NFRS 2022 61 - Mental health
You asked for:
- The total number of sick days taken off by firefighters where mental health was provided as the reason, by year, since 2010.
- The total number of sick days taken by all staff where mental health was provided as the reason, by year, since 2010.
- The total number of firefighters in your authority, by year, since 2010.
Our Response:
- The total number of sick days taken off by firefighters where mental health was provided as the reason, by year, since 2010.
Answer: - Please be advised we have only been in a position to provide data from 6th May 2014 to date. All details prior to this date are held on a legacy system in which we have limited access to the data.
Mental Health Sick Days - Firefighter 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Sum: Wholetime 679 735 711 717 1021 1410 885 952 969 8079 Retained 559 1226.5 1023.27 387 985 886 351 551 723 6691.77 Total 1238 1961.5 1734.27 1104 2006 2296 1236 1503 1692 14770.77 - The total number of sick days taken by all staff where mental health was provided as the reason, by year, since 2010.
Answer: - Please be advised we have only been in a position to provide data from 6th May 2014 to date. All details prior to this date are held on a legacy system in which we have limited access to the data.
Mental Health Sick Days - Support Staff 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Sum: Total 324 859.5 686 693 219 289.5 369 523 260 4223 - The total number of firefighters in your authority, by year, since 2010
Answer:The information requested has been deemed exempt by virtue of the following exemptions section 21(1) Information reasonably accessible by other means and section 22(1) Information intended for future publication, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
21. Information accessible to applicant by other means.
- Information which is reasonably accessible to the applicant otherwise than under section 1 is exempt information.
- For the purposes of subsection (1)—
- Information may be reasonably accessible to the applicant even though it is accessible only on payment, and
- Information is to be taken to be reasonably accessible to the applicant if it is information which the public authority or any other person is obliged by or under any enactment to communicate (otherwise than by making the information available for inspection) to members of the public on request, whether free of charge or on payment.
- For the purposes of subsection (1), information which is held by a public authority and does not fall within subsection (2)(b) is not to be regarded as reasonably accessible to the applicant merely because the information is available from the public authority itself on request, unless the information is made available in accordance with the authority’s publication scheme and any payment required is specified in, or determined in accordance with, the scheme.
Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is categorised as an Absolute and Class Based type exemption and therefore does not require a public interest test to be carried nor must Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service articulate the harm in disclosure.
The information requested can be accessed at the following location Fire statistics data tables
- Information is exempt information if—
- the information is held by the public authority with a view to its publication, by the authority or any other person, at some future date (whether determined or not),
- the information was already held with a view to such publication at the time when the request for information was made, and
- it is reasonable in all the circumstances that the information should be withheld from disclosure until the date referred to in paragraph (a).
- The duty to confirm or deny does not arise if, or to the extent that, compliance with section 1(1)(a) would involve the disclosure of any information (whether or not already recorded) which falls within subsection (1).
Section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is categorised as a Qualified and Class Based type exemption and therefore requires a public interest test to be carried but does not require Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service to articulate the harm in disclosure.
Factors in Favour of Disclosure:
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service considers that there is a public interest in increased transparency and accountability of public authorities. Contributing to more engagement and a more effective service. With increased economic uncertainty and potential cuts to services, the public have a right to be informed that the Fire and Rescue Service for Nottinghamshire is appropriately resourced. The release of the request information prior to its publication would provide reassurance that the resources are in place to perform their statutory duties and keep the public safe.
Factors in Favour of Withholding:
The information requested by the applicant is routinely published Fire statistics data tables providing an in depth breakdown of the Fire and Rescue services across England and by specific areas this includes Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service. The information is published annually for each year. To allocate additional resources ahead of the normal publication schedule would not be in the best interest of the public to expedite the process. Any such allocation would place greater strain on finite resources already under pressure due to the economic uncertainty and cost saving requirements.
Balancing Test
It is noted that to release the information would provide greater transparency and accountability for Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service improving knowledge and public understanding of the service. However, it has been confirmed that this information will be published in line with nationally agreed publication timescales via the Fire statistics data tables
To allocate additional resources ahead of the normal publication schedule would not be in the best interest of the public to expedite the process. Any such allocation would place greater strain on finite resources already under pressure due to the economic uncertainty and cost saving requirements.
Upon balance of disclosure it has been determined that the weight in favour of disclosure does not outweigh that to withhold until the information becomes publicly available as per the normal publication schedule. We have therefore taken the decision to withhold the information by virtue of section 22 Information intended for future publication
This Letter constitutes a refusal notice under Section 17(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.