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4 November 2009 
 
 
 
Your Ref: 
 
 
 
 
Our Ref: 
0804/2009 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Robert Hastie 
 
 
Force Disclosure Unit 
E-mail: request-19653-
Police Headquarters 
[email address] 
173 Pitt Street 
GLASGOW 
G2 4JS 
 
Tel: 0141 435 1262 
 
Fax: 0141 435 1218 
 
 
Dear Mr Hastie 
 
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NUMBER 0804/2009 
 
I refer to your request for information dated 7 October 2009, which was received by 
Strathclyde Police on that date.   
 
In terms of Section 18 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (the Act) 
Strathclyde Police can neither confirm nor deny that it holds the information requested by 
you.  However, if the information was held by the Force, it would be considered exempt in 
terms of one or more of the exemptions detailed in Section 18 of the Act, which are listed 
below: 
 
•  Section 34 – Investigations by a Scottish Public Authority 
 
Section 18 of the Act also provides that there is no requirement on a public authority, when 
issuing a Refusal Notice in terms of Section 18, to state why the public interest in maintaining 
the exemption outweighs that in disclosure of the information; nor is there any requirement to 
state why the exemption applies in so far as that statement would disclose information which 
would itself be exempt information.  This should not, however, be taken as conclusive 
evidence that the information you have requested exists or does not exist.  
 
By way of further explanation, should the information you have requested exist, then it would 
be held by the force for the purpose of an investigation which Strathclyde Police has a duty to 
conduct to ascertain whether a person should be prosecuted for an offence, prosecuted for an 
offence is guilty of it or an investigation conducted by Strathclyde Police which in the 
circumstances may lead to a decision by Strathclyde Police to submit a report to the 
Procurator Fiscal.   
 
You should also note that a disclosure of information under the Act is not simply a 
disclosure to the person that requests it; rather, it is a public disclosure.  As such, 
Strathclyde Police, in order to protect affected individuals, cannot, in the vast majority 
of circumstances, release information directly relating to criminal investigations under 
the Act.    
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I hope this information is helpful, however, if you are not satisfied with the way that 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 request such a review, please write to the 
Disclosure Manager within 40 working days of receiving this letter.  
 
If, after having been informed of the Review Panel’s decision, you are still not satisfied then 
you are entitled to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner within six months for a 
decision.  The Commissioner can be contacted the Office of the Scottish Information 
Commissioner, Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS, 
Telephone: 01334 464610. 
 
Should you require any further assistance concerning this matter, please do not hesitate to 
contact me directly on 0141 435 1262, quoting the reference number given. 
 
Yours sincerely 
 
 
 
 
Lorna Grieve 
Freedom of Information Officer 
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