details of whether each contract carries an option to extend the duration of the contract; - see above

• A named contact for the responsible manager for that service.

This is the internal contact on the Bluelight e-Procurement Hub at the link provided above.

- How many freestanding countertop electric convection ovens (aka "air fryers") did you purchase in the last 12 months? How much did these cost in total? In that period, how many were given free of charge to members of the public after you attended/responded to fires at their properties and what did these cost in total? 

In the last 12 months (Mar’22 – Mar’23) 25 air fryers were purchased.  Total £924.84.  None given due to attending/responding to fires at their properties.

 - What was the most expensive and the least expensive freestanding countertop electric convection oven (aka "air fryer") you purchased in the last 12 months? Please include the brand and model of both products.

Tower Vortx 2L - £28.95 & Tower Vortx 2.2L - £30.95.

 - How many toasters did you purchase in the last 12 months? How much did these cost in total? In that period, how many were given free of charge to members of the public after you attended/responded to fires at their properties and what did these cost in total?  None.

- What was the most expensive and least expensive toaster you purchased in the last 12 months? Please include the brand and model of both products. 

Not applicable.

 - How many microwaves did you purchase in the last 12 months? How much did these cost in total? In that period, how many were given free of charge to members of the public after you attended/responded to fires at their properties and what did these cost in total?  None.

 - What was the most expensive and least expensive microwave you purchased in the last 12 months? Please include the brand and model of both products. 

Not applicable.

Could you please send me the below details or your current Blue light fleet (inc Motorbikes) for market research -

 -Model Year

-The Vehicle Make & Model

-Type of Vehicle (Example-Saloon, Wagon etc) -The Role of the Vehicle (Including Armed Response Unit) -The Year the Vehicle was Commissioned

Please could you visit Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service webpage at www.cheshirefire.gov.uk

 If you access the ‘About Us’ tab at the top of the page and then select ‘Vehicles’ this will take you to images and descriptions of our fleet. At the bottom of there is an excel spread sheet that details vehicles locations, years of origin etc

I would be very grateful if you could provide figures relating to fires caused by disposable e-cigarettes and vapes.  I appreciate this may not be a category you record.  It would be great if you could perform a free text search on "vape" and "e-cigarette" together with any other terms you think relevant. 

Please could you provide the information, split by the years 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Please find below the number of fires recorded in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 calendar years using the terms “VAPE” and “E CIG” as text searches. The cause of the fire is also included for additional information.

VAPE”

1. Could you please tell me how many call outs you received to move Bariatric or obese people from their homes or to rescue them during the following calendar years: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013?

2.  Would it be possible to reveal whether you were called to assist the ambulance service or the police, or whether you received a call directly from the person’s home?

3.  Would you be able to list the gender of the people you moved?

 4. Where possible – could you please reveal the age of the youngest and oldest person that you would called to assist?

Due to the services data retention policy, the information provided is limited to 7 years prior to the date the request was processed. This period is between the 29^th March 2016 – 29^th March 2023.

FOI 1847 data

1. The number of low, medium and high-rise residential buildings in your area (or your current/best estimate of them) covered by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

 In Cheshire we have the following number of residential buildings recorded on our management system - 2782 inclusive of all residential buildings where the FSEC/Supp. line number and therefore primary purpose group is residential use i.e. not inclusive of residential halls that form part of a school & are located on the same site.

Does include the following:

• Flatlets (HSE Convert to flats up to 3 floors)

• Flats (Bldg. Act Sect.72)/Purpose Blt up

• Flats/maisonettes (Purpose Built >= 4 S)

• HIMO Data from LA

• HIMO Flatlets (Hse Convert to flats up to 3 floors)

• HIMO Houses (rooms)>3 floors

• House converted to Flat

• Purpose built flatlets occupied up to 3 floors
  

2. The total number of deficiency and/or enforcement notices served to the owners of these buildings relating to means of escape (Articles 14(2)(b) & 15 (1)(b)), since the July 2021 to the date of this FOI.

 Our management system indicates we have the following number of Enforcement Notices and Action Plans relating to means of escape - 15. Our system has not determined if it is specific to Article 14(2)(b) & 15(1)(b) it has identified an active notice with that Article present.

