PROTECT PERSONAL Our Ref: 254.2015-16 Police and Crime Commissioner Your Ref: North Yorkshire Date: 9" March 2016 ees a] FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 254.2015-16 Joint Corporate Legal Services | write in connection with your request for information to North Yorkshire Police. | note you seek access to the following information: You may treat this as an FOI request. Please may | have a FO! request ref number. 1) (Request Number 31.2015-16) Please can you explain to me the reason for exceeding the 21 days limit for replying to my FOI' request, it took you 67days? | would like to report this to the information commissioner with your response. Especially since the answer was a most basic, simple answer? 2) Please can you reply to the following under the FO! act? Question; how many NYP and NYPA responses to FOI's exceeded the 21 day limit in the following years. a) 2012 to 2013 b) 2013 t0 2014 ¢) 2014 to 2015 d) 2015 to date (16/06/2015) 3) a) Please can you reply to the following under the FOI act? Question; Chief constable Dave Jones is one of nine applicants going to court to get an injunction against three men the force ‘says are waging “a campaign of personal harassment” that has cost the public purse more than £400,000. Please can you provide me with a complete breakdown of the £400,000 NYP has ‘spent from the public purse as quoted in the Yorkshire Post? 3b) Under FO! request 254.2015-16. Question; please can you tell me the total costs to date in addition to the £400,000 of the public purse already spent? 3c) Please can you provide me with a complete breakdown of those additional casts to the public purse. 3d) Please can you tell me the names of the nine applicants as referred to by the Chief Constable in the same Yorkshire Post article? PROTECT PERSONAL Jane Wintermeyer BSc (Hons) Acting Force Solicitor & Head of Legal Services| “”'Nonoar’” Police Headquarters | Newby Wiske Hall | Northallerton | North Yorkshire | DL7 SHA DX No 68810 NORTHALLERTON 2 | Telephone 01609 789297 | Fax 01609 780987 | | 101]PROTECT PERSONAL Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police. | can confirm that the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police. Decision I have today decided to disclose the located information to you. 1. We note the comments you have raised in question 1 The Civil Disclosure Unit does strive to meet the 20 day deadline date however in any request there may be complex issues and the way police information is kept does not always mean the information requested in the format required in the question. The availability of key stakeholders able to provide the requested information is always a factor in that they may have to prioritise other urgent operational issues. Your original request relates to a very complex and sensitive case with ongoing court proceedings therefore any requests received need to be treated in an appropriate manner. | can only apologise for the delay in responding to your request. 2. The information below shows the responses to FOI's exceeding the 20 day limit received by the Force and the PCC from 2012 onwards. Financial Year, NYP [| PCG 2012/2013 442 [0 2013/2014 502 [49 2014/2015 451 [20 2015/2016 (to 16/06/2015) [86 |8 * NYPA until 21 Nov 2012, PCC from 22 November 2012 however the way in which the NYPA recorded Freedom of Information requests was not the same was as we currently record them now. Therefore | am unable to identify responses that may or may not have exceeded the 20 day limit. a. As at 16 March 2015 the cost breakdown was as outlined below, but you should note an important caveat. The figure was arrived at following a manual estimate by the departments involved. This is the best estimate of costs that can be provided, and is the recorded information held in answer to your query. Police officer time from December 2011 to September 2014; 94.6 months - £386,347 Legal services work from October 2010 to June 2014; 243.1 hours - £7,424.73 Civil disclosure work from September 2011 to October 2014; 352 hours - £5,181.44 Related complaints matters; 82 hours - £1,708.88 Chief Officer time; 259.08 - $9,308.85 In relation to this matter, you should note that both the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire, and North Yorkshire Police considered the situation very carefully before making the decision to initiate civil proceedings. Dealing with the actions of those involved in the civil case has tied up police resources to a significant extent, and it seemed reasonable to expect that further time and expense would be incurred if no action were taken. PROTECT PERSONALPROTECT PERSONAL The civil actior public purse. therefore an attempt to bring this situation to an end, in the best interest of the 3b and c. The £400k estimate was calculated as a one off manual review in order to inform decision making in complex circumstances however the allocation of personnel time is not recorded as a matter of course. The cost for legal services up to June 2015 has been provided in question 3a. We have interpreted question 3c as a breakdown of any costs released under 3b. As there have been none released | cannot provide you with the breakdown. 3d. | am exempting the information you have requested in question 3d pursuant to Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). Please see the exemption explanation below. Exemption Explanations Section 17 of the Act requires North Yorkshire Police, when refusing to confirm or deny that information is held by the force, to provide you the applicant with a notice which: (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (it that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies. This letter acts as such a notice. The exemptions are explained below. Section 40 — Personal Information This exemption is absolute and | am not required to evidence the harm or consider the public interest when applying this exemption. Information released under the Freedom of Information Act is to the word and therefore where an individual can be identified by such data, releasing it would clearly breach the first data protection principle of being ‘fair to the data subject. As the type of information you have requested is personal information it can only be disclosed to the individual concerned. This exemption applies because the right given under the Act to request official information held by public authorities does not apply to the personal data of third parties where disclosure of that information would not be fair to the individual, and where there is no legitimate public interest in disclosure. Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data. It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive Complaint Rights Your attention is drawn to the attached sheet which details your right of complaint. If you have any queries concerning this request, please contact me quoting the reference number above. Yours sincerely Emma Morris Police Lawyer (Civil Disclosure) Joint Corporate Legal Services PROTECT PERSONALPROTECT PERSONAL COMPLAINT RIGHTS Are you unhappy with how your request has been handled or do you think the decision is incorrect? You have the right to require the North Yorkshire Police to review their decision. Prior to lodging a formal complaint you are welcome and encouraged to discuss the decision with the case officer that dealt with your request. Ask to have the decision looked at again — The quickest and easiest way to have the decision looked at again is to telephone the case officer that is nominated at the end of your decision letter. That person will be able to discuss the decision, explain any issues and assist with any problems. Complaint if you are dissatisfied with the handling procedures or the decision of the North Yorkshire Police made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) regarding access to information you ‘can lodge a complaint with the North Yorkshire Police to have the decision reviewed. North Yorkshire Police must be notified of your intention to complain within 2 months of the date of its response to your Freedom of Information request. Complaints should be made in writing and addressed to: Force Solicitor and Head of Legal Services. North Yorkshire Police Newby Wiske Hall Northallerton North Yorkshire DL7 SHA In all possible circumstances the North Yorkshire Police will aim to respond to your complaint as soon as practicable but within 20 working days. The Information Commissioner After lodging a complaint with the North Yorkshire Police if you are still dissatisfied with the decision you may make application to the Information Commissioner for a decision on whether the request for information has been dealt with in accordance with the requirements of the Act. For information on how to make application to the Information Commissioner please visit their website at www.informationcommissioner.ov.uk. Alternatively, phone or write to: Information Commissioner's Office Wycliffe House Water Lane’ Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 SAF Phone: 01625 545 700 PROTECT PERSONAL