Information connected to illegal evictions

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.033476

I note you seek access to the following information:

Having reviewed the information disclosed I have some supplementary requests, which I should be grateful if you would respond to in accordance with section 1 FOIA.

1. The ‘Landlord Tenant Guide’ [pages 7 – 11 of the attached PDF] is marked for review in July 2022. Please confirm if there is a more up to date version or versions and provide copies if so.

2. Please provide copies of all internal communications issued during the last 5 years (or such other period as you are able to search without rejecting this request) regarding how officers should respond to reports of illegal evictions. For example:
a. The previously disclosed document ‘Minutes 24-2-2021’ states:
“xx to put out internal comms piece. Support on signposting and stats from the GLA.
…
ACTIONS
…
xx to increase the internal Comms within the MET (MID MARCH) - GLA to provide details of the
website and other organisations. Include the illegal eviction is a crime – signposting some of the
charities which are available.” [31]
b. The previously disclosed document titled ‘Minutes 18-5-2021’ states:
“xx – Will look at putting out internal comms piece.” [34]

3. Please provide copies of all MPS press releases issued during the last 5 years (or such other period as you are able to search without rejecting this request) regarding how officers should respond to reports of illegal evictions. For example:
a. The previously disclosed document ‘Minutes 18-5-2021’ states: “xx – Hoping to release a press statement by the end of the month. Will link in with xx to see if this can be a joint statement.” [34]
b. The previously disclosed document ‘Minutes 14-9-2021’ states: “xx – To look at further press releases and to look at linking in with xx/xx for joint messaging.” [37]

4. The previously disclosed document titled ‘Minutes 18-5-2021’ states: “xx – Explains she is creating guidance and a tool kit which will be available to all officers and will include step by step guide and looking at possibility of including video from METFLIX.” [34] Please provide copies of:
a. The guidance and toolkit (if copies have not already been provided)
b. The METFLIX video (if one was produced)

5. Any NCALT video training on illegal evictions produced by / in coordination with the Safer Renting programme at Cambridge House (https://ch1889.org/safer-renting)

6. The guidance referred to in this article : https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/27/met-officers-to-be-told-to-arrest-landlords-illegal-evictions. I assume this is different guidance to the currently disclosed Landlord Tenant Guide, as that document appears to have been issued around Sept 2021 and the article is dated August 2023. The article states:
“Police will be told to separate civil from criminal acts and that harassment, assault and use of force or violence to gain entry are crimes. They must warn landlords they are committing an offence if they proceed, arrest where necessary and make sure the landlord lets the tenant back into the home.
…
Now officers should “arrest where necessary”, the new guidance seen by the Guardian, will say. They will be told a landlord changing locks, forcibly throwing a tenant out, cutting off the gas and electricity, and using threatening and bullying behaviour are signs of an illegal eviction.
The guidance has been drawn up between Scotland Yard, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and renters groups including Generation Rent
…
A Scotland Yard spokesperson said the force had been working closely with City Hall on protecting the rights of tenants and the guidance would be posted on its internal intranet.
…
Police will be told to separate civil from criminal acts and that harassment, assault and use of force or violence to gain entry are crimes. They must warn landlords they are committing an offence if they proceed, arrest where necessary and make sure the landlord lets the tenant back into the home.”

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) by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 40(2)(a)(b)&(3)(a)(i) – Personal Information

Reason for decision

The Section 40(2) Exemption has been utilised in reference to Q.2 where names, addresses, email contacts, telephone contacts, etc., have been redacted. This information constitutes personal data which would be in breach of the rights provided by the DPA (Data protection Act) 2018 and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), if released.

It is important to note that a Freedom of Information Act request is not a private transaction. Both the request itself and any information disclosed are considered suitable for open publication, 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. Any information released under the Act is also published on the MPS website.

Section 40(2)(a)(b) and (3)(a)(i) - Personal Information - 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 3(a), 3(b) and 4(c) 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 names of individuals and contact details would provide persons intent on disrupting the work of the MPS with information that would assist them to do so. In this regard, a person with this intent would be likely to use this information to make inappropriate contact with members of staff or send them vast amounts of unsolicited correspondence. This would impede upon the resources of these members of staff and cause disruption to the work of the MPS.

The basis for determining whether such a disclosure would be lawful and fair is outlined under section 35 of the 2018 act which states that the subject of the data must have given his/her consent for disclosure, or the processing must be necessary for the performance of a task carried out by a competent authority. As we do not have consent for the disclosure of personal data and the disclosure is not necessary for any law enforcement purposes it would not be considered lawful processing. Such a disclosure would therefore contravene the first data protection principle.

A Freedom of Information Act request is not a private transaction. Both the request itself, and any information disclosed, are considered suitable for open publication. This is because, under Freedom of Information, any information disclosed is released into the wider public domain, effectively to the world and not just to one individual.

I have applied the exemption provided under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act to this information as the first condition, defined in subsection 3(A)(a) of Section 40 has been satisfied.

Disclosure

This guidance has been reviewed and a copy is attached for your reference (Landlord Tenant Guide).

Q1 - The ‘Landlord Tenant Guide’ [pages 7 – 11 of the attached PDF] is marked for review in July 2022. Please confirm if there is a more up to date version or versions and provide copies if so.

Please find attached emails that have been located. These have been provided in a redacted format as mentioned above, utilising Section 40 (Personal Information). Please also note that there was quite a gap as the work was around getting people to do the training, which was not mandatory except for new recruits so there was little communication after that time. We have also included two internal communications pieces – (1) ‘Course Objectives – Landlord and Tenant Disputes’; Internal Communications – Met launches landlord tenant dispute e-learning package.

Q2 - Please provide copies of all internal communications issued during the last 5 years (or such other period as you are able to search without rejecting this request) regarding how officers should respond to reports of illegal evictions.

The press releases per the Minutes were the responsibility of the Greater London Authority. The MPS therefore has no records of whether or not these were actioned.

Q3 - Please provide copies of all MPS press releases issued during the last 5 years (or such other period as you are able to search without rejecting this request) regarding how officers should respond to reports of illegal evictions.

Q4 - The previously disclosed document titled ‘Minutes 18-5-2021’ states: “xx – Explains she is creating guidance and a tool kit which will be available to all officers and will include step by step guide and looking at possibility of including video from METFLIX.

Please note that the guidelines is the toolkit which is attached.

Q5 - Any NCALT video training on illegal evictions produced by / in coordination with the Safer Renting programme at Cambridge House

There is a LMS video which makes up part of the training, however, there is nothing
to indicate that this was produced in coordination with the Safer Renting programme at Cambridge House.

Q6 - I assume this is different guidance to the currently disclosed Landlord Tenant Guide, as that document appears to have been issued around Sept 2021 and the article is dated August 2023.