3. The number of deficiency and/or enforcement notices served to the owners of these buildings specifically relating to the identification of vulnerable and disabled residents, and planning for their escape (Articles 14(2)(b) & 15 (1)(b)), since July 2021 to the date of this FOI

 None of the notices we have issued have been related to the specific matter of the identification of vulnerable and disabled residents. Our notices when including Article 15 will state; Your emergency plan should be appropriate to your premises and could include:

• Arrangements for the safe evacuation of people identified as being especially at risk, such as those with disabilities and children

4. Copies of the notices referred to in (Q3)

 None of our notices are specifically related to this matter therefore copies have not been included. The NFCC compile a national enforcement register which can be found by clicking on the link provided below. This details each FRS and the issuing of formal notices.

Microsoft Power BI

5. The fire authority's current policy covering the evacuation of disabled people from multi-occupancy buildings during a fire

 Cheshire Fire Authority has no specific policy relating to the evacuation of disabled people from multi-occupancy buildings during fire. The officer in charge at an incident will make tactical decisions based on the scenario they are confronted with.

Our incident commanders are trained to recognise when a fire is not behaving as expected and as a Northwest region, we have adopted an Immediate Building Evacuation (IBE) procedure in recognition of that. 

Whenever there is consultation relating to fire safety and the evacuation of disabled people Cheshire has always responded and put our views across. This is an important issue and one that is recognised nationally across the whole fire sector.

We are interested in the number of fires in refuse vehicles and at waste and recycling centres. 

I appreciate you may not have a specific code for this, and if not, it would be great if you could use a free text search for any terms you might think would capture this (e.g. waste centre, recycling centre, rubbish truck, refuse vehicle).  It would be great to have the data split by waste facilities and refuse vehicles, and broken down by the years 2020, 2021 and 2022. 

Please find below the information requested regarding fires in refuse vehicles and at waste and recycling centres in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

1. The total number of male pensioners (firefighters) you have in each of the age groups specified below in each year (2000-2021) (i.e. those who you pay a pension to because of firefighter service

Information about the total number of male pensioners (firefighters) in each of the age groups specified in each year (2000-2021) (i.e. those who we pay a pension to because of firefighter service) is   provided in the table in the attached document.

2.  The total number of pension scheme members (male firefighters) who died each year for 2000 to 2021 (i.e. as a total number -not divided by age categories).

The total number of pension scheme members (male firefighters) who died each year for 2000 to 2021 (i.e. as a total number -not divided by age categories) are also included on the attached document. Please note that our current pension provider took over in 2008. As a result they do not hold any data about deaths for the years prior to this. This also means that the membership numbers for years prior to 2008 may not be fully accurate. However, we have provided all data available to us in our response.

3.   Whether in your pension scheme you include: retained duty system firefighters (on-call) and fire control (operators)?

The pension scheme numbers include retained (on call) firefighters but do not contain any control firefighters.

FOI 1844 data

1. How many fire safety audits have been undertaken at hotels in each of the last six financial years, including the current financial year to date?

2.    How many of these fire safety audits at hotels were “unsatisfactory” in each of the last six financial years, including the current financial year to date?

3.    How many enforcement notices - article 30 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 - have been served to hotels in each of the last six financial years, including the current financial year to date?

 4.    How many prohibition notices - article 31 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 - have been served to hotels in each of the last six financial years, including the current financial year to date?

5.    How many prosecutions - article 32 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 - have been served to hotels in each of the last six financial years, including the current financial year to date?

FOI 1842 data

Q1 is answered within the column Total FS Audits, the next column satisfies Q2 and so on until Q5 around Prosecutions.

MCIA is currently engaging with organisations who have/may have emergency response motorcyclists in order to obtain the policy and advice given regarding the appropriate, or minimum, standards of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) used whilst performing their duties, as well as other risk mitigation/risk controls for that type of role (purely to obtain the risk analysis and PPE requirements for all emergency response motorcyclists in the UK (Police have already been approached and are supplying this information) and not a critical review of any particular sector/organisations approach, methodology or policy).

 To that end, we would like to request information on:

1.   Any/all risk assessment which have been created to support emergency response motorcyclist roles (as per HSE requirements)

Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service have a specific Risk Assessment for the fire bike rider volunteers, this RA is reviewed on a 12 monthly basis. Areas covered within the riding of the motorcycle are:-

 - All riders to wear appropriate PPE (Service provided to class AA with level 1 armouring). Plus, helmet, hi viz over jacket, gloves, and boots.

