FOI 26-007 Minor Collision Information
Freedom of Information Request
- Reference
- FOI 26-007 Minor Collision Information
- Request Date
- 31 Jan 2026
- Response Date
- 09 Feb 2026
- Information Requested
- Email Correspondence
Please provide copies of any email correspondence, sent within the last 12 months, from a Head of Service (or equivalent senior manager) to an Area Service Manager (ASM) and/or Team Leaders, which references:
- A minor vehicle incident involving an ambulance; and
- Consideration of “remedial training” (or similar terminology) following such an incident; and
- Queries regarding the presence of a banksman at the time of the incident.
If possible, please include the date of the email(s), the sender’s role (not name), and the recipient roles. Personal data may be redacted as appropriate.
- Minor Vehicle Incidents – West Region
For the West Region of the Scottish Ambulance Service, please provide the following information for the 12-month period preceding the date of this request:
- a) The total number of minor vehicle incidents recorded involving operational ambulance staff; and
- b) Of those incidents, the number where staff were:
- Directed, recommended or required to undertake remedial training, refresher training or any additional driving-related training as a result.
- Criteria for Senior Management Involvement
Please provide details of any guidance, criteria, or thresholds that determine:
- When a Head of Service (or equivalent senior manager) becomes involved in the review of minor vehicle incidents; and
- Whether such involvement is standard practice or applied on a discretionary basis.
- Policy and Procedure Basis
Please provide copies of any current policies, procedures, guidance documents or internal frameworks that:
- Govern the management of minor vehicle incidents; and
- Set out circumstances in which remedial or refresher training may be considered following such incidents.
If there has been any change to policy or practice within the last 24 months relating to this matter, please provide:
- The date of the change; and
- Any documentation evidencing consultation or partnership engagement related to that change.
- Terminology Used
Please confirm whether the term “remedial training” is formally defined or used within Scottish Ambulance Service policy or guidance documents.
If so, please provide the relevant definition or reference.
- Definition and Classification of Road Traffic Collisions (RTCs)
- Please provide the Scottish Ambulance Service’s formal definition of a “Road Traffic Collision (RTC)”, as used in:
- Operational reporting
- Incident management
- Training, governance or disciplinary frameworks
- Please confirm whether Scottish Ambulance Service formally distinguishes between:
- An RTC involving injury
- A damage-only RTC
- A minor vehicle incident. If so, please provide the definitions used for each category.
- Please provide copies of any policies, procedures, guidance documents or internal instructions that set out:
- How vehicle incidents are classified (including low-speed or reversing incidents); and
- How the classification impacts management response, escalation or training considerations.
- Please confirm whether all RTCs, including damage-only incidents involving fixed objects (e.g. lamp posts), are:
- Automatically escalated to senior management; or
- Subject to discretionary escalation based on defined criteria.
If criteria exist, please provide details.
- Please confirm whether the classification of an incident as an RTC or minor incident automatically triggers consideration of remedial or refresher training, or whether additional factors must be present.
Clarification was sought by the Scottish Ambulance Service on the 6 January 2025 asking for further context and provided assistance on the information which may be held and to be considered in scope of your request.
Clarification was received on, 12/01/2026, requesting the following;
- Email correspondence
This is not a request for emails relating to me personally or to any incident I have been involved in.
The request relates to role-based internal correspondence, as specified, namely emails sent within the last 12 months from a Head of Service (or equivalent senior manager) to Area Service Managers and/or Team Leaders, where the content references:
- an ambulance vehicle incident;
- consideration of remedial, refresher or additional driving-related training; and
- discussion regarding the presence or absence of a banksman.
I am content for reasonable and proportionate searches to be undertaken using relevant subject matter, keywords, folders and for personal data to be redacted as appropriate.
2–4. “Minor Vehicle Incident” terminology and incident data
I acknowledge that “Minor Vehicle Incident” is not a defined category within Scottish Ambulance Service systems.
