Our ref: 2056

Thursday, 26 November 2009

Dear Mr Sands

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 REQUEST

Thank you for your Freedom of Information Act request, in which you asked the following:

“I would like to know, in each of the last 5 years, how many prosecutions there have been where the defendant had been issued with a Penalty Notice for Disorder for an alleged offence under Section 5 of the Public Order Act and had asked to have their case heard in court, and what were the results of those prosecutions”.

Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 creates a statutory right of access to recorded information held by public authorities i.e. the Crown Prosecution Service. This right is to be informed whether the information requested is held by the public authority or not, and if the information exists, for it to be communicated. A public authority must reply to such a request promptly and in any event, not later than twenty working days after receipt.

I can confirm the Crown Prosecution Service does not hold the requested information. You may wish to contact the Office of Criminal Justice Reform as they may be able to assist you with your request, their address is:

Office for Criminal Justice Reform
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF

Email: [email address]

Link: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/organisation/directorate-search/ocjr/

If you are unhappy with the level of service you have received in relation to your request from the Crown Prosecution Service you may ask for an internal review. You should contact the Freedom of Information Unit (Appeals), 50 Ludgate Hill, London, EC4M 7EX, if you wish to ask for a review.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

S Kadir

Information Management Unit

Information Management Unit

Business Information Systems Directorate

50 Ludgate Hill

London

EC4M 7EX

T. 0207 796 8000

F. 0207 796 8439

FOIUnit@cps.gsi.gov.uk

www.cps.gov.uk