Alleged offences where a NIP was issued

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.028872

I note you seek access to the following information:

Please provide a list of all alleged offences where a NIP was issued by the allegations team receiving a report with evidence. Please list individually in an Excel file with details (with date, time, location, URN, etc.) and means of disposal. I would like the data for all offences with offence dates in 2022.

Appreciate you may not be able to share the Vehicle Registration Number due to data privacy which is fine.

The data provided here by Norfolk and Suffolk is exactly what I would like to see except with the above date range and in handled by your force's third party allegations department.

Decision

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).

Section 40(2)(3A)(a) – Personal Information

Reasons for decision

You have asked us to disclose a list of all alleged offences where a NIP was issued in 2022, and have further asked for the information to be broken down by date, time, location, URN, etc.,and means of disposal.

Unfortunately however, providing information to the level of granularity you are seeking would identify specific incidents and individuals concerned and would release sensitive personal information about individuals concerned into the public domain. Section 40(2)(3A)(a) of the Act, which provides an exemption for personal information, has therefore been applied in part and I have made the decision to instead provide a list of offences where a NIP was issued broken down by date, location and means of disposal.

Section 40(2)(3)&(4) – Personal Information - There are six data protection principles that are set out in Section 34 of the Data Protection Act 2018. The first principle requires that the disclosure of the requested personal data must be lawful and fair. Under the Act, the disclosure of personal data is considered to be lawful if:
a. There is a legitimate interest in the disclosure of that personal data.
b. The disclosure of the personal data is necessary to meet that legitimate interest.
c. The disclosure would not cause unwarranted harm to the data subject.

The requested information contains personal data that I consider exempt under the Act, for example, were we to disclose the number of offences where a NIP was issued broken down by URN and giving the time of the incident it is highly likely that individuals concerned could be identified and that disclosure would release sensitive information in relation to those individuals into the public domain.

Having assessed the data, I have found, having considered the legitimate interest test, that disclosure of the additional requested information would not be in accordance with the first principle. Although I understand there is an interest in the information you are seeking, I believe this interest has been satisfied by the release of the disclosed information. I do not believe that providing any more details, when there is a reasonable risk that the additional information would identify individuals involved, would add to any wider public debate that may be ongoing.

Furthermore I do not think it would be fair to the individuals concerned if information was disclosed that identified them as being linked in any way to any offence.

Under Section 40(2) and (3) of the Act, Public Authorities are able to withhold information where its release would identify any living individual and breach the principles of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). I have applied this exemption in that the identity of individuals that may be realised through providing the information broken down in the format you have requested would constitute personal data which, if released, would be in breach of the rights provided by the DPA.

The six principles of the DPA govern the way in which data controllers must manage personal data. Under principle one of the DPA, personal data must be processed fairly and lawfully. I consider that providing information that identifies individuals constitutes personal data. The release of this information would be unfair as the persons concerned would have no reasonable expectation that the MPS would make this information publicly available.

In reaching my decision, I have, in each case, given due regard to the condition at Article 6(1)(a) and 6(1)(e) of the GDPR. Condition one of the GDPR requires that consideration is given to whether consent for disclosure has been given whilst Condition six requires that consideration is given to performance of a public task in the public interest.

Having considered both conditions, I have established that no consent is present or would likely be received to release this information. The provision to refuse access to information under Section 40(2)(a)(b) and (3A)(a) of the Act is both absolute and class based. When this exemption is claimed, it is accepted that harm would result from disclosure. There is accordingly no requirement to demonstrate what that harm may be in refusing access to information.

Disclosure

Please see the attached spreadsheet for data relevant to your request. Please ensure that the data is read in conjunction with the notes page of the attached spreadsheet to ensure correct interpretation of the data provided.