USAR Prime Movers/New Dimension Vehicles.

The request was partially successful.

Dear London Fire Commissioner (London Fire Brigade),

Hello, I have recently noticed that the Prime Movers or MAN trucks have been removed/left out of the 2020/recent fleet lists made to the public. Can i please ask where they are and if they are still in the service as operational vehicles, If not why not and if they are may i ask where to acquire information about said vehicles.

Yours faithfully,

Josh Jones

LFB Information Access, London Fire Brigade

Dear Josh

 

Thank you for your request.

 

This will be considered under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and we
will respond as soon as we are able.  Please note, given the current
situation with the Coronavirus, this may be outside of the normal,
expected timeframe for a FOI response (20 working days).

 

Thank you for your patience,

 

with kind regards

 

Michelle Essiet

Information Access

London Fire Brigade

169 Union Street  London  SE1 0LL

T 0208555 1200

 

 

 

 

 

Dear LFB Information Access,

Good morning, Is there an update as to what is going on with my request? I understand emergency services are busy but would like an update.

Yours sincerely,

Josh Jones

LFB Information Access, London Fire Brigade

Hello Josh

Thank you for following up in this respect, I am sorry that I have not been able to update you sooner.

I apologise for the delay, the Brigade is currently dealing with some complex information requests and we are struggling to deal with all requests as quickly as we would like, particularly as staff are still working from home. We are working through our information requests cases in a chronological order. I still have 5 information requests to respond to that I received before your request on 06 May 2021.

Some of these requests I may be able to answer in a day or less or, depending on the complexity of the case, it may take me a week or longer to process the information and respond to these. Therefore, unfortunately, I am unable to provide you with an expected completion date for your request.

We are working hard to respond to all requests as soon as possible and thank you for your continued patience at this time.

Kind Regards
Michelle Essiet
Information Access
London Fire Brigade
169 Union Street  London  SE1 0LL
T 0208555 1200

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LFB Information Access, London Fire Brigade

 

Dear Josh,

 

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request, received on 06/5/2021,
in relation to USAR prime movers. I apologise for the delay in providing
the information you were seeking.

 

In response, the LFB do still operate prime mover vehicles which form part
of a National Resilience function.  These vehicles are used to transport
Urban Search and Rescue USAR) equipment and are typically deployed to
major incidents.  The details of National Resilience vehicles are not
included on the published LFB Fleet list as they are withheld from release
via section 24 of the FOIA - National Security.

 

Although the section 24 exemption applies, this is not an absolute
exemption and the Authority is required to consider a public interest
test. This requires us to consider whether the public interest in
withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosure. I
have set out our public interest test considerations for and against
disclosure below:

 

Considerations supporting disclosure:

•       the public's right to information held by public authorities.

•       disclosure would be consistent with government aims to improve
accountability and transparency in the operation of public organisations.

•       it could be argued there is a public interest in the disclosure of
National Resilience vehicle information as it would provide the public
with assurance that the residents of London are protected appropriately.

 

Considerations against disclosure:

•       Whilst the public has a right to know that the LFB use National
Resilience vehicles at major incidents, supplying the vehicle
specifications and their location would give individuals key components
needed to potentially weaken those security measures.

•       Disclosing details of LFB operational response planning and
locations of specific vehicles could undermine the effectiveness of a
response by the Brigade, and our emergency partners, if this information
was to be used to try and disrupt our responses to critical incidents.

•       It would not be in the public interest to disclose information
that may undermine public safety, or undermine law enforcement colleagues,
thereby assisting those who are intent on endangering national security or
threatening the safety and security of the citizens and visitors to
London.

 

I therefore conclude that the public interest in maintaining this
exemption and not disclosing details of National Resilience vehicles
outweighs the public interest in favour of disclosure.

 

I’m sorry I cannot be more helpful on this occasion. However I do hope you
understand our position.

 

We have dealt with your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
For more information about this process please see the guidance we publish
about making a request on our website.

 

Kind regards,

 

Michelle Essiet

Information Access

London Fire Brigade

169 Union Street  London  SE1 0LL

T 0208555 1200