In accordance with section 1(1) (a) of the Act our response is
provided below;
I have now considered your request and I am not obliged to
provide the information requested.
Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires the
Cheshire Constabulary, when refusing to provide such information
(because the information is exempt) to provide you with a notice
which a) states that fact, b) specifies the exemption in question
and c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the
exemption applies.
The information you have requested is exempt in accordance
with:
Section 30 (1) (a) Investigations and Proceedings Conducted by
Public Authorities
Section 40 (1) & (2) Personal Data
The Freedom of Information Act is all about making information
available to the general public either in response to specific
requests or through our publication scheme on our web site.
Responses to specific requests, such as yours, are published on our
disclosure log for the benefit of the general public, see the
following web pages: Disclosure
Log
Requests relating to detailed information regarding an
investigation which also and invariable contains the personal data
of both the victims, witnesses and the offender(s) cannot be
published and the above exemptions apply.
In so far as Section 30 is concerned we have to consider whether
the public interest is served by disclosure. Although the general
factors in favour of disclosure include public awareness and debate
which could enhance public understanding of how and why police
investigations are conducted. Set against that is the prejudice
that may be caused to an investigation or prosecution, or more
generally the investigatory and prosecution processes of the
Constabulary. The general public interest served by this exemption
is the effective investigation and prosecution of crime, which
itself requires in particular the protection of witnesses and
informers to ensure that people are not deterred from making
statements or reports by the fear that they may be publicised.
In all the circumstances of the case, the public in maintaining
the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the
information.
Section 40 (1) relates to the personal data of you the
applicant. This is an absolute exemption. (Please see below
information relating to obtaining copies of your own personal
data.)
Section 40 (2) relates to third party personal data. The Act
states:- '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), 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, '
In this case disclosure would breach principle 1 & 2 of the
Data Protection Act 1998 and would be unlawful.
Accessing your own personal data.
The Data Protection Act 1998 gives a right of access to copies
of your own personal data. Please see the pages on our web site
that provide information on this subject and access to the subject access application form.
Please be aware that the provisions of the Data Protection Act
allowing access to personal data are primarily to enable data
subjects to correct any error in recorded information. There is no
right of access to third party data and there are exemptions that
may apply to unstructured files, i.e. none computerised
records.