- Minimum standard of qualification of all Service riders to be IAM Advanced or RoSPA Bronze and be within the organisations permitted period of re-testing.

- All riders of Service Motorcycles must be regular riders of motorcycles on the public road.

- A full POWDER check of the vehicle to be completed before each daily use.

- Riders  must be familiar with the controls of each  motorcycle they are using.

- The Service motorcycle  is for engagement purposes only and  must not be ridden as a response vehicle. Blue lights should only by used during static display.  No exemptions to traffic   

   laws apply.

- All personal items and equipment not being worn and likely to cause injury to be stowed in pannier or top box whilst moving.

- Riders should consider, if the use of the Service motorcycle  in the event of inclement weather is safe.  On day Check full day weather forecast.

- Ensure even distribution of weight between both pannier boxes

- Service motorcycle duties, all events attended must be pre-arranged and approved.

- The rider will call the road safety reduction manager prior to taking the Service Motorcycle to any pre-arranged engagement / event, confirming they are leaving, where they are going to   

   and approx. time of travel to that location. Once in attendance they will ring the RS reduction manager to confirm safe arrival. This process will be completed in reverse on the return

   journey.          

2.  Documentation covering the required CE standards for motorcyclist riding clothing (garments, policy, procurement, etc).

- All CFRS riders wear class AA motorcycling clothing PPE conforms to EN17092

- Volunteer contract are written up and signed off by volunteers, this covers the level of PPE the service will provide.

- Risk assessment written for riding the fire bike

- Rational document for decision making ref level of motorcycle clothing

1. Do you use drone technology

Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service (CFRS) do not currently have an operational drone asset within service.

2. How many drones do you have at your disposal?

CFRS do not currently have any internal drones, however upon request for a drone asset during operational incidents, Cheshire Police Drone Team can be requested to support. If Cheshire Police Drone Team is unavailable a request for neighbouring Fire and Rescue Services who have a drone can be requested. Merseyside, Lancashire and Greater Manchester FRS’ all have drone assets that could be requested for over the border assistance. CFRS can also request a drone asset through National Resilience.

3. Do you share the drones with other agencies

Yes, as above.

4. If you share the drones with other agencies, which agency takes priority in the event of a multi agency incident where there is a conflict of use.

The incident lead agency will remain responsible for Command and Control of the incident. Multi-agency partners adhere to the Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Principles (JESIP) and work closely together during the incident using each agencies capabilities to ensure a safe and effective resolution.

5. What capital expenditure has been utilised on drone technology between 2017 – 2022

Approx 10k per annum cumulatively 

6. What is the annual revenue expenditure associated with maintaining your drone capability

Zero.

7. What arrangements do you have in place for crewing/operating the drones

As above a request will be made to Cheshire Police Drone Team, neighbouring Fire & Rescue Service or request through National Resilience.

8. Please provide operational statistics detailing the number of times the drone/s have been deployed between 2017 – 20022

During the time CFRS owned a drone asset it was only requested to 7 operational incidents

9. Please provide operational statistics detailing the types of deployment i.e. what was the drone used for.

The drone asset was used for x2 large building fires and a number of large grass fires. This asset supported the Command Team to gain a greater level of situational awareness. 

10. Do you have a documented policy on Drone provision and use (please supply a copy)

As there currently isn't an operational drone asset within Service, there isn't a live Policy to share

In both cases would like to know, in total, how many calls there were in each year: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.

1. The number of calls to fires caused by electric blankets.

2. The number of calls to fires caused by plug-in electric heaters.

For 2022 and 2023, I would like a month-by-month breakdown of the number of calls.  In both cases, I would also like to know, in each year, the ages of the callers, if this information is held. If it is not, please omit.

Furthermore, I would like for you to provide a case summary of the last five callouts; five for blankets and five for     heaters.

 FOI 1838 data

1. 2023/24 IT Department Documents ;-  these types of documents have detailed information on the department's future plans and strategies. These documents could include:   ICT Strategy/Plan, ICT Department Plan, ICT Financial Plan

 Not recorded.  There are strategic documents in place for Cheshire Police, but these aren’t relevant for Cheshire Fire.

