link to page 1
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
11 February 2026
Ref: 20439
Harwood Wilson
[FYI request #33419 email]
Tēnā koe Harwood
We refer to your request of 5 January 2026 to Fire and Emergency New Zealand requesting
information relating to how Fire and Emergency responds to community growth. Your request has
been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA), and we respond to each aspect of
your request below.
1. Staff Numbers
•
Please provide paid employee numbers as at 1 December 2017 AND as at 1 December
2025, list by department in the most detailed way reasonably possible so that it
explains NHQ positions against local positions, i.e. Firefighter, Risk Management,
Regional Admin, NHQ Admin, Corporate, National Executive etc.
Please find attached, as
Appendix One to this response, the number of permanent and fixed term
staff broken down by workstream and organisation unit as of 1 December 2017, and 30 November
2025.
2. Budget
•
The FENZ Budget has increased dramatically since NZFS, explain how the levy has been
spent with the best interests of the public, detail how the increased budget has been
spent in comparison to NZFS, what might be best is to provide a report based pre 2017
and now with expenditure / department codes, actual meaningful categories (i.e
uniforms, branding, wages, catering), not corporate jargon.
Our Annual Report and Statement of Performance Expectations set out our income and
expenditure, as well as our performance framework, which explains how we assess our
performance and the outputs and activities that enable our frontline services. For this reason, we
are refusing this aspect of your request under section 18(d) of the OIA, as the information
requested is publicly available on Fire and Emergency’s website.
1
1 Available a
t www.fireandemergency.nz/about-us/key-documents/
No direct comparison has been done because Fire and Emergency as an organisation is significantly
different than the former New Zealand Fire Service. Fire and Emergency has a wider mandate and
responsibilities.
In order to strengthen relationships with communities, this requires increased staffing structures to
deliver on those additional responsibilities that include:
• risk reduction
• community readiness and response
• volunteer support
• business support to regional and area management
• training and people support; and
• local planning and advisory committees.
3. Evaluation of resources in communities
•
Has FENZ in the past 10 years, done any evaluation of community growth, demand and
FENZ resources in the fol owing areas': Hibiscus Coast, Hamilton & Selwyn? if so please
provide it.
We need to extend the timeframe of our response to this aspect of your request by 20 working
days, under section 15A(1)(b) of the OIA, as consultations necessary to make a decision on the
request are such that a proper response to the request cannot reasonably be made within the
original time limit. For this reason, you can expect to receive our response to this portion of your
request no later than 13 March 2026. We wil endeavour to respond sooner than this date if
possible. If you no longer require this information, please let us know.
4. Call Numbers
•
Please provide the total call numbers for each appliance over the last 10 years for the
fol owing stations (seperate by year):
•
Silverdale
•
Manly
•
Hamilton
•
Chartwel
•
Te Rapa
•
Lincoln
•
Rol eston
5. Response Targets
•
Please provide the percentage of times station areas met the various response targets
over the past 10 years for the fol owing stations (separate by year and response target)
Silverdale Manly Hamilton Chartwel Te Rapa Lincoln Rol eston
Please find attached, as
Appendix Two to this response,
a copy of the requested information.
6. Building Issues
•
Are there any current recorded issues with buildings not meeting their needs, having
faults, or other concerns at the fol owing locations? if so please explain the issues or
provide documents to explain AND when work is being done to resolve this:
•
Silverdale
•
Manly
•
Chartwel
•
Lincoln
•
Rol eston
We are extending the timeframe of our response to this aspect of your request by 20 working days,
under section 15A(1)(b) of the OIA.
•
7. General
7a. Has FENZ considered the volunteer reliance and workload on Silverdale, Manly,
Rol eston and Lincoln? AND are their any plans to further staff these locations with
career firefighters?
7b. Has FENZ considered improving resources to growth areas' such as Selwyn,
Hamilton and Hibiscus Coast? Rol eston resources have remained the same for
many many years, yet their population has exploded 10 fold in 20 years, what is
FENZ doing to accommodate that?
We are extending the timeframe of our response to this aspect of your request by 20 working days,
under section 15A(1)(b) of the OIA.
•
7c. Do FENZ have data on the levy received from various towns? if so, how much has
been received from the Rol eston Urban area?
Fire and Emergency does not record the breakdown of levy funds received by area. It is recorded
as a total figure. For this reason, we are refusing this aspect of your request under section 18(e) of
the OIA, as the document al eged to contain the information requested does not exist.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of our decisions.
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 in this response 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
