Historic files re the national union of mineworkers' industrial dispute (1984-1985)

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.029796

I note you seek access to the following information:

It’s my understanding that the MPS holds 32 boxes of historical files relating to the National Union of Mineworkers’ industrial dispute (1984-1985). I believe this was accurate as of 2017, are you able to confirm that the MPS still holds this material?

Please may I make enquiries about these boxes? Firstly, are the boxes numbered in any way, or do the boxes have titles?

Secondly, does the MPS have a schedule, or list, of their contents?

Lastly, do these boxes contain a copy of the document Review of the Metropolitan Police Involvement in the Mining Dispute 1984/85 and please could I request a copy of this?

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)&(3A)(a) - Personal Information

Reason for decision

Section 40(2)&(3A)(a) - Personal Information - of the Act provides that any information to which a request for information relates, is exempt information if the first condition of Section 40(3A)(a) is satisfied. The first condition of Section 40(3A)(a) states that personal information is exempt if its disclosure would contravene any of the data protection principles. If the disclosure of the requested personal data would not contravene the data protection principles, the disclosure must also not contravene Sections 3A(b) and 3B of the Act.

There are six principles that are set out in Article 5(1)(a) of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) that dictate when the processing of personal data is lawful. The first principle requires that any processing of personal data must be lawful, fair and transparent. Under Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR, 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 report contains the names of a number of former police officers and members of police staff. The MPS Data Office does not hold information that would confirm to the standard required to process personal data under the Act, whether each former officer or member of police staff is currently alive or deceased. The decisions made in connection with this request for information have accordingly given appropriate regard to each former employee’s rights as set out by the Data Protection Act 2018. In this regard, I have not disclosed the following information:

1. The names of officers holding a rank below that of substantive Chief Superintendent
2. The names of a number of former members of police staff

Have considered the legitimate interest test in respect of this personal data, I have found that:

a. The disclosure of the requested personal data would satisfy legitimate interests in transparency and accountability, given that the personal data relates to the professional roles of former MPS employees.

b. This disclosure of the requested personal data is necessary to satisfy the legitimate interest identified at point a.

c. Retired police officers and members of police staff holding ranks below that of Chief Superintendent and police staff equivalents, would be unlikely to expect their names to be published by the MPS in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. The requested report was written in January 1986 with no expectation that it would be published by the MPS. The former MPS employees named in this report would therefore, have held no expectation that the names would be published when this report was written. Additionally the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the legislation under which this request is being considered) was passed in November 2020, with its provisions beginning on the 1st of January 2005. There was no Freedom of Information Act or equivalent legislation in 1986. The former MPS employees named in this report would not therefore, reasonably expect their personal data to be disclosed under the Act in 2023, over 35 years after this report was written. The release and publication of this personal information would accordingly, be unexpected and potentially distressing to these former employees. In this regard, I believe that disclosure of this personal data would be likely to cause them unwarranted harm. The requested personal data has accordingly been withheld from release under this exemption.

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

- It’s my understanding that the MPS holds 32 boxes of historical files relating to the National Union of Mineworkers’ industrial dispute (1984-1985). I believe this was accurate as of 2017, are you able to confirm that the MPS still holds this material?

The MPS continues to hold a quantity of material relating to the National Union of Mineworkers’ industrial dispute (1984-1985).

- Please may I make enquiries about these boxes? Firstly, are the boxes numbered in any way, or do the boxes have titles?

The files/boxes are titled.

- Secondly, does the MPS have a schedule, or list, of their contents?

 Some files have a list of their content. This is not the case for every file.

- Lastly, do these boxes contain a copy of the document Review of the Metropolitan Police Involvement in the Mining Dispute 1984/85 and please could I request a copy of this?

The MPS holds a report titled ‘Review of the Metropolitan Police Involvement in the Mining Dispute 1984/85’. This report has been provided to you alongside this notice in redacted format, that is, I have removed information that is exempt under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). In redacting this report, I have relied on the following provisions of the Act.

DUTY TO ADVISE AND ASSIST
Under Section 16 of the Act, there is a duty to advise and assist those that have made, or intend to make, a request for information. In accordance with this duty, I can confirm that the MPS proactively publishes all disclosures made in response to requests made under the Act on its Publication Scheme. I have provided a link to this section of the MPS website below.

MPS Publication Scheme

The MPS Publication Scheme can be searched using keywords and may accordingly hold other information that is of interest to you.