2. ICT Org Chart ;- with names and job titles

 Happy to provide an organisational chart for the joint structure.  After careful consideration I am able to confirm that the names of staff In ICT Services Department but those below Senior level are exempt by virtue of Section 40 (2) of the act (as amended by Schedule 19 of the Data Protection Act 2018).

The information you have requested may directly or indirectly identify an individual and is therefore the personal data of a third party (as defined by the GDPR (a4.1) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (s3.2)). Staff working at this level would not expect their personal data to be released to the world at large and releasing this personal data would be likely to contravene the first data protection principle (as defined by the GDPR (a5) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (s35)). This is an absolute exemption therefore neither the public interest test nor evidence of harm in disclosure needs to be outlined.

FOI 1837 IT data

 3. Corporate Procurement Strategy that covers 2023/24 and more.

 For all the documents I have requested, please provide me with the 2023/24  documents, I only want to only receive documents that are live and valid. If the document is a strategic plan (e.g. 2020-2025) that covers a set number of years, please provide me with the 2023 version.

 This has been attached for you.

FOI 1837 Procurement data

I would like to know how many working days (both firefighters and staff) were lost to psychological disorders (or mental ill health, dependent on how you categorise it) between January 2020 and January 2022.

Please see below details on working days lost between 01 January 2020 and 31 January 2022 to psychological disorders.

Please note below:-

Some firefighters are dual role so may be included twice (once in the Retained column and once in the Wholetime column).

Retained firefighters are 7 days a week, Support staff are 5 days per week and Wholetime firefighters are shift patterns so number of days per week varies

FOI 1834 - Data

How many full-time/wholetime firefighters does your service employ as of 1st February 2023?

420 full time wholetime employees, 2 of these are on secondment out of the area. Plus one part-time wholetime employee.

Of these, how many are registered as having secondary employment?

142 employees (NB 10 employees have more than one secondary job)

Please provide a breakdown of how many are employed by category eg 12 taxi drivers, 73 plumbers etc

Admin& Business 5,  Hospitality=2,  Police special=1, Carpentry= 1, House Removals= 3

Security= 2, Decorator= 2, Land, Environment= 7, Tiler= 1, Medical 9, Driving= 4, Education= 1

Military= 4,  Electrical= 4, Modelling= 2, Plasterer= 1, Plumber= 3, Fostering 1, Entertainment= 1

Emergency on call= 98,        Total=152

Please supply any rules or guidance your service uses for secondary employment covering maximum hours or ineligible jobs. 

Cheshire Fire & Rescue have a Secondary/Other Employment Policy,  in undertaking secondary employment and other employment employees are required to ensure the following:  

• they take rest breaks during the working week, adhering to the Working Time Regulations 1998

• at least 11 consecutive hours in every 24 hour period of work (there are exceptions to this)

• a period of 24 consecutive hours uninterrupted rest in each 7 days (this may not include the 11 hour period mentioned earlier)

• one 48 hour break or two 24 hour breaks within a 14 day period

• a break of at least 20 minutes where an individual works more than 6 hours and a minimum period of annual leave

The service will not give permission for staff to be involved with fire related business e.g. Fire Extinguisher firms or any other activity where it may be construed the approval of the Fire Authority is being given to another party or employer.  The Service will not give permission for staff to be employed or engaged by another organisation (other than another Fire & Rescue Service) to undertake fire risk assessments in premises to satisfy the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Staff who are employed by another Fire & Rescue Service to undertake such activity should only do so if suitably trained/qualified by that employer

The service will not give permission to any secondary/other employment which poses a conflict of interest; where the role may be deemed dangerous/hazardous or present a risk of serious injury or illness; where the role may be in breach of driving regulations, or if the role involves protection or collection services i.e. bailiff.

Your fire and rescue authorities total budget for each year since 2015.

Year 2014/15 = £ 42,690,000

Year 2015/16 = £ 42,182,000

Year 2016/17 = £42,030,000

Year 2017/18 = £41,299,000

Year 2018/19 = £41,572,000

Year 2019/20 = £43,461,000

Year 2020/21 = £44,831,000

Year 2012/22 = £46,203,000

Year 2022/23 = £46,587,000

The number of current vacancies in fire and rescue services in your area.

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service currently have 14 live vacancies.

The percentage of vacancies in fire and rescue services when compared to the total required work force.

This is 1.63%  when compared to the total required work force.

The TOTAL number of complaints brought by fire and rescue service employees, against other fire and rescue employees, under the relevant Complaints Procedure; ideally, I wish the data to be broken down by type of grievance/s (e.g. bullying and discrimination, sexual harassment and assault, etc.)   -  10  (Bullying x 8 , Harassment x 2)

The TOTAL number of complaints that were upheld. - 3

The TOTAL number of upheld complaints that resulted in disciplinary action. - 1

How many firefighters and fire service staff have been reported to or investigated by the police for alleged sexual offences (including all categories, eg rape, indecent assault etc)?    Total = 2

Of those reported and investigated, please tell us: 

-    How many were convicted?  - Exempt by virtue of Section 40 (2) of the act (as amended by     Schedule 19 of the Data Protection Act 2018).  This is absolute exemption therefore neither the public interest test nor evidence of harm in disclosure needs to be outlined.

-    How many are still being investigated?   as above

-    How many were cleared?                                 as above

-    How many cases resulted in no further action by the police?   as above

 Of those convicted, please tell us: 

    -      How many remain in the fire service?   N/A

     -     How many have left (please say whether they were dismissed, retired or resigned)?  N/A

Please provide the latest contract information of Unit 4.

Contracts which are required to be publicly available are displayed on the Bluelight e-Procurement Hub via the link:    In-Tend Electronic Tendering Site - Home (in-tendhost.co.uk)

 A login is not required to access the Contracts Register, just select the Contracts tab to access the  contracts register, select current and filter by Customer to identify the Organisation you wish to  search.

 The only Contract that Cheshire Fire Authority have with Unit 4 is for the support and maintenance of  the Agresso system.  The Contract expired in July 2023.

 Invoices paid over £500 are published on Fire’s website each month. https://www.cheshirefire.gov.uk/about-us/key-documents/freedom-of-information/what-we-spend/invoices

How many heritage building fires have you attended in the past year?

One fire occurred at a heritage property with Cheshire during 2022

Are heritage building fires common incidents that your service responds to?    - No

What do you think could be the most common cause of fires in heritage buildings?

There is no common cause, the only fire involving a heritage property occurred in a garden and did not involve the property.

1a. How many operational staff (grey book employees) are currently (as of 17/1/23) subject to live or ongoing GROSS/SERIOUS misconduct disciplinary investigations? -  2

1b. How many of these involved allegations of sexual harassment? -  Exempt by virtue of section 40 of Act (as amended by Schedule 19 of the Data Protection Act 2018).

1c. How many of these involved allegations of racism?-  please refer to answer to 1b.

2a. How many operational staff (grey book employees) were subject to GROSS/SERIOUS misconduct disciplinary investigations in 2022? -  6

2b. How many of these involved allegations of sexual harassment? - 2

2c. How many of these involved allegations of racism? -  0

3. How many operational staff (grey book employees) work at your fire service? - 560 as of 20/01/23

1. Please provide me with the Network provider name.    - EE

2. Can you please provide me with the average annual spend over the last 3 years. If this is a new  contract, can you please provide the estimated annual spend.  - Estimated annual spend £7.3K

3. Number of connections for each network provider,  please provide me with the breakdown and  not the overall total. - Voice only devices = 48, Voice and data devices = 267, Data only devices = 69

4. Duration of the contract- please state if the contract also includes contract extensions for each  provider. - Start date of 21/12/2022 for 6 months

5. Contract Start Date - please see response to question 4

6. Contract Expiry date - please see response to question 5

7. Contract Review date -  this information not held

8. The person in the organisation responsible for this particular contract with contact details. - Stuart Rogers, Head of IT & Information Security, Tel: 01606 362239. Email: stuart.rogers@cheshire.police.uk

9. If the mobile phone contract is provided by a managed contract, please provide me with the actual name of the network provider along with the number of connections and the internal contact from within the organisation responsible for this contract - please see response to Q1.

