This guide is designed to help you find information on our website, and also sits in accordance with the Local Government Transparency Code which was issued to:
- Meet the Government’s desire to place more power into citizens’ hands.
- Increase democratic accountability.
- Make it easier for local people to contribute to the local decision-making process and help shape public services.
Where possible, we make information about Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service available to download directly from this website, however if you cannot find the information you are looking for, please use the Contact Us form to let us know.
Please note: We regularly update our documents and our website, and will ensure the latest, published, version of the information listed below will be added as soon as we can.
1 – Who we are and what we do
- Senior staff salary information
- Senior Management Team
- The geographical area we cover, the communities we serve and our responsibilities
- News about us and the activities we undertake
- Incidents we attend
- Public events and meetings
2 – What we spend and how we spend it
Within the Financial Information section of this website you can access our financial documents including:
- Annual Financial Statements
- Anti-money Laundering Policy
- Authority expenditure over £500
- Contracts Register
- Council tax information
- Efficiency Plan
- Members Scheme of Allowances
- Allowances Paid
- Authority Expenditure over £5,000
- Purchase card expenditure
- Reserves Strategy
- Standard Terms of Business for Purchase Orders where No Contract is in place
- Senior staff salary information
There are further documents available within the Governance area, including:
- Financial Instructions
- Financial Regulations
- Scheme of Delegation
- Code of Conduct for Councillors and Co-opted Members
- Counter Fraud and Corruption Policy
- Local Code of Conduct Complaints Process
- List of Politically Restricted Posts
- Services we charge for
- Standing Orders for the Authority and its Committees
- Standing Orders Relating to Contracts
- Scheme of Delegation to Officers
- Terms of Reference for the Authority and its Committees
- The Buckinghamshire Fire Services (Combination Scheme) Order 1996
- Protocol on Member and Officer Relations
- Statement of Assurances
- Treasury Management Strategy
- Register of gifts and hospitality
- Register of Interests
We also provide information about Trade Union facility time and our Local Pension Board.
3 – What our priorities are and how we are doing
Our organisational plans and objectives can be found within the Our Plans section, and includes:
- Public Safety Plan – our strategic plan
- Corporate Plan – our business plan containing strategic objectives and enablers.
- Equality and Diversity Objectives
- Efficiency plan
Formal reports and statistical data indicating service provision, performance assessments and operational assessments can be found within the Our Results section, and includes:
Note: Plans and performance data are all reported to Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire Authority and can be found in the agendas for their meetings.
4 – How we make decisions
- Public meetings (meeting schedule, agendas, background papers and approved minutes)
- Public consultations
5 – Our Policies
Our external facing policy documents (once approved by Members) are accessible here.
Policies for the conduct of authority business – Standing Orders, delegated powers, corporate governance, code of conduct, memoranda of understanding, and similar matters.
Policies and procedures for the provision of services – Policies of the authority that affect the manner in which services are provided. This will include any policies and procedures for handling requests for information.
Policies and procedures about the employment of staff – Such as equality, recruitment, pay, privacy, discipline, grievance, health and safety. Details of current vacancies are available here.
We also publish external facing documents relating to:
Customer service standards for the provision of services to our customers, including the
complaint procedure and complaints policy, and requests for information.
Records management and personal data policies – This will include information security policies, records retention, destruction and archive policies, and data protection (including data sharing) policies.
6 – Charges for information
Please note that while there is no charge for the information available on our website, there may be a charge if you request information, or if you require information in other formats.
If the information you request incurs a charge we will advise you prior to producing the information.
We will make a charge for copying and postage. Currently we charge 10p per sheet for photocopies and postage is charged at the prevailing UK rate.
There are charges for some of our services, including reports. These are explained in the section on services we charge for.
If the information you are looking for is not available on our website, or if you wish to request information in another format, please phone Katie Nellist on 01296 744633 or email InformationGovernance@bucksfire.gov.uk
7 – Lists and registers
Information on our fleet is available in the ‘Find Fire Stations’ section of our About Us page. Enter your postcode to find your nearest Fire Stations and view their fleets.
Asset lists and information asset register – all details from all asset registers and from capital asset registers
Registers open to public inspection (and arrangements for access to the contents)
Our disclosure logs list our responses to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 which we feel are of wider public interest.
View our responses to requests made between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024 here.
View our responses to requests made between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023 here.
View our responses to requests made between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022 here.
View our responses to requests made between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021 here.
View our responses to requests made between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020 here.
View our responses to requests made between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2019 here.
Register of Members’ interests
Register of gifts and hospitality
8 – The services we offer
How to make a complaint or suggestion, raise a concern or pay a compliment
Making a general request for information
Useful links
Information Commissioner’s Office – www.ico.org.uk
Thames Valley Local Resilience Forum – www.thamesvalleylrf.org.uk
