Data Rights response rate and employees

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.038396

I note you seek access to the following information:

MPS Data Rights team have been responding to requests of late with a stock message:

Due to an increase in the volume of work received by Data Rights we regret to inform you that we have fallen behind in our processing and are experiencing delays. We can assure you we are working as fast as we can to process your request and we are looking into ways to increase our staffing to accommodate the increase of work received by the MPS.

Under FoI 2000 I would like to know if this position has been communicated to Information Commissioner? If so, I would like a copy of correspondence where you report this.

I'd like a copy of any action plans to remediate the position and get MPS back in line with their statutory obligation to respond within 20 working days for public requests for information.

I'd like to know how many people are employed to respond to FOI requests, how much vacation & sick time those posts have been consuming over past 12 months.

And I'd like a copy of any enforcement proceedings, decision notices, or similar taken against MPS for failure to respond to FOI requests over the last 12 months.

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 21(1) – Information reasonably accessible by other means.
Section 22 – Information intended for future publication
Section 40(2)&(3A)(a) – Personal Information

Reason for decision

Section 21(1) - Information Accessible to Applicant by Other Means - of the Act provides public authorities with an exclusion from the duty to disclose information under Section 1(1)(b) of the Act, when the information requested is reasonably accessible to the applicant.

Section 22(1) - Information Intended for Future Publication - of the Act provides public authorities with an exclusion from the duty to disclose information under Section 1(1)(b) of the Act, when the information is held with a view to its publication by any person, at any future date (whether determined or not).

Efficient and Effective conduct of the Service - The MPS has a process for both identifying and publishing police information that is of public interest. This is an established process that is primarily designed to engage the general public in the work of the police service but importantly, also serves to reduce the financial and administrative cost of responding to requests for information under the Act. The MPS receives a considerable number of requests for information that is due to be published. It would be both administratively and financially prohibitive for the MPS to release information in response to individual requests when the information requested will be published in the near future.

The case for withholding information in this case is particularly persuasive, as a PSS has been created to facilitate disclosure of the requested information.

Having considered your request, I have chosen to claim Section 22 of the Act as the MPS has committed to publishing, by way of a PSS, details in respect of its plan for improving compliance with the Act. Given that the information requested will be published by the MPS,
I consider that the identified public interest factors favouring disclosure will be satisfied upon publication of this information. I also believe that it would be inefficient and financially prohibitive for the MPS to respond to individual requests for information when the information sought is scheduled to be published. For these reasons, I consider that the release of the requested information is not in the public interest. I have accordingly refused your request for information.

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.

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.

Having given regard to the legitimate interest test, I have found that:

a. This request seeks access to the period of time 17 members of staff engaged directly in processing Freedom of Information Act requests, have been absent from work due to annual leave and/or sickness over the most recent 12 month period. The public release of this information would satisfy a legitimate interest, being to provide information about the resourcing and capability of the MPS when responding to Freedom of Information Act requests.
b. The disclosure of this information is necessary to meet the legitimate interest identified at point a above.
c. The public release of the requested information would disclose personal data about identifiable persons. This would occur as there are only 17 members of staff engaged in processing Freedom of Information Act requests across the MPS. The identities of these persons are known to many MPS employees but importantly, as a small team, they are known to each other. In this regard, as absence through sickness is a fairly rare occurrence, the public release of sickness figures would make available, the period of time that a small number of identifiable team members have been absent from work owing to illness. Periods of annual leave are slightly different, as this type of leave is frequently used by the team, however the provision of this data across 17 members of staff, would also disclose information about identifiable members of this team. This would occur as some members of the team would be aware of leave durations of members of their team but not others. The provision of annual leave data would accordingly, allow personal data to be extracted in an identifiable way, by those with knowledge of the annual leave periods of a number of identifiable members of this team.

The provision of sickness and annual leave data in an identifiable way under the Act, would be unexpected and potentially distressing to the members of this team. In this regard, I believe that the disclosure of this personal data would be likely to cause unwarranted harm to the data subjects of this request.

Under FoI 2000 I would like to know if this position has been communicated to Information Commissioner? If so, I would like a copy of correspondence where you report this.

I'd like a copy of any action plans to remediate the position and get MPS back in line with their statutory obligation to respond within 20 working days for public requests for information.

And I'd like a copy of any enforcement proceedings, decision notices, or similar taken against MPS for failure to respond to FOI requests over the last 12 months.

The MPS has committed to publishing the information held by way of a Publication Scheme Strategy (PSS). The PSS was agreed on the 8 May 2024. In viewing of the impending publication of the information requested, I have refused to release the information located and have claimed the exemption set out by Section 22 (information intended for future publication) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act).

Please note that in respect of any Freedom of Information Act related decision notices, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) publishes the action it takes against public authorities on its website. I have provided a link to the relevant section of the ICO’s website below.

ICO Website: Action we've taken.

Decision notices can be filtered by public authority which includes the MPS. As the information requested has been published, the exemption set out by Section 21 (information accessible to the applicant) of the Act has been claimed.

It should also be noted that the ICO also publishes details of any applicable enforcement proceedings on its website. This information is accessible via the link above. Enforcement action can be filtered by sector (i.e. Criminal Justice).

how much vacation & sick time those posts have been consuming over past 12 months.

The information requested has been refused as its release would lead to identification and the provision of personal data, contrary to the principles of the Data Protection Act 2018. The exemption set out by Section 40 (Personal Information) has been claimed in refusing to release this information.

To assist you, I can confirm however, that those engaged in processing Freedom of Information Act requests are all members of police staff. The annual leave entitlement for police staff is as follows:

• Less than five years’ service - 28 days.
• More than five years’ service - 33 days.

Disclosure

I'd like to know how many people are employed to respond to FOI requests,

The Data Office, as of the 25 June 2024, has 17 members of staff whose role is to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests. This includes staff member that are employed on full-time and part-time contracts. This figure does not include the members of staff that log our requests for information, manage the team, process reviews or appeals or perform the range of other functions associated with Freedom of Information Act compliance.

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 publishes information about various types of crime on its website. I have provided a link to this information below.

MPS Website: Stats and Data

The MPS also publishes its Freedom of Information Act performance figures within this page. I have provided a direct link to this information below.

MPS Website: FOIA Performance

It may also assist you to note 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 Website Publication Scheme

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