National Headquarters
Level 12
80 The Terrace
PO Box 2133
Wellington
New Zealand
Phone +64 4 496 3600
20 January 2022
Alan Thompson
By email: [FYI request #17801 email]
Dear Alan
Information Request – Incident Command System
I refer to your official information request dated 2 December 2021 asking for information about
the Incident Command System (ICS).
Your request has been considered in accordance with the provisions of the Official Information Act
1982 (OIA). Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s response to your questions are set out below.
1. Which “Incident Command System” FENZ identified and has now implemented as advised in
the Jan 2019 update to the Port Hills Action Plan as set out above?
At a recent Service Delivery Leadership Team (SDLT) meeting a paper on incident management
was discussed. As a result, SDLT:
• Endorsed the concept of developing an incident management system that may not
explicitly name the base operating system, but rather develop Fire and Emergency
guidance documents based on ICS principles.
• Endorsed the concept of operations for incident management outlined in the paper.
• Discussed the concept of using the Emergency Management Professionalisation Scheme
(EMPS) system for accreditation for Incident Management Team roles not covered by the
Fire and Emergency technical competency framework.
• Endorsed the development of command and control guidance documents outlined in the
paper (Incident Management Policy, Standard Operating Guidelines, Guideline Support
Documents).
• Endorsed the progression of this capability.
• Directed the National Manager Response Capability to seek funding to develop an
indicative business case to present to the Investment Panel to progress this capability.
Due to the status of the programme of work no steps have yet been undertaken to implement
changes to the “Incident Command System” as identified in the Port Hills Action Plan.
Consequently, this aspect of your request is declined under section 18(e) of the Official
Information Act 1982 as the information you have requested does not exist.
2. A copy of the “Map” and other supporting documentation as advised in the Jan 2019 Update
that now sets out how FENZ “remains inter-operable with multi-agency incidents, plugs into
CIMS and the CIMS incident levels”.
Fire and Emergency is currently recruiting to fill the role of Senior Specialist Incident Control, who
will be responsible for undertaking this work. Consequently, this aspect of your request is declined
under section 18(e) of the Official Information Act as the documents you have requested do not
exist.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision.
Information about how to make a complaint is availab
le at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely
Raewyn Bleakley
Deputy Chief Executive, Office of the Chief Executive
