NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED
Our Ref:
IM-FOI-2015-1963
Sir Stephen House QPM Chief Constable FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002 I refer to your recent request for information which has been handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. For ease of reference, your request is replicated below together with the response. I would like to make a Freedom of Information request to find out if a register of interests exists for senior officers of Police Scotland (Chief Constable, assistants & deputies) and if so for the information contained in such a register to be disclosed, along with any guidance & rules applicable to what ranks such a register applies, and what information should be included or excluded in any register of interests maintained by Police Scotland. A register, as such does not exist, but business interests are recorded as part of the Police Scotland HR system. For Chief Officers, this permission is granted (under Regulation 5 of the Police Service of Scotland Regulations 2013) by the Police Authority. The conditions and circumstances are outlined in this legislation which is available online, therefore section 25(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 applies: information which the applicant can reasonably obtain other than by requesting it under section 1(1) is exempt information. The table below list the executive members who have a business interest from 1 April 2014-31 March 2015. Rank Deputy Chief Constable
Name Rose Fitzpatrick
Business Interest Property letting Member and Trustee of various Charitable Organisations
Deputy Chief Constable
Neil Richardson
Property letting Board Member for Scottish Institute of Policy Research Trustee/Vice President of various Police Associations
Should you require any further assistance concerning this matter please contact Information Management – Edinburgh on 0131 311 3901 quoting the reference number given.
scotland.police.uk
@PoliceScotland NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED
PoliceScotland
NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED
If you are not satisfied with the way in which your request has been dealt with, you are entitled in the first instance, and within 40 working days of receiving this response, to request a review of the decision. Should you wish to do so, contact details are; Information Management (Disclosure), Police Scotland, Clyde Gateway, 2 French Street, Dalmarnock, G40 4EH -
[email protected] If you remain dissatisfied following the outcome of that review, you are thereafter entitled to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner within six months for a decision. Contact details are; Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner, Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS -
[email protected] Should you wish to appeal against the Scottish Information Commissioner's decision, there is an appeal to the Court of Session on a point of law only.
scotland.police.uk
@PoliceScotland NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED
PoliceScotland
NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED
Our Ref:
IM-FOI-2015-1963
17th November 2015
Sir Stephen House QPM Chief Constable FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002 – INTERNAL REVIEW In accordance with section 20(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, you have requested a review of the decision communicated to you on 21 October 2015 in respect of your original request for information, received 18 September 2015. Original Request I would like to make a Freedom of Information request to find out if a register of interests exists for senior officers of Police Scotland (Chief Constable, assistants & deputies) and if so for the information contained in such a register to be disclosed, along with any guidance & rules applicable to what ranks such a register applies, and what information should be included or excluded in any register of interests maintained by Police Scotland. Request for Review I would like to request a review of the information disclosed, requesting disclosure of the names of the “various charitable organisations” and “various Police organisations” and disclosure of the numbers of properties (and values if notified to Police Scotland) concerned in the Property letting by both Deputy Chief Constables. My role is to consider the response issued and determine whether or not your request was handled in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. In reviewing the response I have studied all documentation relevant to the request, including that which documents both the research carried out and the decision making process. I am satisfied that that the information provided to you in the response covered the specific questions asked. In relation to your review, I note that the level of detail you now seek was not asked for in your original request. Therefore, I can only review the information disclosed based on the information requested. Taking all of the above into account, I am satisfied that your request has been handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and in terms of section 21(4)(a) of the Act, I uphold the original response and agree the requested information has been provided.
scotland.police.uk
@PoliceScotland NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED
PoliceScotland
NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED
However, in order to be of assistance I have provided the following information as a followup request to the information already disclosed. The various charitable and police organisations concerned are as follows; Deputy Chief Constable Neil Richardson: Trustee, The Police Treatment Centres charity Vice President, Police Mutual Board Member, The Scottish Institute for Policing Research Deputy Chief Constable Rose Fitzpatrick: Member, Scottish Chief Police Officers Association Trustee, The Rank Foundation (Charitable Organisation) Trustee, Salle Ossian Community Sports Club (Charitable Organisation) Advisory Panel Member, Dfuse (Charitable Organisation) Patron, Revolving Doors (Charitable Organisation) In relation to the number of properties relating to each Deputy Chief Constable, I have decided not to provide this level of information requested by you as it is considered to be exempt in terms of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (the Act). Section 16 of the Act requires Police Scotland to provide you with a notice which: (a) states that it holds the information, (b) states that it is claiming an exemption, (c) specifies the exemption in question and (d) states, if that would not be otherwise apparent, why the exemption applies. Where information is considered to be exempt, this letter serves as a Refusal Notice and an explanation of the appropriate exemption is provided below: Section 38(1) (b) – Personal Information The number of properties which the respective Deputy Chief Constables hold as business interests is classed as personal information and as such Police Scotland believes that the disclosure of this information would cause unwarranted prejudice to the rights and freedoms and legitimate interests of the data subjects. Accordingly, release of this information into the public domain would breach the requirement to process personal data fairly, as laid down by the first data protection principle in Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 1998. This is an absolute exemption and does not require the application of the public interest test. To explain, and in accordance with the Scottish Information Commissioner’s guidance, cognisance must be taken of whether the information relates to an individual’s public life (i.e. their role as an Executive member of Police Scotland) or their private life (which extends to their family) and whether the individuals in question could reasonably expect that this information would be disclosed under Freedom of Information legislation. The requirement to declare business interests extends to those which involve close family members and therefore the information may not necessarily relate to the specific Deputy Chief Constables themselves. In addition the individuals involved would have an expectation that the specific details would remain confidential between themselves and their employer and as such it is deemed that disclosure of this information would be unfair and contrary to the first principle of the Data Protection Act 1998. scotland.police.uk
@PoliceScotland NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED
PoliceScotland
NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED
Finally, Police Scotland does not hold details on the value of each property, as there is no requirement to do so under Regulation 5 of the Police Service of Scotland Regulations 2013. Therefore, Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 applies – information not held.
Should you require any further assistance concerning this matter please contact Information Management – Edinburgh on 0131 311 3901 quoting the reference number given. If you remain dissatisfied following the review of this case, you then have six months in which you may appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner who can be contacted as follows: Scottish Information Commissioner Kinburn Castle Doubledykes Road St Andrews Fife KY16 9DS
Telephone: 01334 464610 Email:
[email protected]
Should you wish to appeal against the Scottish Information Commissioner's decision, there is an appeal to the Court of Session on a point of law only. Information Management – Edinburgh 0131 311 3682
scotland.police.uk
@PoliceScotland NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED
PoliceScotland