Dear Sir,

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service (NWFRS) hereby acknowledges receipt of
your request for information as detailed below, which is being actioned
under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This is now
receiving the Service’s attention and a response will normally be provided
within 20 working days of the date of receipt.

To confirm, your request was received on 10^th May 2024, and you have
supplied an email address for response.

Yours faithfully,

Swyddog Rhyddid Gwybodaeth/Freedom of Information Officer
Gwasanaeth Tân ac Achub Gogledd Cymru/North Wales Fire and Rescue Service

Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth a galwadau yn y Gymraeg a’r Saesneg - byddwn
yn ymateb yn gyfartal i’r ddwy ac yn ateb yn eich dewis iaith heb oedi.

We welcome correspondence and calls in Welsh and English - we will respond
equally to both and will reply in your language of choice without delay.

Gwnewch yn siŵr eich bod yn profi’ch larwm mwg yn rheolaidd. Os nad oes
gennych larwm, neu os ydy’ch larwm wedi torri, ffoniwch 0800 169 1234,
anfonwch e-bost i [1][email address] neu ewch i
[2]www.gwastan-gogcymru.org.uk am gyngor ynglŷn â beth i’w wneud nesaf.

Please make sure that you regularly check your smoke alarm. If you do not
have one, or find that the one that you do have is not working, call 0800
169 1234, e-mail [3][email address] or visit
[4]www.nwales-fireservice.org.uk for advice on what to do next.

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Dear Sir,

Further to your recent request to North Wales Fire and Rescue Service (NWFRS) made under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act regarding costs relating to a recent investigation into a senior officer, the response from NWFRS is as follows:

Total cost of this investigation which upheld complaints.
NWFRS can confirm that it holds the information you have requested; however, it is withholding that information under Section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act, in that its disclosure under this Act would or would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of NWFRS and the organisations which conducted any such investigations.
In considering this exemption, NWFRS has applied a three-step prejudice test, as follows:
Step 1 – applicable interests. Releasing details of the amount paid to external investigators could harm the financial interests of NWFRS, in that it could limit the scope to negotiate on any future requirements, given that the amount NWFRS is prepared to pay for engaging external investigators would be in the public domain.
In addition, revealing the amount paid to investigators previously employed by the Service would harm the financial interests of those investigators, in that it would give competitors an unfair advantage when negotiating contracts with NWFRS and other organisations needing similar services.
Step 2 - the nature of the prejudice. Putting the costs that have been incurred by NWFRS in employing external investigators in the public domain is capable of harming the financial interests of the Service, as well as the availability of those services to NWFRS if other providers are reluctant to engage with the Service because of fear that their confidential business information will be made public. If the information about charges is made public, it also reveals information about the provider that other organisations will not have put into the public domain. This would give competitors information that they would not otherwise have, which would allow them an unfair advantage when competing with the provider.
Step 3 – the likelihood of prejudice. Fire and Rescue Services in Wales are under particular scrutiny at the moment, and NWFRS considers this might result in a requirement for additional investigations to take place and, therefore, the need to employ external investigators in relation to complaints made against the Service by staff or members of the public. Organisations providing investigative services might consider that use of the requested information by a competitor is a prejudice that would be likely to occur, and NWFRS has no reason to dispute this. The information is commercially sensitive, and disclosure of costs informed will mean that organisations lose their competitive advantage and sustain damage to their business.
Section 43 is a qualified exemption, which requires any public authority to carry out a public interest test in order consider whether the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs that in its disclosure.
With regard to this request, NWFRS recognises that there is a strong public interest in openness and transparency, particularly for the spending of public money; however, the Service believes that revealing information such as a pricing mechanism can be detrimental to its negotiations on other contracts. If a supplier knows how NWFRS has costed an item or service, for example, then it can exploit this for profit or other gain. There is a public interest in public authorities not being disadvantaged by their Freedom of Information Act obligations when in commercial negotiations with the private sector. It is on this basis that NWFRS is withholding the information regarding the cost of this investigation. The Service has also considered the view of the service provider and the potential impact on them. A less competitive market means that other public sector organisations cannot get best value for money, which is not in the public interest. NWFRS is also required to make a significant amount of information public about its spending and believes that this is sufficient to meet the requirements of openness and transparency in this area.
Total cost of any sickness pay and overtime costs.

NWFRS can confirm that it holds the information you have requested; however, it is not possible to provide you with meaningful information requested without revealing the identity, or risking revealing the identity, of the individuals involved. This is not information which the individuals in question would reasonably expect to be made public, and so the information would breach the first data protection principle if released. Therefore, the information is being withheld under Section 40(2) (Personal Information) of the Freedom of Information Act, as to release it would be unfair to those individuals.

Please be aware that when releasing information under the Freedom of Information Act, we have to consider Information Commissioner’s Office guidance that we should only disclose information under the Act if we would disclose it to anyone else who asked. In other words, we should consider any information we release under the Act as if it were being released to the world at large. This means that we have to look at whether members of the public might have sufficient information to identify individuals, or whether a motivated intruder might be able to piece together information and identify a person. Given the sensitive subject matter of your request, and the potential for the Service to be under an obligation of confidentiality towards these individuals, we take a cautious approach in relation to release of personal data, or information that might be personal data.

The cost to date of any legal defence services incurred in relation to this case including a full breakdown.

NWFRS can confirm that it holds the information you have requested; however, it is withholding that information under Section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act, in that its disclosure under this Act would or would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of NWFRS and the organisation employed by NWFRS to provide the legal defence services.

If this information was in the public domain it could prejudice the commercial interests of the legal advisers instructed by the Service, releasing information about their pricing structure to competitors which they would not otherwise have. It may also affect our ability to negotiate in future, because what we are prepared to pay has been made public, so our position is weakened. As this is a qualified exemption, the Service has to look at the public interest, but the public interest in this information by itself is relatively limited where there is no suspicion of wrongdoing in selecting and paying for cover, and the public interest of ensuring that the Service is in a strong negotiating position is high because doing so saves public money.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original correspondence and should be addressed to:

The Freedom of Information Officer
North Wales Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters
Ffordd Salesbury
St Asaph Business Park
St Asaph
Denbighshire
LL17 0JJ

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 45
Website: http://www.ico.gov.uk/

There is no charge for making an appeal.

Many Thanks,
Olivia

Cynorthw-ydd Gweinyddol Swyddogaeth Gweithrediadau | Operations Function Administrative Assistant
Swyddog Cefnogi Llywodraethu Gwybodaeth | Information Governance Support Officer
Uned Cefnogi Busnes | Business Support Unit
Gwasanaeth Tân & Achub Gogledd Cymru | North Wales Fire and Rescue Service

Nodwch: Fy nyddiau gwaith yw Dydd Mawrth - Dydd Gwener
Please note: My working days are Tuesday - Friday

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