Please complete the Freedom of Information Request Form , email your request in to Information.Officer@twfire.gov.uk or write to:
Information Governance
Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service headquarters
Nissan Way
Washington
Sunderland
Tyne and Wear
SR5 3QY

You must include in your request; your name and address/email address.

We will acknowledge your request within two working days and then respond with a reply within twenty working days of receipt. If this is not possible, we will tell you why and keep you updated. This could be the request requires a lot of work and man hours to collate the information requested. 

It is possible that we will need to make a charge for some data due to the amount or type requested. 

Please note that in rare cases where we calculate that it will cost more than £450 (the ‘appropriate limit’ as per the FOIA) to collate and provide the information you have requested, we may decline to provide the information or issue a fees notice.For further information on the FOIA, please check the Information Commissioner’s Office website (opens in a new window)

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides public access to information held by public authorities.

It does this in two ways:

• public authorities are obliged to publish certain information about their activities; and
• members of the public are entitled to request information from public authorities.

The Act covers any recorded information that is held by a public authority in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and by UK-wide public authorities based in Scotland. Information held by Scottish public authorities is covered by Scotland’s own Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Public authorities include government departments, local authorities, the NHS, state schools and police forces. However, the Act does not necessarily cover every organisation that receives public money. For example, it does not cover some charities that receive grants and certain private sector organisations that perform public functions.

Recorded information includes printed documents, computer files, letters, emails, photographs, and sound or video recordings.

The Act does not give people access to their own personal data (information about themselves) such as their health records or credit reference file. If a member of the public wants to see information that a public authority holds about them, they should make a data protection Subject Access Request. This can be done on ourSubject Access Request page.

The main principle behind freedom of information legislation is that people have a right to know about the activities of public authorities, unless there is a good reason for them not to. This is sometimes described as a presumption or assumption in favour of disclosure. The Act is also sometimes described as purpose and applicant blind.

This means that:

• everybody has a right to access official information. Disclosure of information should be the default – in other words, information should be kept private only when there is a good reason, and it is permitted by the Act;
• an applicant (requester) does not need to give you a reason for wanting the information. On the contrary, you must justify refusing them information.
• you must treat all requests for information equally, except under some circumstances relating to vexatious requests and personal data. The information someone can get under the Act should not be affected by who they are. You should treat all requesters equally, whether they are journalists, local residents, public authority employees, or foreign researchers; and
• because you should treat all requesters equally, you should only disclose information under the Act if you would disclose it to anyone else who asked. In other words, you should consider any information you release under the Act as if it were being released to the world at large.

This does not prevent you voluntarily giving information to certain people outside the provisions of the Act.

For more information please go the Information Commissioner’s Office website. We may refuse a request if we consider it to be vexatious or repeated.

Here you’ll find commonly requested information under the FOI Act. Before submitting a new FOI request, please check this section – the information you’re seeking may already be available.

Please note: If you submit a request for information that is already published, your request may be declined, and you will be referred back to this section.

If you require more detailed information than what is published, consider refining your request accordingly.