CRIMINAL JUSTICE & STANDARDS PORTFOLIO

RESOURCES DIRECTORATE
Corporate Support and Information Services - Data Protection
Police Headquarters, Saunders Lane, Hutton, Preston PR4 5SB

Tel: 01772 413327 Fax: 01772 412123 Email: [Lancashire Constabulary request email]

Mark Walker
Solidarity Trade Union

Via www.whatdotheyknow.com

Email: [FOI #19480 email]

02 November 2009

Dear Mr Walker,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION APPLICATION REFERENCE NO: 2090/09

Thank you for your request for information received by Lancashire Constabulary on the 6^th October 2009, which was as follows:-

In November 2008 the membership list of the British National Party (BNP) was published online. On September 1, 2009 a disgruntled former official Matt Single was convicted in relation to this for offences under the Data Protection Act.

I refer to Schedule 1 of The Data Protection Principles.

Under Schedule 1, any use of sensitive personal data must be

Processed only when at least one of the conditions in Schedule 2 is met, and at least one of the conditions in Schedule 3 is also met.

1. Please tell me if the Lancashire Constabulary has processed any data relating to the leaked British National Party membership list.

2. Please tell me which of the conditions in Schedule 2 and Schedule 3 were met when processing sensitive personal data?

3. Has sensitive personal data been used for any purposes other Than comparing against the Lancashire Constabulary Police personnel database?

4. Who was responsible for the decision to compare sensitive Personnel data against Lancashire Constabulary Police's personnel data?

5. What were the grounds for such a decision?

6. I request the minutes of any meeting held to come to such a decision.

7. Please describe the process used in making such a decision and whether the consequences of this decision, if any, were assessed.

Your request has now been considered and I can advise you that the following statement was issued by Lancashire Constabulary in November 2008 regarding this matter:

“As a result of a Professional Standards review of a recently published list of BNP members, a member of police staff from Eastern division has been suspended from duty pending an internal investigation.

Membership or promotion of the BNP by any member of the police service, whether police officer or police staff, is prohibited as it conflicts with our duty to promote equality.”

Under S17(1) of the Freedom of Information Act, the force can neither confirm nor deny it holds any further information in relation to investigations it may have or have not conducted, which have not subsequently been placed in the public domain, by virtue of S30(3) Investigations, S31(3) Law Enforcement and S40 (5) (b)(i) Personal Information. Not only would this undermine any current investigation by alerting those who are suspected of criminal activity, but it may also thwart any such investigation which is being managed as a covert operation. This in itself would disclose our tactical options, undermining future operations, but also in this case potentially disclose personal data of an individual. This is because the list to which you refer contained the names of individuals. To confirm, or deny that certain action may or may not have been taken will reveal whether an individual named was suspected of being employed by the force. This may not in fact mean they are a member of the BNP but in fact do no more than simply confirm that we have a member of staff with the same name as one that appears on the list.

Before refusing to comply with the provisions of S1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act, the force also has to analyse any public interest factors in neither confirming nor denying that information is or is not held if any of the exemptions cited are qualified in nature. Both S30 and S31 are, so the following public interest factors are relevant.

S30 Investigations

Favouring confirmation or denial:

Confirming the existence of information would show that the force conducted an investigation, which the public would expect.

Against confirmation or denial:

An investigation if unknown could be compromised and it could hinder the prevention or detection of crime. That may even be because under FOIA forces may provide different responses and application of the S30 exemption in some areas and not others would in fact immediately expose such investigations.

S31 Law Enforcement

Favouring confirmation or denial:

Some information regarding the ability to check against the list is already in the public domain and its full usage would make the public better informed.

Against confirmation or denial:

Law enforcement tactics could be compromised and there could be a hindrance to the prevention or detection of crime.

Balance of Public Interest

At this time the potential harm to current and future investigations outweighs any public benefit in knowing if any additional information is, or is not held. Police Officers and staff are held to public account for their actions by the misconduct regulations and the force is held to account for investigating such matters appropriately by Her Majesties Inspector of Constabulary, and/or in some cases by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. There is no further tangible community benefit in complying with section 1(1)(a) of the Act at this time.

This response should not be taken as an inference that the force does, or does not hold any further information in relation to your request.

It may assist you to know that the Police Service would be legally entitled to process this sensitive personal data anyway, under Schedule 2 Condition 5 and Schedule 3 paragraph 10 (Statutory Instrument 417/2000, the Data Protection (Processing of Sensitive Personal Data) Order 2000, paragraph 2). The grounds for any decision would be that being a member of the BNP is incompatible with the role of a police officer/police staff and would be regarded as gross misconduct requiring formal action. This does not however mean that the force have taken such action at this time.

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint or request an internal review of our decision, you should write to the Data Protection and Information Officer, Corporate Support and Information Services - Data Protection, Police Headquarters, Saunders Lane, Hutton, Preston PR4 5SB or alternatively send an email to [Lancashire Constabulary request email]. Details of the Constabulary's Freedom of Information Complaint Procedures can be found attached to this email.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner's Office cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by Lancashire Constabulary. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely

Bryony Hopkinson

Freedom of Information Disclosure Assistant

NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED