Equipment on 5512 and 5513

The request was partially successful.

Dear Kent Fire and Rescue Service,

If possible could you please provide me with a list of equipment kept on fleet numbers 5512 and 5513 (if they have duplicated equipment then just the one would be fine).

Yours faithfully,

Bonnie MacCready

Information Officer, Kent Fire and Rescue Service

Dear Ms MacCready,

Thank you for your request made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. We will respond to your request within 20 working days (16/12/2020).

Privacy statement

Please be aware that in order to assist you and process your request, Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority will need to collect and store some of your personal data. For further information about this please refer to our privacy statement and privacy notices.

https://www.kent.fire-uk.org/hidden/priv...

Coronavirus

Please note that while we will always aim to process any FOI requests within the statutory deadline of 20 working days, there may be delays to this due to workload priorities changing in response to the coronavirus pandemic. If this is the case, then we will get in contact with you to advise you of any delay and the associated timescales.

Kind regards

Owain Thompson

Information Officer | Kent Fire & Rescue Service | The Godlands, Straw Mill Hill, Tovil, Maidstone, ME15 6XB | T: 01622 692121 | E: [Kent Fire and Rescue Service request email]

show quoted sections

Information Officer, Kent Fire and Rescue Service

Dear Ms MacCready,

We have considered your requested and, in doing so, have carefully sought to balance the requirements of the FOI Act (both in letter and in spirit) against the needs of Kent Fire & Rescue Service to safeguard operational assets and equipment.

After careful consideration, we have decided to withhold full details of the vehicles’ equipment lists under Section 31 (1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act – The prevention or detection of crime (withholding information that would make anyone more vulnerable to crime).

The reason for this decision is because it is our reasonably held belief that, given the specialised role of these vehicles (they form part of the Technical Rescue team), combined with the locations where they are kept, to provide a list of the equipment carried on them would compromise the physical security of those vehicles and the equipment held on them by making them more attractive to, and therefore more vulnerable to being broken into – either when in situ or at incidents.

We take reasonable steps to safeguard the security of the vehicles and equipment stored on them and to release into the public domain a list of what is held on this would, in part, undermine the measures we put in place to safeguard that security.

However, as I realise that this is not helpful to you as it does not answer your request, by way of compromise, and in order to comply with the spirit of the FOI Act, I can inform you that both vehicles carry basic small tools and rope rescue equipment, leaving space for additional non-mobile equipment to be loaded depending on the incident.

If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your request, you may ask for an internal review. Information about our review process is available via the following link on our website.

http://www.kent.fire-uk.org/contact-us/f...

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Kind regards

Owain Thompson

Information Officer | Kent Fire & Rescue Service | The Godlands, Straw Mill Hill, Tovil, Maidstone, ME15 6XB | T: 01622 692121 | E: [Kent Fire and Rescue Service request email]

show quoted sections

Dear Owain,

Thank you very much for your response. While it is unfortunates that you are not able to provide the information, I do appreciate the clear and acceptable reasoning on why this is the case. I would also like to thank you for the basic information that you can provide, which is satisfactory.

Yours sincerely,

Bonnie MacCready