I am seeking information relating to wildfire risk, grass fires, firebreak management and wildfire preparedness within the London Borough of Havering. 1. Grass and Outdoor Fire Incidents Please provide, for the period 1 January 2022 to the date of this request: a) The number of grass fires, scrubland fires, outdoor fires and wildfire incidents attended by the London Fire Brigade within the London Borough of Havering. b) A breakdown by year. c) Where available, a breakdown by ward or incident location. d) Details of the locations within Havering that have generated the highest number of grass fire or outdoor fire callouts. 2. High-Risk Locations Please provide: a) Any hotspot analysis, risk mapping or similar assessments identifying areas within Havering that are considered to be at elevated risk of grass fires, wildfires or outdoor fires. b) Any reports specifically relating to Launders Lane, Rainham, Ingrebourne Hill, Wennington, Berwick Manor or the wider South Havering area. 3. Engagement with Havering Council For the period 1 January 2023 to the date of this request, please provide: a) Copies of correspondence between the London Fire Brigade and Havering Council concerning: grass fires; wildfires; outdoor fires; firebreaks; vegetation management; wildfire mitigation measures; access for emergency vehicles; hydrant access or hydrant signage. b) Copies of any recommendations, observations, concerns or action plans provided to Havering Council relating to wildfire preparedness. 4. Joint Inspections and Site Visits Please provide: a) Details of any joint inspections, site visits or assessments undertaken with Havering Council relating to wildfire or grass fire risks since 1 January 2023. b) Any resulting reports, recommendations or actions arising from those inspections. 5. Firebreaks and Mitigation Measures Please provide: a) Any records held by the London Fire Brigade concerning the adequacy, maintenance or condition of firebreaks within Havering. b) Any recommendations made by the Brigade to Havering Council, public bodies or landowners regarding firebreak maintenance or vegetation management. c) Any documents setting out best practice measures discussed with Havering Council in relation to wildfire mitigation. 6. Hydrant Access Please provide: a) Any records from 1 January 2023 onwards identifying concerns regarding access to fire hydrants within Havering. b) Any correspondence or recommendations made to Havering Council or other landowners regarding hydrant access, visibility or signage. 7. Lessons Learned Please provide: a) Any post-incident reviews, debriefs or lessons learned reports relating to significant grass fires or outdoor fires in Havering since 1 January 2022. b) Any resulting recommendations made to public bodies, landowners or local authorities.
Thank you for your request for information about grass fires, wildfire risk, firebreak management and wildfire preparedness in the London Borough of Havering.
We apologise for the delay in responding. We should have replied within 20 working days.
Our response
We are not able to comply with your request. Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not require a public authority to comply with a request where the cost of doing so would exceed the appropriate limit. For London Fire Brigade, this limit is £450, which equals 18 hours of work at £25 per hour, as set out in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.
Your request has seven parts. It covers incident data, risk assessments, all correspondence with Havering Council on eight subjects since January 2023, joint site visits, firebreak records, hydrant access concerns, and post-incident reviews since January 2022. To find all the information in scope, we would need to search the records and email accounts of several teams over a period of nearly four years. We estimate that locating, retrieving and extracting this information would take well over 18 hours.
Advice and assistance
Under section 16 of the Act, we suggest the following ways to refine your request:
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Incident figures (part 1). We publish records of every incident we have attended since 2009 on the London Datastore, including the incident type and location, with ward and postcode breakdowns available: https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/london-fire-brigade-incident-records-em8xy
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Correspondence (parts 3, 5 and 6). Asking for formal recommendations, action plans or reports sent to Havering Council, rather than all correspondence on each subject, would greatly reduce the searching involved.
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Post-incident reviews (part 7). Naming a specific incident would help us identify the relevant reviews quickly.
You could also limit your request to fewer parts. Any refined request will be treated as a new request.