For the purposes of this request, I am content for the information to be provided using the categories and classifications actually held by SAS, including (but not limited to):
- damage-only incidents;
- low-speed or reversing incidents;
- accidental damage claims; and
- other relevant loss cause or claim type categories used for insurance or governance purposes.
Where possible, I would be grateful if the response could indicate which internal categories have been used to answer the request.
I am not asking SAS to create new information, only to provide information already held within existing systems.
3–5. Policies, criteria, definitions and escalation
For questions relating to senior management involvement, classification of incidents, escalation and consideration of training I am seeking copies of any existing policies, procedures, guidance documents or internal frameworks that address these matters.
If no formal definitions, criteria or distinctions exist, a confirmation of that position would be sufficient. Where responses are provided by reference to SAS claim type categories or loss cause classifications rather than the terminology used in my request, that would meet my needs.
- Response
Q1. To respond to all mailboxes over a 12‑month period would require identifying and searching a large population of senior management accounts, triaging results to confirm the three specific content conditions (vehicle incident, training, and banksman), and then line‑by‑line redaction of personal data. When scaled to the number of mailboxes involved, the work would exceed the £600 cost limit; accordingly, we are applying Section 12(1) of FOISA (Excessive Cost of Compliance) to this part of your request.
Q2. - There have been 775 Road Traffic Collisions reported between 29/01/2025 - 28/01/2026. This figure is inclusive of where the collision has caused damage to a SAS vehicle, third party vehicle, or property.Training outcomes are determined case‑by‑case under MORR/driver standards and recorded in local investigation outcomes or individual learning records; SAS does not hold a discrete, reportable dataset for the “number where training was directed/recommended/required”. It is for this reason we have applied to section 17 of the Freedom of Information Scotland 2002, as information not held.
Q3 - In brief, vehicle incidents are reported through our incident system, InPhase (previously DATIX) and are categorised by type and severity (e.g., collision, low‑speed/reversing, near‑miss). The classification determines the level of investigation (local review through to formal investigation), escalation (to Fleet, Health & Safety and Driving Standards where appropriate), and any training or remedial actions (such as refresher driver training or supervised assessments) where trends or risk factors are identified. As such, SAS does not hold a separate, formal threshold document that automatically escalates damage‑only RTCs or other minor vehicle incidents to a Head of Service for review. Escalation and managerial involvement are addressed within our Accident & Incident Reporting Procedure and applied case‑by‑case according to severity, regulatory considerations and learning. We therefore apply Section 17 (Information not held) to a specific “automatic threshold” document.
Q4 - We attach copies of the current Management of Occupational Road Risk (MORR) suite and related materials which govern work‑related driving, incident management and standards: (i) HS 039 MORR Policy; (ii) HS 039A Safe Driver and Driving Standards; (iii) HS 039B Safe Vehicle Standard; (iv) Accident & Incident Reporting Procedure. These documents set out the framework for managing incidents and determining when refresher or additional driver training may be considered following an incident.
Change within the last 24 months: The HS 039 suite was reviewed and approved in 2025 through the Health, Safety and Wellbeing Group, Policy Review Group, National Partnership Forum and Staff Governance Committee. Each policy contains a revision history section which noted the dates of changes and the groups that were consulted and signed off on the changes, including the date it was signed off.
Q5 - The term “remedial training” is not formally defined within SAS policies. Training actions are described in policy and risk assessments as “refresher” or “additional driver training”, determined case‑by‑case under the MORR framework and local investigation outcomes. Accordingly, we apply Section 17 (Information not held) to a request for a formal SAS definition of “remedial training”.
- Response Documents
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HS 048 Accident And Incident Reporting Procedure Redacted (2) (PDF | 791KB)
HS 039C Safe Journey Redacted (2) (PDF | 945KB)
HS 039A Safe Driver And Driving Standards Redacted (2) (PDF | 964KB)
