FAQ Details
Raoul Moat - 752/11
Dated: 07 Jun 2011
Date of request: 28/09/2011
Date of response: 20/10/2011
Provision of information held by Northumbria Police made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the 'Act')(FOIA)
Thank you for your email dated 28 September 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:
How many times was Raoul Moat stopped by Northumbria Police while in his vehicle in 2005?
In response:
We have now had the opportunity to fully consider your request and I provide a response for your attention.
I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by Northumbria Police, however as Northumbria Police has compiled a publication strategy to deal with requests which have been or will be submitted regarding this investigation I rely on Section 22(1) (a), Information Intended for Future Publication, to withhold.
Section 22 is a class based qualified exemption which means that the public interest needs to be considered and I have articulated this below.
Section 22(1) (a), Information Intended for Future Publication
Public Interest Considerations
Factors favouring disclosure
Although a publication strategy is currently being compiled there is no firm date as yet for publication therefore disclosure at this time would provide the public with an awareness of the investigations of this high profile case and the subsequent investigations.
There is no doubt this investigation has been at considerable expense to public funds and the right for the public to know how interactions with Raoul Moat were carried out is acknowledged.
Factors favouring non-disclosure
This investigation is extremely high profile and is subject to an Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) inquiry into the procedures followed by Northumbria Police throughout their dealings with Raoul Moat and it may be the case that Northumbria Police has a duty to present information to another body or person for scrutiny. Disclosure at this time could undermine the IPCC inquiry. As a decision has been made to publish information in future the spending of additional funds in order to answer this request would not be in the public interest.
Balancing Test
There needs to be a real and valid reason which identifies a tangible benefit to the public from disclosure of information. In this case a decision has been made to disclose the information when fully collated and accurate and where disclosure will not compromise any further investigations. The additional cost to the force to deal with such requests 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.
The Publication Strategy is freely available on the Northumbia Police website.
In order to assist you I have supplied the relevant link below.
http://www.northumbria.police.uk/foi/bulwark/index.asp.
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.