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Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.027960
I note you seek access to the following information:
1. How many officers do you currently have [1 January 2023]?
2. Of these how many are special constables/officers?
3. Please breakdown the officers, excluding specials, into rank and ethnicity.
4. Please breakdown the special constables/officers into rank and ethnicity.
5. How many chief officers do you have?
6. Please breakdown into ethnicity.
Except for Q5 and Q6, I believe you can provide all the information without breaching GDPR rules. In terms of Q5, I may be able to get the information via your website, but I will not be able to ascertain the ethnicity.
I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:
Section 40(2)(3)&(4) – Personal Information
Reason for decision
Before I explain the reasons for the decisions I have made in relation to your request, I thought that it would be helpful if I outline the parameters set out by the Act within which a request for information can be answered. The Act creates a statutory right of access to information held by public authorities. A public authority in receipt of a request must, if permitted, confirm if the requested information is held by that public authority and, if so, then communicate that information to the applicant.
The right of access to information is not without exception and is subject to a number of exemptions which are designed to enable public authorities to withhold information that is not suitable for release. Importantly, the Act is designed to place information into the public domain, that is, once access to information is granted to one person under the Act, it is then considered public information and must be communicated to any individual should a request be received.
Details of an investigation could cause an individual to be identified and is therefore exempted in this case.
Section 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 confirms that information which relates to an identified or identifiable living individual is Personal Data.
The Freedom of Information Act provides an exemption for Personal Data and this is known as the section 40 exemption.
Some of the information sought under your Freedom of Information request includes the following which we consider to be Personal Data
• Where different ranks of officers are split out by rank and then identifies those who are Black, Asian and Multiple Ethnic Heritage. We are unable to breakdown this data any further as it could potentially lead to people becoming identifiable.
Where the request is seeking access to third party personal data the section 40(2) exemption may be engaged.
In order to apply the Section 40(2) exemption the disclosure of the requested information must satisfy either the first, second or third conditions as defined by subsections 3A, 3B and 4A of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (as amended by Section 58 of the Data Protection Act 2018).
The first condition ensures that the exemption would apply in circumstances where the disclosure of the information would breach any of the Data Protection Act 2018 principles.
There are six Data Protection principles set out in the 2018 act and these can be found at section 34.
In this instance I have decided that the disclosure of the Personal Data would be incompatible with the first Data Protection principle which states that the processing (in this case the disclosure) of the data must be both lawful and fair.
Disclosure
The harm of disclosure is reduced by not providing all the information for question 6.
Please see the below link to the Workforce data reports.
Workforce data report | Metropolitan Police
Q1 - How many officers do you currently have [1 January 2023]?
This question can be answered by the Workforce Data Report. The current number of officers as of 31/12/22 can be found on the December 2022 report.
Q2 - Of these how many are special constables/officers?
This question can be answered by the Workforce Data Report.
Q3 - Please breakdown the officers, excluding specials, into rank and ethnicity.
This question can be answered by the Workforce Data Report.
Q4 - Please breakdown the special constables/officers into rank and ethnicity.
This question can be answered by the Workforce Data Report.
Q5 - How many chief officers do you have?
This question can be answered by the Workforce Data Report.
Q6 - Please breakdown into ethnicity.
This question can be answered by the Workforce Data Report. Where different ranks of officers are split out by rank and then identifies those who are Black, Asian and Multiple Ethnic Heritage. We are unable to breakdown this data any further as low numbers could potentially lead to people becoming identifiable.