Emergency Services Show Hospitality

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Dear Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service,

Emergency Services Show - Hospitality

The following request for information is made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

It is understood that commercial providers of goods and equipment to fire and rescue services are offering hospitality to officers, elected members and fire service staff during the period of the Emergency Services Show (ESS) at the NEC, 7-8 September 2021.

Please provide the following information regarding invitations to hospitality events whilst attending the ESS. Such hospitality is understood to include: lunches/dinners, hotels, transport costs, golf sessions etc

1) what invitations have been received by commercial companies for Officers or Members of your Fire and Rescue Service to attended hospitality events funded by the company during the period of the above Emergency Services Show?

2) what invitations referred to in 1 above have been accepted by officers or Members of your Fire and Rescue Service?

3) please provide the name of the commercial company and the hospitality event to which each invitation relates to?

4) what is the estimated individual value of each hospitality event to which officers or Members have been invited to participate in?

5) please provide a copy of your Fire and Rescue Authority receipt of hospitality policy.

Yours faithfully,

Jamal Sarbin

Freedom Of Information, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service

Thank you for your email. Following the recent Government guidance regarding Corona Virus, Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service have activated their business continuity plan and I am working remotely. I will check emails periodically throughout the day and will respond as soon as possible. The Information Commissioner has stated that although legislative deadlines are still in place, it is accepted that we may not always fully comply with timescales given that staff may be unavailable due to working on other critical tasks.

Freedom Of Information, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service

1 Attachment

Dear Jamal Sarbin,          

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

 

Thank you for your request for information which was received on 19^th
August 2021.

 

I can confirm that we are dealing with your request under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and as required by the legislation, we aim to answer
your request within 20 working days following the date we received it. If
for any reason we are unable to meet this deadline we will keep you fully
informed of the reasons for this.

 

It’s possible we'll take more than 20 working days to supply information
under the Freedom of Information Act or Environment Information
Regulations. The Information Commissioner recognises that longer time may
be needed when emergency staff have to prioritise other work to keep front
line services running during the pandemic. However, we will endeavour to
keep you updated and thank you for your patience and understanding at this
time.

 

Our response will be via email unless you advise differently.

 

If you have any queries about this please contact me.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Simon Blakey

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Freedom Of Information, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service

1 Attachment

Dear Jamal Sarbin,         

                                 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (FOI) ACT 2000

 

I write in response to your request for information, which was received
and acknowledged on 20 August 2021.

 

Decision

The information you have requested is held by the Devon & Somerset Fire &
Rescue Service (DSFRS).

 

Please find below the detail of the information you have requested along
with our response.

 

Request and Response
It is understood that commercial providers of goods and equipment to fire
and rescue services are offering hospitality to officers, elected members
and fire service staff during the period of the Emergency Services Show
(ESS) at the NEC, 7-8 September 2021.

 

Please provide the following information regarding invitations to
hospitality events whilst attending the ESS. Such hospitality is
understood to include: lunches/dinners, hotels, transport costs, golf
sessions etc

 

1) what invitations have been received by commercial companies for
Officers or Members of your Fire and Rescue Service to attended
hospitality events funded by the company during the period of the above
Emergency Services Show?

 

2) what invitations referred to in 1 above have been accepted by officers
or Members of your Fire and Rescue Service?

 

3) please provide the name of the commercial company and the hospitality
event to which each invitation relates to?

 

4) what is the estimated individual value of each hospitality event to
which officers or Members have been invited to participate in?

 

As far as we are aware, the answer to questions 1-4 is nil from the staff
I have asked specifically. However, completion of gifts and hospitality
forms is a matter for individual officers. To date, none have been
received in relation to this event. For your information, any such
information would be recorded on our website:

[1]https://beta.dsfire.gov.uk/sites/default...

 

5) please provide a copy of your Fire and Rescue Authority receipt of
hospitality policy.

Technically, this is exempt under FOI Section 21 ‘Information accessible
by other means’ as it is available on our website but under our Section 16
duty to provide assistance, we’ve provided the link for ease of reference:
[2]http://dsmodern/documents/s8309/Gifts%20...

 

Review

You have the right to ask us to review this decision.  If you wish to do
this please set out your grounds for review in writing and send them to
the Information Compliance Officer at the Service Headquarters address or
e-mail [3][Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service request email].

 

Appeals

If you are still dissatisfied after a Service review you have the right to
appeal to the Information Commissioner at the Information Commissioner’s
Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. During
the pandemic however, you may wish to apply direct via
[4]http://ico.org.uk/concerns

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Wendy Richmond
Information Compliance Officer     
[5]Description:
Description: Description: t. 01392 87 2220  f. 01392 872300 w.
DSFRS-FULL-COLOUR-BADGE_RGB [6]www.dsfire.gov.uk
[7]@DSFireUpdates [8]Facebook [9]Think
Sprinkler
Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue
Service, HQ, The Knowle, Clyst St
  George, Exeter. EX3 0NW

 

 

References

Visible links
1. https://beta.dsfire.gov.uk/sites/default...
2. http://dsmodern/documents/s8309/Gifts%20...
3. mailto:[Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service request email]
4. http://ico.org.uk/concerns
6. http://www.dsfire.gov.uk/
7. http://twitter.com/dsfireupdates
8. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Devon-Some...
9. http://www.dsfire.gov.uk/YourSafety/Safe...