National Headquarters
Fire and Emergency New Zealand
National Headquarters
Spark Central, Level 7
42-52 Wil is Street
Wel ington Central
Wel ington 6011
Phone +64 4 496 3600
5 August 2025
Ref: 18083
J Price
[FYI request #31019 email]
Tēnā koe J
We refer to your request of 19 May 2025, to Fire and Emergency New Zealand, requesting
information relating to Board meeting minutes and attachments on culture change, bul ying and
harassment complaints and processes. Your request has been considered under the Official
Information Act 1982 (OIA) and our response is below. Please note, the order of the questions
differ to the order you asked them in your initial request.
1. In response OIA request 16626 on 6th March 2025, you released copies of the minutes of
Board meetings from 1 March 2022 to 19 December 2024. Further to that request, please
could you publish copies of the minutes of Board meetings from 20 December 2024 to the
current date.
Please find attached, as
Appendix One to this response, a copy of the requested information.
Some information has been withheld under the fol owing sections of the OIA:
•
9(2)(a), to protect the privacy of natural persons.
•
9(2)(f)(iv), to maintain the constitutional conventions for the time being which protect
the confidentiality of advice tendered by Ministers of the Crown and officials; and
•
9(2)(j), to enable a Minister of the Crown or any public service agency or organisation
holding the information to carry on, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations
(including commercial and industrial negotiations).
Please note that on page 5 a bullet point has been highlighted because despite the minute being
approved, Fair Way considers that the statement was not an accurate reflection of what was
discussed in that meeting. Their view of the messaging conveyed to the Board regarding the cost
of investigations was as follows:
• To help ensure that investigations maintain a cost-effective lens, Fair Way review
investigation costs to ensure they are as efficient as possible.
• Fair Way is conscious that investigations can be expensive and time consuming; we have
examples of escalated cases where the investigator has questioned the benefit of
continuing through an investigation process.
• If during the triage a case doesn’t meet the criteria for an investigation they are passed
back, with complainant approval, to Fire and Emergency to be resolved through other
pathways, which are usual y more cost-effective and faster than the investigation process.
2. Copies of the People and Culture sub-committee papers referred to in action point 2 of item
4 of the Board meeting minutes of 28 April 2023.
Please find attached, as
Appendix Two to this response, a copy of the requested information.
Some information has been withheld under section 9(2)(h) of the OIA, to maintain legal
professional privilege.
3. Meeting minutes of the People and Culture Committee where the "complaints
management workstream" or Eke Taumata has been discussed (including the meeting
referred to by point 3 of item 2 at the Board meeting on 28 July 2023), with any related
attachments.
Please find attached, as
Appendix Three to this response, a copy of the requested information.
Some information has been withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the OIA, to protect the privacy of
natural persons. Some information embedded within our release to you is outside the of scope of
your request and does not relate to the requested information. Where this has occurred, it has
been labelled as
out of scope. Where full pages of documents have been assessed as out of scope,
the page has been removed.
Please note:
• The Eke Taumata six-month report for June 2023 was included in the document bundle for
the People and Culture Committee Paper dated 7 August 2023. However, we are refusing
this portion of your request under section 18(d) of the OIA, as the information requested
is publicly available on ou
r website.
• The People and Culture Committee minute on page 47 states the date of the meeting was
14 February 2025, unfortunately this is incorrect. The date of this meeting was 4
November 2024.
4. Copies of the data referred to in the Management Actions of section 2.2, point 2 of the
Board meeting on 1 Dec 2023
Please find attached, as
Appendix Four to this response, a copy of the requested information.
Some information has been withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the OIA, to protect the privacy of
natural persons. Some information that is embedded within our release to you is outside the
scope of your request and does not relate to the requested information. Where this has occurred,
it has been labelled as
out of scope. Where ful pages of documents have been assessed as out of
scope, the page has been removed.
In making these decisions, we have considered the public interest considerations in section 9(1) of
the OIA.
5. Copies of relevant sections of al attachment papers provided to the Board meetings from 1
March 2022 to the current date, that contain any information relating to:
a) the Behaviour and Conduct Office (e.g. Chief Executive's Reports, other relevant
reports by DCEs)
b) updates on the Positive Workplace Culture programme and its successor, Eke
Taumata
c) the PSC review into bullying and harassment and complaints handling processes
d) the replacement scheme for the Behaviour and Conduct Office, operated by
Fairway. (including any presentation or reports given by Fairway at the Feb 2025
Board meeting, referenced in point 10.1 of the meeting minutes for 29 Nov 2024)
e) complaint statistics and performance reporting provided for cases handled by the
Behaviour and Conduct Office, its successor independent scheme, and data on any
cases of bullying, harassment or sexual harm not managed by the BCO or its
successor scheme (e.g. cases managed directly by People Branch)
Thank you for agreeing on 3 June 2025 to refine your request to
‘updates and Board documents
where the Board were asked to endorse, approve or note, that contain information related to the
criteria you have laid out in’.
In line with our obligations under the OIA, we have decided to grant this aspect of your request;
however, due to the significant quantity of information captured, we require more time to prepare
the information for release. We will send you the information, where possible, no later than
29 August 2025.
Some information will be withheld or refused under the fol owing sections of the OIA:
• 9(2)(a), to protect the privacy of natural persons.
• 9(2)(b)(ii), to protect information where the making available of the information would be
likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied or
who is the subject of the information.
• 9(2)(ba)(i), to protect information which is subject to an obligation of confidence or which
any person has been or could be compel ed to provide under the authority of any
enactment, where the making available of the information would be likely to prejudice the
supply of similar information, or information from the same source, and it is in the public
interest that such information should continue to be supplied.
• 9(2)(f)(iv), to maintain the constitutional conventions for the time being which protect the
confidentiality of advice tendered by Ministers of the Crown and officials.
• 9(2)(g)(i), to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank
expression of opinions by or between or to Ministers of the Crown or members of an
organisation or officers and employees of any public service agency or organisation in the
course of their duty.
• 9(2)(h), to maintain legal professional privilege.
• 9(2)(j), to enable a Minister of the Crown or any public service agency or organisation
holding the information to carry on, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations
(including commercial and industrial negotiations); and
• 18(d), as the information requested is publicly available.
As with the previous questions, some information that will be embedded within the release to you
will be outside the of scope of your request and will not relate to the requested information.
Where this occurs, it will be labelled as
out of scope. Where full pages of documents are assessed
as out of scope, the page will be removed.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision.
Information about how to make a complaint is available
at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
We trust that the information being provided is of assistance. If you require further information,
please email [FENZ request email]
Please note that because of the identified public interest in the information that you have
requested, we intend to publish this response (with your personal details removed) on our
website.
Nāku noa, nā
Aidan Saunders
Manager, Information Requests
