In accordance with section 1(1) (b) of the Act our response is
provided below;
Question 1
Cheshire Constabulary does not make any annual performance
related payments to staff and officers at any level.
Question 2
There is no information held (There are no incidences where
officers or staff have had cars bought for them by Cheshire
Constabulary.)
Question 3
a. Yes
b. Secretary of State for Justice Jack Straw MP recently
disclosed the first three letters of the postcode of all
Clearsprings managed bail accommodation, in response to a
Parliamentary question. This information is therefore in the
public domain and can be accessed at the following web pages:
In so far as supplying the address of the property within
Cheshire I must point out that Clearsprings provide private rental
homes in the same way as any other landlord. Ultimately,
these premises are not bail hostels, but simply bail addresses,
albeit they are still provided at public expense via a private
company. They are for all intents and purposes private
addresses. Therefore we are unable to provide further details.
To confirm that any address is run by Clearsprings would confirm to
the world that the persons residing there are on bail which is not
fair or appropriate. Disclosure of such information is also
prejudicial to law enforcement, as it could encourage crimes to be
committed against persons resident or believed to be resident at
these addresses.
We are therefore applying an exemption at Section 40 (2) of the
FOI Act as follows
Section 40(2): Personal information. Any information to which a
request for information relates is also exempt information if -
(a) it constitutes personal data which does not fall within
subsection (1) (your own personal data), and
(b) either the first or the second condition below is
satisfied
(3) The first condition is:-
(a) in a case where the information falls within any of paragraphs
(a) to (d) of the definition of "data" in section 1(1) of the Data
Protection Act 1998, that the disclosure of the information to a
member of the public otherwise than under this Act would
contravene:-
(i) any of the data protection principles, or
(ii) section 10 of that Act (right to prevent processing likely to
cause damage or distress), and
(b) in any other case, that the disclosure of the information to a
member of the public otherwise than under this Act would contravene
any of the data protection principles if the exemptions in section
33A(1) of the Data Protection Act 1998 (which relates to manual
data held by public authorities) were disregarded.
(4) The second condition is that by virtue of any provision of Part
IV of the Data Protection Act 1998 the information is exempt from
section 7(1)(c) of that Act (data subject's right of access to
personal data).
This is an absolute exemption.
In addition and as outlined above we are applying an exemption
at Section 31(1) (a) of FOI Act Law Enforcement, the prevention and
detection of crime.
Disclosure of this information could have the detrimental effect
of drawing the attention of others to the address leading to public
disorder and violence, as has happened in other areas. It would be
wholly inappropriate for the Constabulary to provide information
through FOI that in itself would put people at risk and make it
more difficult to prevent crime or disorder.
In addition in doing so this would clearly breach the Human
Rights Act 1998 in particular Article 8, the right to respect for
private and family life. In reaching our decision we have taken
into account the following factors both for and against
disclosure.
Considerations favouring disclosure
Public awareness and debate
Where disclosure of information about issues of general concern
can assist individuals in making decisions about their own
activities e.g. information about crime prevention methods, road
safety/crime initiatives, trends of burglary etc. Where release of
information would contribute to the quality and accuracy of public
debate.
Public participation
Where the service would benefit from public participation and
the input of the community at large, this would favour
disclosure.
Public safety
There may be occasions when it is appropriate to disclose
information that would have an impact on public safety, such as
emergency contingency plans.
This may be applied where the public would benefit from having
enhanced knowledge and would therefore be able to take the
necessary precautionary steps to protect themselves.
Factors favouring non-disclosure
Efficient and effective conduct of the
Force
Where the current or future law enforcement role of the Force
may be compromised by the release of information. This is a large
factor to consider in this particular request as the implications
for resourcing, in a worse case, scenario could be significant.
Human Rights, ethics and morals
The public interest will not be served if disclosure breaches
obligations placed on an authority under the European Convention on
Human Rights, particularly the right to life, a fair trial and
privacy.
Interests of third parties
Where individual third party interests might be jeopardised by
the release of information that relates to the personal affairs of
individuals, including their reputations.
Public safety
There may be occasions where the release of information relating
to public safety may not be in the public interests.
Public safety is of paramount importance to the policing purpose
and we must take care when releasing information under FOI not to
put people at risk.
On balance we have determined that in all the circumstances of
the case the public interest in maintaining the exemptions
outweighs the public interest in disclosure of the information.
Question 3
c. Yes, Cheshire Constabulary was consulted.