For each of the calendar years 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 please can you provide figures on the following:

1. How many formal grievances have been raised with the service by members of staff and  firefighters from an ethnic minority background regarding complaints of harassment,    inappropriate language, behaviour and assault?  - None

 2. How many claims have been submitted to employment tribunal regarding the above?- None

 3. How many of those claims have settled prior to a full remedy hearing? - None

 4. What was the settlement figure in each claim?  -  N/A

 5. How many of those settlements involved the signing of a non-disclosure agreement? - None

 6. How many grievance/discipline cases have been brought by the service in relation to          Inappropriate behaviour/language/conduct* by an employee (*race discrimination or  harassment)? - None

Please provide details for how many complaints of bullying, racism, sexism, discrimination or harassment have been made at your authority for 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Between 1st January 2017 and 31^st December 22 there have been a total of 33 complaints of bullying, racism, sexism, discrimination or harassment made.

Please also provide a breakdown of action taken for these cases. How many accused individuals have been found to be guilty, how many accused were terminated, how many resigned with full pension before a judgement was reached, and how many were acquitted.

There was evidence found against a total of 12 individuals involved in the 33 cases.

 2 individuals were dismissed.  

 2 individuals resigned who were a member of a Service pension scheme (access to pension benefits is  stipulated by the criteria of the particular pension scheme).

 Out of the 33 cases, there was 16 individuals where no evidence was found to support the complaints  against them.

  There were 11 cases where informal action was taken as a result.

  There are three cases without an outcome (due to investigations/processes still ongoing)

Do you allow secondary employment in your service?

We do not allow other employment associated with Fire Risk Assessments.  This is the sentence within our Secondary Employment Policy:

4.4  The Service will not give permission for staff to be employed or engaged by another organisation (other than another Fire & Rescue Service) to undertake fire risk assessments in premises to satisfy the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Staff who are employed by another Fire & Rescue Service to undertake such activity should only do so if suitably trained/qualified by that employer.

 If yes, do you allow secondary employment to carry out fire safety work such as fire risk assessment, fire training or any other fire consultancy work?  - N/A

 If yes, do you allow you staff to carry out this work within the Services area or not?  - N/A

Please can you confirm who your Head of Transport is and provide name and contact details including email address?

 Phill Cooper - phill.cooper@cheshirefire.gov.uk

Can you share your fleet list, detailing make and model of assets?

Fleet list is available on the CFRS website

Please can you confirm who is your breakdown provider (2022)?

GRG Recovery

Can you please confirm how your vehicles are serviced e.g. whether you have your own workshops/ use council workshops? 

Within our own workshops

Please confirm the total number of workshops and technicians you have that service your vehicle fleet?

One workshop with six technicians

Please can you confirm your annual spend on service, maintenance (2021-2022)?

Non Damage repairs April 21 to March 22 £256,755.27

Please can you confirm your annual spend on damage repair (2021-2022)?

Damage repairs April 21 to March 22 £8,866.41

I have a formal information request please – can you provide me with the figures below, or delegate to someone who can please; 

2020 -  (responses relate to whole year so will include leavers who were employed in the year)

Number of male and female Grey book employees -   Male = 693, Female = 60

Number of male and female Green book employees - Male = 72, Female 118

Number of male and female apprentices   -  Male = 8, Female = 3

 2021 -  (responses relate to whole year so will include leavers who were employed in the year)

Number of male and female Grey book employees  - Male = 678 , Female = 66

Number of male and female Green book employees  -  Male = 76, Female = 110

Number of male and female apprentices -  Male = 9,  Female = 3

 2022 - (responses relate to whole year so will include leavers who were employed in the year)

Number of male and female Grey book employees - Male = 684, Female = 73

Number of male and female Green book employees - Male = 81, Female = 143

Number of male and female apprentices - Male = 7, Female = 4

Could you please provide me with the total amount of chimney fire incidents attended by your service in the whole calendar years (Jan-Dec inclusive) 2021 and 2022, detailed as follows:

• The whole of the service’s operational geographical area from January-December 2021

• Each divisional/geographical/command area covered by your service from January-December 2021

• The whole of the service’s operational geographical area from January-December 2022

• Each divisional/geographical/command area covered by your service from January-December 2022

FOI 1818 - Chimney fire incidents

Could you please provide me with a list of all current and past fire station build/closure dates that you may have on record.

FOI 1817 Current and past fire station build and closure dates

Detailed explanation here...