Northumbria Police

FAQ Details

Raoul Moat - 505/10

Dated: 21 Sep 2010

Date of request: 23/08/2010

Date of response: 21/09/2010

Provision of information held by Northumbria Police made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the 'Act')

Thank you for your email dated 23 August 2010 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:

1. I would like to know exactly what television survival expert did in helping you in the search for Raoul Moat.

2. How much this cost including the fee paid to him and any expenses in getting him to Northumbria and in the search.

In response:

We have now had the opportunity to fully consider your request and I provide a response for your attention. 

1. We shall not be disclosing this information  and in witholding this information we shall rely on the following exemption:  
   
   Section 30(1)  (Investigations & Proceedings by Public Authorities).  
    
   This states that information is exempt information if it has at any time been held for the purposes of any investigation.  This exemption is a qualified and class based exemption and accordingly Northumbria Police does not need to carry out a harm test for this exemption.   
    
   As section 30 is a qualified exemption the application of a public interest test is required and I have set this out below. 
   
   Public Interest Test: 
   
   Factors Favouring Disclosure 
   
   Accountability
   Disclosure of information about how Northumbria Police conducts its functions could enhance the accountability of the Force and its individual officers. There is a legitimate public interest in knowing that the Force takes appropriate action against offenders and employs appropriate tactics. 
   
   Public Awareness and Debate
   Disclosure of information about issues of concern can assist individuals to make informed decisions on issues that are relevant to them.  The community at large may benefit from disclosure as this may encourage accurate and informed public debate.  It would also correct rumour and speculation and provide confidence in the Force's ability to investigate any alleged offences. 
   
   Factors Favouring Non Disclosure 
   
   Investigations
   It is the Association of Chief Officers (ACPO) view that information relating to investigations will rarely be disclosed under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Whilst such information may be released in order to serve a core policing purpose (i.e. to protect life and property and/or assist in prevention and detection of crime and/or in the apprehension and prosecution of offenders), it will only be disclosed if there are strong public interest considerations favouring disclosure. The further the considerations favouring disclosure are from a tangible community benefit, the lighter the considerations will be. It is my view that disclosure at this point could undermine on-going and future investigations and potentially cause damage to the criminal justice process.

   Northumbria Police has a duty to present information to the IPCC in respect of this matter and disclosure of any information at this time could prejudice that or any other inquiry in relation to the Police Operation. 
   
   Balancing Test: 
   
   When considering applications under the Freedom of information Act, information should be disclosed unless the reasoned application of the exemptions and public interest considerations favours non-disclosure.  I have analysed the competing arguments and weighed up the community benefit and opportunity for debate that disclosure of this information may provide.  However, as the IPCC have an ongoing investigation into the investigation carried out, I consider that the release of information which relates to this would have a huge impact on the ability of the IPCC to conduct an effective investigation. 
   
   Decision:  
   
   I have carefully considered your request and I have decided that on balance it is in the public interest to withhold this  requested information. When considering  public interest in relation to disclosure of information, the public interest is not what interests the public, but what will be the greater good if released to the community as whole.

2. You may be aware that a publication strategy is in place with regards to requests received by Northumbria Police where the information required in the requests relates to Raoul Moat.  To assist, I have attached a copy of the strategy for you at the end of this correspondence.

   The information you have requested will not be disclosed and by withholding we will rely on the following exemption:-

   Section 22 (1) (a) Information Intended for Future Publication
   (1) Information is exempt information if -
   (a) the information is held by the public authority with a view to its publication, by the authority or any other person, at some future date (whether determined or not)

   Section 22 is a class based qualified exemption which requires us to apply a Public Interest Test to decide if the information you require should be released ahead of the publication strategy.

   Public Interest Test:

   Factors Favouring Disclosure
   To release the information that is held at this particular time would provide the public with an awareness of the amount of money that had been spent with the disclosure of the most recently collected data serving to enhance public knowledge of the subject, by providing current information that may better inform public debate on the decisions taken by Northumbria Police in respect of the Police Operation in question.

   Factors Favouring Non Disclosure
   As you will be aware from information already in the public domain, the investigation is ongoing and furthermore, is subject to an Independent Police Complaints Commission Inquiry into the procedures followed and actions taken by Northumbria Police in relation to the Police Operation.

   Northumbria Police has a duty to present information to the IPCC in respect of this matter and disclosure of any information at this time could prejudice that or any other inquiry in relation to the Police Operation.

   However, Northumbria Police accept that this investigation has been at considerable expense to public funds and accordingly, a decision has been made to publish this information following the conclusion of any Criminal, IPCC or Coronial investigation. 

   Balancing Test:

   To clarify, the investigation is still ongoing and information held at this time will not include all the costs to the Force in respect of the operation.  Accordingly, any information provided would not be accurate and that which is held is likely to change as a result of further submissions and any cost recovery undertaken prior to publication.

   For a disclosure of this nature to be appropriate, a valid reason or reasons which identify a tangible benefit to the public from disclosure of information needs to identified.  In this case a decision has been made to disclose the information when the investigation(s) are finalised and information regarding costings including overtime are fully collated and verified as accurate.  The additional resources expended by the force to deal with your request at this time would not be in the public interest.

   For the reasons outlined above the balancing test for disclosure at this time is not made out.

   In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this represents a Refusal Notice for your request.

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.

Yours sincerely

Michael Cleugh
Data Protection and Disclosure Advisor
Direct Dial:  01661 868347

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