Date of Request
26/01/2026
Request
Dear Information Governance Team,
Please treat this as a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
This request concerns a numerical inconsistency between official HWFRS documents regarding the number of Land Rover officer response vehicles in service between 2015 and 2019.
Background (for clarity only)
• In December 2015, HWFRS stated that the officer response fleet had been reduced from 45 vehicles to 27 vehicles (24 officer vehicles and 3 pool/spare vehicles), presented as an efficiency and cost-saving measure.
• In the Replacement Officer Car Review (December 2017), HWFRS states that the operational requirement was approximately 30 substantive officer vehicles plus reserve vehicles, equating to approximately 35–36 vehicles.
• In the Volvo Replacement Justification 2019, HWFRS states: “In total the service was operating 36 Land Rover response cars and at a later date in 2018 it was decided to replace all of them with the Volvo cars.”
• The Officer Car Replacement Review 2021 further confirms that all 36 Land Rover vehicles were disposed of between May 2018 and July 2019.
These statements cannot all be correct without further explanation.
Information requested
Please provide all recorded information held by HWFRS that does the following:
1. Provides a definitive year-by-year total of Land Rover officer response vehicles (Freelander and Discovery Sport combined) in service for each financial year from 2009/10 to 2018/19 inclusive, stating:
• total vehicles in service,
• number allocated to officers,
• number classed as spare, reserve, or pool vehicles.
2. Explains how the December 2015 statement that the fleet had been reduced to 27 vehicles reconciles with later documents confirming that 36 Land Rover response vehicles were in operation and subsequently disposed of.
3. Identifies whether, after December 2015:
• additional Land Rover response vehicles were retained, returned, reintroduced, or newly acquired, and
• if so, when this occurred and under whose authority.
4. Provides any reports, briefings, emails, committee papers, or internal correspondence that:
• discuss the increase from 27 to approximately 36 Land Rover response vehicles, or
• acknowledge or explain that the 27-vehicle figure no longer reflected the actual fleet size.
5. Identifies the board, committee, or officer role responsible for approving or endorsing the officer response fleet size that resulted in 36 Land Rover vehicles being in service by 2018.
If no recorded information is held that reconciles these figures, please confirm explicitly that no such explanation exists in the records held by the Service.
Electronic copies are preferred.
If any part of this request requires clarification, please contact me before refusing or limiting the request.
Kind regards,
Response
Good Afternoon,
Thank you for your request for information, which has been received by Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (the Service) and considered under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.
The Service can confirm that the information that you have requested is partially held and can be found below and as per the attached:
Please provide all recorded information held by HWFRS that does the following:
1. Provides a definitive year-by-year total of Land Rover officer response vehicles (Freelander and Discovery Sport combined) in service for each financial year from 2009/10 to 2018/19 inclusive, stating:
• total vehicles in service,
• number allocated to officers,
• number classed as spare, reserve, or pool vehicles.
The dataset requested is not recorded in document(s) that enable reconstruction of recorded annual fleet totals. To answer this enquiry would require documentation by year that sets out purchase date, date the vehicle enters service, length of time that vehicle was in service, date of disposal of that vehicle or what role that vehicle was assigned to.
There is insufficient data or documents that sets out purchase date, date the vehicle enters service, length of time that vehicle was in service, date of disposal of that vehicle or what role that vehicle was assigned to – that would allow production of a definitive list of Land Rover officer response vehicles between 2009/10 and 2018/19.
· In 2008, 45 vehicles were required – A breakdown of how these were allocated is not held.
· In 2012, an SLB paper dated 30/10/12 (attached) explains that due to service reorganisation 31 vehicles are required – 28 for flexi-duty officers and three pool vehicles to be used for development opportunities and provide extra resilience. The paper goes on to say, due to natural wastage this is likely to drop to 28 in total.
· In 2015, the structure was reviewed and we know from the SLB paper dated 07/12/15 (attached) that 27 vehicles were required (24 for Flexi-duty Officers and three for the pool).
· At this stage senior officers were not on the same scheme and were not provided with the same vehicles.
· The 2016-21 Fleet Strategy (attached) outlines the need for 35 vehicles, allocating 4 for Principal Officers, 3 for Area Commanders, 24 for Flexi-duty Officers and 4 for resilience.
· The Volvo Replacement Justification document 2019 (attached) states that it was decided to replace all 30 of the operational response cars in one batch, and that in total the service was operating 36 Land Rover response cars. It is not clear from the papers available how many were pool / officer cars.
· The Officer Car Replacement Review Dec 2021 (attached) states that old vehicles were disposed of between 2018 and 2019. The new vehicles were delivered in batches during this period.
2. Explains how the December 2015 statement that the fleet had been reduced to 27 vehicles reconciles with later documents confirming that 36 Land Rover response vehicles were in operation and subsequently disposed of.
See above – in 2015, vehicles were provided for flexi-duty officers only. At that time, there were 24 flexi-duty officer cars and 3 pool cars. Cars for other ranks were provided separately and were not counted in these 2015 figures.
3. Identifies whether, after December 2015:
• additional Land Rover response vehicles were retained, returned, reintroduced, or newly acquired, and
• if so, when this occurred and under whose authority.
See above – In 2015, Area Commanders were then incorporated into the same vehicle provision scheme (agreed by SMB). In 2016, aligning to the new Fleet Strategy, Principal Officers were also incorporated (Fleet Strategy agreed via Policy and Resources Committee).
4. Provides any reports, briefings, emails, committee papers, or internal correspondence that:
• discuss the increase from 27 to approximately 36 Land Rover response vehicles, or
• acknowledge or explain that the 27-vehicle figure no longer reflected the actual fleet size.
See attached and above.
5. Identifies the board, committee, or officer role responsible for approving or endorsing the officer response fleet size that resulted in 36 Land Rover vehicles being in service by 2018.
Agenda Document Pack – Policy and Resources Committee – 31_01_2018 10_30_00 – Please see paragraph 39 and appendix 6.
Paper FL 16 02 confirms that a Task and Finish group was established by the Policy and Resources Committee to review the Fleet Strategy in January 2016. The group’s report, dated 16/06/16, is at the following link: Vehicle Fleet Capital Programme report FINAL to FRA v2
If you have any questions regarding your request, please contact Information Governance on tel: 0345 122 4454 or by e-mail at informationrequests@hwfire.org.uk. In any such communication please include the reference number assigned (see Subject).
Should you have any queries regarding the management of your request and wish to make either a complaint or request a review of the information disclosed to you, please do so by using Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service’s complaints system: Comments and Complaints. This must be done within 40 working days of our response to your request. After this date, in line with ICO guidance the Service is not obliged to provide an internal review of your request.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the internal review, you may appeal the decision by contacting the Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF, Tel: 0303 123 1113 (alternatively 01625 545745) or E-mail: casework@ico.org.uk.
Further information on Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service may be viewed at the Service’s website: www.hwfire.org.uk
Thank you for your request for information.
Kind regards,
Information Governance Team