Freedom of Information Office
Information Disclosure Unit
Woodhill House, Westburn Road
Aberdeen
AB16 5AB
Our Ref: FOI/384/09/JS
Tel: 01224 305171
Your Ref:
Fax: 01224 305161
[Grampian Police request email]
Date:
31 July 2009
www.grampian.police.uk
Dr Geraint Bevan
By Email
Dear Dr Bevan,
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST 384/09
I refer to your email of 21 July 2009, in which you requested information in terms of
the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
I have repeated your request hereunder, for your ease of reference;
STV reports that Grampian Police will confiscate passports that are used
fraudulently as proof-of-age by people other than the legitimate holders and
that the documents will not be returned to those holders, who will have to
purchase new ones. Can you please let me know what communication, if
any, Grampian Police has had with the Identity & Passport Service regarding
this policy?
I have made enquiry within the Force and I can advise that Grampian Police has
had dialogue with the Identity & Passport Service in regard to this matter and the
Force policy on this topic follows on from guidance that they provided to all Police
Forces in March 2006. Therefore the guidance provided to Officers within the Force
standard operating procedure on lost and found property is based on advice from
the Identity and Passport Service. The relevant excerpt from the Force procedure is
below,
Passports
"When a found UK Passport has been deposited with the Police, a Found Report will
be created in accordance with the procedures detailed in this document.
Prior to being deposited with the Police, if a UK Passport has been left by the holder
at a place where it could not be fraudulently used, such as a post office, bank, shop
or where the Lost and Found Property Officer is satisfied that it could not have been
fraudulently used, then it may be returned to the holder should they present
themselves to claim ownership. In any other circumstances, the Passport will not be
returned to the owner and will be forwarded by the Lost and Found Property Officer
to the Identity and Passport Service (formerly the UK Passport Service).
When a found foreign Passport/Identity Card has been deposited with the
Police, a Found Report will also be created in accordance with the procedures
detailed in this document.
Should the owner of said Passport/Identity Card present himself or herself at a
Police Station to claim it, the Passport/Identity Card should be returned to that
person, providing that it appears genuine and has not been interfered with.
Non-UK Passports, Identity Cards and other travel documents are to be retained for
at least 24 hours before the LFPO forward them to the National Document Fraud
Unit, PO Box 1000, Hayes, Middlesex, UB3 5WB." In essence, if a passport holder has knowingly given their document to a
friend/sibling etc and it has been out of the control of the owner/holder and could
have been fraudulently used, it cannot be returned to the owner and therefore must
be returned to the Identity and Passport Service.
The cost of the return or re-issue of the passport (£112) is a fee set by the Identity &
Passport Service.
I hope that this information is helpful to you.
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any queries. However, if you
are not satisfied with the way in which your request has been dealt with, you are
entitled, in the first instance, to request a review of the decision made by the Force.
Should you wish to proceed, please write to Iain Gray, Head of Information
Disclosure Unit, Grampian Police, Woodhill House, Westburn Road, Aberdeen,
AB16 5AB, within 40 working days of receiving this letter, stating clearly that you
request a review and the decisions you wish reviewed.
If, after having been informed of the review decision you are still not satisfied, you
are entitled to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision within
six months of the date of the review response. Contact details are Office of the
Scottish Information Commissioner, Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St
Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS, telephone 01334 464610.
Yours sincerely,
Miss Jody Stewart
Assistant Manager – Freedom of Information
Document Outline
