NFRS 2024 76 - Vehichle fleet

You asked for

Dear sir or madam, please can you send me an up-to-date copy of the vehicle fleet list which includes the base station and reg number of all operational vehicles.

Our Response

Answer: - Please be advised Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service has assessed that to disclose some of the requested information in this case the vehicle VRM and base station would be exempt by virtue of the following exemptions section 31(1) Law Enforcement and section 24(1) National Security of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Section 24: - National security

1. Information which does not fall within section 23(1) is exempt information if exemptionfrom section 1(1)(b) is required for the purpose of safeguarding national security.

Section 24 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is categorised as a Qualified and Prejudice Based type exemption and therefore requires a public interest test to be carried and furthermore requires that Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service articulate the harm in disclosure.

Section 31: - Law Enforcement

1. Information which is not exempt information by virtue of section 30 is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice —
   1. the prevention or detection of crime;
   2. the apprehension or prosecution of offenders;
   3. the administration of justice;
   4. the assessment or collection of any tax or duty or of any imposition of a similarnature,
   5. the operation of the immigration controls;
   6. the maintenance of security and good order in prisons or in other institutionswhere persons are lawfully detained;
   7. the exercise by any public authority of its functions for any of the purposesspecified in subsection (2);
   8. any civil proceedings which are brought by or on behalf of a public authority andarise out of an investigation conducted, for any of the purposes specified insubsection (2), by or on behalf of the authority by virtue of Her Majesty’sprerogative or by virtue of powers conferred by or under an enactment; or
   9. any inquiry held under the [Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deathsetc.(Scotland) Act 2016] to the extent that the inquiry arises out of aninvestigation conducted, for any of the purposes specified in subsection (2), byor on behalf of the authority by virtue of Her Majesty’s prerogative or by virtueof powers conferred by or under an enactment.

Section 31 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is categorised as a Qualified and Prejudice Based type exemption and therefore requires a public interest test to be carried and furthermore requires that Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service articulate the harm in disclosure.

Section 24

Overall Harm

As an emergency service Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Services must ensure that certain information relating to details of its equipment and material, which would be deemed essential in order to carry out our operational duties is appropriately protected from those who wish to cause harm or disruption both at a local and national level. Releasing information such as VRM and base location of such assets would create a major vulnerability to our aim to maintain the effective operation of our local and national emergency provision. The threat to the UK (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) from terrorism is classified as substantial which indicates that an attack is likely. The Threat levels do not have an expiry date. They can change at any time as different information becomes available and is set by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre and the Security Service (MI5). In order to save lives, minimise harm and lessen the overall consequences of a terrorist attack within the country, it is vital that measures are in place to ensure rapid and unimpeded response to such events occur and reduce potential hostiles from targeting our facilities. The Service believes that maintaining security and ensuring public safety in a national and local context takes precedence over releasing certain information and it is believed to disclose the requested information intensifies through potential risks.

Public Interest Test

Favour in disclosure: Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Services understands that there would be a public interest in knowing how public funds are spent on such vehicles, that those vehicles were well maintained, designed for the task they are to perform, adequate numbers of such vehicles are in stock and placed to respond to any type of incident. It further encourages openness and transparency between the service fostering public support and confidence

Favour in non-disclosure: As an emergency service Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Services must ensure that certain information relating to details of its equipment and material, which would be deemed essential in order to carry out our operational duties is appropriately protected from those who wish to cause harm or disruption both at a local and national level. Releasing information such as VRM and base location of such assets would create a major vulnerability to its aim to maintain the effective operation of its local and national emergency provision. It is further argued that disclosing the information would not add to the public’s understanding or awareness on the matter and would simply provide a detail repository of emergency equipment for those who may wish to cause harm both to the country and the public.

Section 31

Overall Harm

As an emergency service Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Services must ensure that certain information relating to details of its equipment and material, which would be deemed essential in order to carry out our operational duties is appropriately protected from those who wish to commit criminality or cause harm and disruption. The introduction of number plate recognition cameras (ANPR) which allows for the instantaneous checking of registration numbers against a national database. Police forces use ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) technology to help detect, deter and disrupt criminal activity at a local, force, regional and national level. This includes travelling criminals (those using the road network to avoid being caught), organised crime groups and terrorists. Releasing the VRM data for our fleet effectively provides a repository to ‘the world at large’ of all our licence plates tied to vehicle models and roles would, in our view, provide a ready database of licence plates tied to specific vehicle models that could be exploited by those attempting vehicle crime or fraud.

Public Interest Test

Favour in disclosure: Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Services understands that there would be a public interest in knowing how public funds are spent on such vehicles, that those vehicles were well maintained, designed for the task they are to perform, adequate numbers of such vehicles are in stock and placed to respond to any type of incident. It further encourages openness and transparency between the service fostering public support and confidence.

Favour in non-disclosure: As an emergency service Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Services must ensure that certain information relating to details of its equipment and material, which would be deemed essential in order to carry out our operational duties is appropriately protected from those who wish to commit criminality or cause harm and disruption. Releasing the VRM data for our fleet effectively provides a repository to ‘the world at large’ of all our licence plates tied to vehicle models and roles would, in our view, provide a ready database of licence plates tied to specific vehicle models that could be exploited by those attempting vehicle crime or fraud. This would create a major vulnerability to our aim to maintain the effective operations of our local and national emergency provision. Furthermore, the potential impact not only affect the service but law enforcement as well, the intent on criminal and those who would seek to harm or endanger public safety would adversely affect the Police Service creating additional burden in their duty to prevent crime.

Balance of the public interest for both s24 & 31

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service considers that there is a public interest in knowing that the fire and rescue service have appropriate vehicles and that disclosing the registration marks and base locations alongside other vehicle details could ordinarily meet this interest. However, the public interest in disclosing that information is very slight as it would add very little in terms of accountability for public expenditure or decision-making. Whereby the public interest in safeguarding national security is very great indeed. Having found that the exemptions are engaged in this case, for the reasons stated above, that this public interest could only be balanced by the presence of equally strong public interest factors in favour of disclosure. There are none in this case. Therefore, the balance of the public interest weighs heavily in favour of maintaining the exemption.

Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write or contact the Executive Support via e-mail or letter quoting the above reference number.