Applying for Official Information through The Freedom of Information Act 2000 enables you to apply for all recorded information held by Public Authorities, including South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, unless that information is already available either through this website, or in some other way.  

Requests for information must be received in writing; you can do this either in a letter or an email. You must provide as much detail as possible about the information you require and provide us with contact details, should we need to get in touch about your request.

Once we receive your request, and we understand what it is that you need, we have 20 working days to respond. In most cases, we will provide all the information you ask for, however, there are some exemptions where we are not obliged to release material which may, for example, put risk to public safety. If any information is removed before we send it to you, this will be clearly marked and fully explained.

There are also exemptions that apply to requests which are too large, or that may be considered unreasonable and also to repeated requests. You will be notified as soon as possible if this applies, however, we will always try to assist as much as we can.

There’s no charge for information disclosed under Freedom of Information, but there is a limit on how much time we are obliged to spend in dealing with requests. If your request would take longer than the upper limit (18.5 hours), we will contact you to discuss if there is any other way we can help.

Requests for Incident Reports (IRS reports)

This information will normally only be provided to solicitors, insurance companies and loss adjusters ,who are acting on behalf of the owner/occupier of a property or vehicle affected during an incident, and which has been formally recorded within the relevant incident record.

Information can also be provided to someone acting on behalf of an individual, who has been recorded on the incident record as being injured.

There’s a formal application process for this information and there is a fee for the provision of an IRS report. In the first instance, enquiries should be sent by email to dataprotection@southwales-fire.gov.uk, specifying the incident address, date and, if possible, the time that the incident took place. The Information Management Team will provide you with the relevant forms and further information on how to apply.

Requesting Official Information

We’ve tried to make as much information available through this website, however, if you can’t find what you’re looking for, our Information Governance & Compliance Team may be able to help.

Applying for Personal Information

If the information you are looking for is about you as an individual, about another person, or may contain information that could identify people, then your request would be reviewed under Data Protection Legislation.

Information About You

If you are requesting information about yourself, you must apply in writing, clearly describing the information you are looking for. You will also have to provide documentation to prove your identity and of your current address. You can do this either by email, or in a letter.

You will be entitled only to information that is about you as an individual. Any references to other people, or information that is not about you will be removed from the documentation. This will be clearly shown and explained on any details provided.

Information About Other People

If you are requesting information about, or on behalf of, another person we will require clear, written consent from that person and a clear indication as to where they want that information to be sent.

We will require identification from that person too, as well as proof of their address, or your address, if that is where they wish the documentation to be sent.

They will be entitled only to information that is about them as an individual. Any references to other people, or information that is not about them will be removed from the documentation. This will be clearly shown and explained on any details provided

If you require further information on applying for personal data, or would like to know more about the personal information South Wales Fire and Rescue Service collects, please contact our designated Data Protection Officer.

FOI request responses

We publish a selection of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests received from the last few years. FOI queries have been responded to in the language they were requested, and are listed by number and year. Due to privacy reasons we have removed any personal details. We do not publish duplicate or repeat requests. For more information please contact our Information Management Team on 01443 232213. The information was correct at the time of publication but is not revised or updated. It may not accurately reflect the current situation and should be viewed as an historical record.

UPDATE COVID-19: Information Requests

We are kindly asking that any data protection correspondence come to Information Governance & Compliance via email, as due to Government advice many of our support staff are working flexibly and we may not be in receipt of physical post as normal. SWFRS anticipates that it may take us longer than 20 working days to complete Freedom of Information Requests and Subject Access Requests. The Information Commissioner recognises that there might be delays as our services and resources may be being utilised in slightly different ways, under the current unprecedented circumstances