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Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.038824
I note you seek access to the following information:
The catalogue of the National Archives includes a Metropolitan Police file closed under section 3 (4) of the Public Records Act 1958, under a Lord Chancellor's Instrument dated 15 December 1998.
This is MEPO 38/164 - "Wyndham CHILDS (Sir), Assistant Commissioner: libel action against 'The New Leader' 1928 relating to raid on the Russian Trade Delegation, the Zinoviev letter and other matters."
The Instrument was marked for reconsideration in 2008, but there is no indication this was done.
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 31 - Law Enforcement
Reason for decision
Section 31 - Law Enforcement - 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 the Act, any information disclosed is released into the wider public domain, effectively to the world, not just to an individual. Whilst not questioning the motives of the applicant to disclose how and where information was recorded would identify what intelligence and records may have been held and for what purpose.
Any disclosure of information that has the potential to allow those with a criminal intent to gain an understanding of the investigative process and what intelligence might be held, would compromise the MPS’s ability to accomplish its core function of law enforcement. A release of this nature would be harmful to our future investigations and policing in general if details relating to where information is recorded were to be disclosed.
The MPS is charged with enforcing the law, preventing and detecting crime and protecting the communities we service. There are significant risks associated with providing details in relation to any aspects of police operational matters, whether it be historical or current, as to provide such details would reveal the extent of our investigations and what and where intelligence has been recorded.
This would provide criminals of today with an insight to how the police operate, and people who wish to harm the citizens of London with the opportunity of disrupting police activity. This could be to the detriment of providing an efficient policing service and a failure in providing a duty of care to all members of the public and might require the MPS to actually have to increase the amount of officers available to them thus increasing the cost to the public purse.
The public interest is not what interests the public but what will be of greater good if released to the community as a whole. It is not in the public interest to disclose information that may compromise the service's ability to accomplish its core function of law enforcement.
Release would have the effect of compromising our law enforcement role by allowing those with a criminal intent awareness of what and where information might be recorded in relation to an investigation. By disclosing details relating to this would hinder the MPS’s ability to prevent and detect crime. As a result, more crime would be committed and individuals would be placed at risk.
Any disclosure of information which has the potential to directly affect the MPS’s ability to operate effectively and efficiently and thus allow the criminal fraternity the means to carry out unlawful activity, would require additional MPS resources and therefore would add to the cost of the public purse. Were this to occur it would not be in the public interest.
The Police Service is charged with enforcing the law, preventing and detecting crime and protecting the communities we serve. The Police Service will never divulge information it holds if to do so would place the safety of an individual(s) at risk, or undermine the policing purpose in the effective delivery of operational law enforcement. Whilst there is a public interest in the transparency of policing operations and providing assurance that the police service is appropriately and effectively engaging with the threat posed by various groups or individuals, there is a very strong public interest in safeguarding the recording of police intelligence in this highly sensitive area.
As much as there is a public interest in knowing that policing activity is appropriate and balanced it will only be overridden in exceptional circumstances. To release information would compromise and undermine the MPS’s law enforcement capabilities in its ability to prevent and detect crime and apprehend and prosecute offenders. Disclosure would be harmful to how and where the police records information, whether that be historical or current, as it would identify what level of policing activity is likely to have taken place.
The effect of this information being available to the applicant and more importantly those who might wish to disrupt the police’s law enforcement role, would be a requirement for a full review of the investigative process and possible increase in costs to the public purse.
The MPS will record and store information using a variety of methods. In relation to this request, to disclose how information was recorded and where, could be used to identify what police intelligence is held and for what purpose. To do so in general would undermine the investigative process and the MPS’s ability to carry out its law enforcement functions. This would prejudice our ability to prevent and detect crime and/or apprehend and prosecute offenders. Therefore, Section 31(1)(a)(b) of the Act is engaged.
Disclosure
Please find below 4 pdfs which contain the disclosed documentation held within MEPO 38/164.
In addition, please note that there are newspaper publications from the ‘New Leader’ contained within this file. However, due to the age of these publications and their fragility we are unable to provide you with copies. The details of these publications is given below in the event that you may wish to visit the British Library to view.
Furthermore, I would like to take this opportunity to advise that an additional document has not been provided to you. This is manuscript where the ink bled throughout making it illegible and therefore impossible to assess its suitability for disclosure to you.