FAQ Details
Gifts and Hospitality - 900/11
Dated: 07 Jun 2011
Date of request: 11/11/2011
Date of response: 01/12/2011
Provision of information held by Northumbria Police made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the 'Act')
Thank you for your email dated 11 November 2011 in which you made a request for access to certain information which may be held by Northumbria Police.
As you may be aware the purpose of the Act is to allow a general right of access to information held by a Public Authority (including the Police), subject to certain limitations and exemptions.
You asked:
Please also supply me with all information you hold concerning following;
All recorded information and documents regarding this entry from your 2010 list; 13/12/10, Principal Solicitor, £400.00, Samuel Phillips Law Firm, Funded training for area of law relevant to practice.
For the past two year period, please also supply me with all details, information and correspondence you hold concerning any other payments and or gifts from Samuel Phillips Law Firm, its solicitors.
For the past two year period, please supply all information you hold concerning all/any business arrangements between Northumbria Police, its officers, its Solicitors and or agents and also Samuel Phillips Law Firm and or its solicitors.
In response:
We have now had the opportunity to fully consider your request and I provide a response for your attention.
Following receipt of your request, searches were conducted with the Legal Department of Northumbria Police. I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by Northumbria Police.
I have decided to disclose the located information to you as follows.
Please note that we are under no obligation under FOI to provide copies of any documents. We are only required to provide the information those documents contain.
On 13th December 2010 a gifts/gratuity was registered which related to an upcoming training course on 18th May 2011 hosted by 11 Kings Bench Walk Chambers in Leeds. Two Solicitors attended as the Employment Law course was relevant to their area of business at a cost of £118.80 per Solicitor. Additionally Samuel Phillips met the cost of travel to and from Leeds so the total cost of the course for the two Solicitors including travel costs was approximately £400.
No information held. There have been no further payments and or gifts from Samuel Phillips Law Firm, or its solicitors.
Samuel Phillips from time to time have provided agency Solicitor services to Northumbria Police in relation to Civil Claims, employment law, inquest law and discipline proceedings.
The information we have supplied to you is likely to contain intellectual property rights of Northumbria Police. Your use of the information must be strictly in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) or such other applicable legislation. In particular, you must not re-use this information for any commercial purpose.
How to complain
If you are unhappy with our decision or do not consider that we have handled your request properly and we are unable to resolve this issue informally, you are entitled to make a formal complaint to us under our complaints procedure which can be found at: http://www.northumbria.police.uk/foi/disclosurelog/foicomprights.asp
If you are still unhappy after we have investigated your complaint and reported to you the outcome, you may complain directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office and request that they investigate to ascertain whether we have dealt with your request in accordance with the Act.