28 day Limit Before Hours Of Duty Can Be Changed

Dear Independent Police Support Group

Freedom of Information Request Reference No: 2011040002109
I write in connection with your request for information which was received
by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on 13/04/2011. I note you seek
access to the following information:

"Please confirm whether or not a policy/procedure exists where if an
officer is transferred internally on a Borough that they can continue with
their previous hours of working for 28 days ie before having to work
shifts.
Please provide a copy of any relevant policy/procedure or police
regulation regarding this request. "

Your request will now be considered in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (the Act). You will receive a response within the
statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act, subject to
the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third
party. In some circumstances the MPS may be unable to achieve this
deadline. If this is likely you will be informed and given a revised
time-scale at the earliest opportunity.

Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to
another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest
possible way. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.

COMPLAINT RIGHTS

Your attention is drawn to the attached sheet, which details your right of
complaint.

Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write
or contact me at the above e-mail address, quoting the reference number
above.

Yours sincerely

R. Loizou
Policy and Support Officer
COMPLAINT RIGHTS

Are you unhappy with how your request has been handled or do you think the
decision is incorrect?

You have the right to require the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to
review their decision.

Prior to lodging a formal complaint you are welcome and encouraged to
discuss the decision with the case officer that dealt with your request.

Ask to have the decision looked at again ***

The quickest and easiest way to have the decision looked at again is to
telephone the case officer that is nominated at the end of your decision
letter.

That person will be able to discuss the decision, explain any issues and
assist with any problems.

Complaint

If you are dissatisfied with the handling procedures or the decision of
the MPS made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) regarding
access to information you can lodge a complaint with the MPS to have the
decision reviewed.

Complaints should be made in writing, within forty (40) working days from
the date of the refusal notice, and addressed to:

FOI Complaint
Public Access Office
PO Box 57192
London
SW6 1SF
[email address]

In all possible circumstances the MPS will aim to respond to your
complaint within 20 working days.
The Information Commissioner

After lodging a complaint with the MPS if you are still dissatisfied with
the decision you may make application to the Information Commissioner for
a decision on whether the request for information has been dealt with in
accordance with the requirements of the Act.

For information on how to make application to the Information Commissioner
please visit their website at www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.
Alternatively, phone or write to:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Phone: 01625 545 700

The Metropolitan Police Service is here for London - on the streets and in
your community, working with you to make our city safer.

Consider our environment - please do not print this email unless
absolutely necessary.

NOTICE - This email and any attachments may be confidential, subject to
copyright and/or legal privilege and are intended solely for the use of
the intended recipient. If you have received this email in error, please
notify the sender and delete it from your system. To avoid incurring
legal liabilities, you must not distribute or copy the information in this
email without the permission of the sender. MPS communication systems are
monitored to the extent permitted by law. Consequently, any email and/or
attachments may be read by monitoring staff. Only specified personnel are
authorised to conclude any binding agreement on behalf of the MPS by
email. The MPS accepts no responsibility for unauthorised agreements
reached with other employees or agents. The security of this email and
any attachments cannot be guaranteed. Email messages are routinely scanned
but malicious software infection and corruption of content can still occur
during transmission over the Internet. Any views or opinions expressed in
this communication are solely those of the author and do not necessarily
represent those of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).

Dear IPSG,

Thank you for your email.

Your request is currently being processed and a response will be sent
within the allocated 20 working days (deadline being 17 May 2011).

Kind regards
Siobhan

show quoted sections

Dear Independent Police Support Group

Freedom of Information Request Reference No: 2011040002109

I write in connection with your request for information which was received
by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on 13/04/2011. I note you seek
access to the following information:

1) Please confirm whether or not a policy/procedure exists where if an
officer is transferred internally on a Borough that they can continue with
their previous hours of working for 28 days ie before having to work
shifts.

2) Please provide a copy of any relevant policy/procedure or police
regulation regarding this request.

Following receipt of your request searches were conducted within the MPS
to locate information relevant to your request.

EXTENT OF SEARCHES TO LOCATE INFORMATION

To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted
within Human Resources.

RESULT OF SEARCHES

The searches located records relevant to your request.

DECISION

I have today decided to:

* disclose records numbered 1 in full
* disclose record number 2 subject to the deletion of information
pursuant to the provisions of section 40 (2) Personal Information of
the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). Please see the Legal
Annex at the end of this response for the extracts of the legislation
which apply and the justification for the redactions.

REASONS FOR DECISION

Please find attached your copies of records numbered 1 and 2.

1) Please confirm whether or not a policy/procedure exists where if an
officer is transferred internally on a Borough that they can continue
with their previous hours of working for 28 days ie before having to
work shifts.

Regulation 22 of the Police Regulations 2003 sets out requirements for
duty rosters, hours of work, public holidays and other related
matters.

In relation to the Metropolitan Police Service, a London Borough
constitutes a single place of work. A compulsory move to a different
Borough would entitle officers to claim additional travelling time for
28 days, after which the new place of duty would become permanent.

Deployment and rostering on transfers is a local management decision -
in consultation with the individual in question - depending on whether
the transfer is voluntary or compulsory, any individual pattern of
work in place (i.e. part time, compressed hours, etc) and whether the
current roster meets the demands and pattern of work in place at the
Unit they are transferring to.

Normally 4 weeks notice would be provided in the case of any such move
or change, but this would vary depending on the circumstances. There
is no standard arrangement for officers to continue with any previous
roster for any given period of time.

2) Please provide a copy of any relevant policy/procedure or police
regulation regarding this request.

The MPS Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Regulation 22 is
attached.

COMPLAINT RIGHTS

If you are dissatisfied with this response please read the attached
paper entitled Complaint Rights which explains how to make a
complaint.

Yours sincerely

Siobhan Finn
HR FOIA Manager

Legal Annex

Section 17 of the Act provides:

(1) A public authority which, in relation to any request for
information, is to any extent relying on a claim that any provision in
part II relating to the duty to confirm or deny is relevant to the
request or on a claim that information is exempt information must,
within the time for complying with section 1(1), give the applicant a
notice which-

(a) states the fact,
(b) specifies the exemption in question, and
(c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption
applies.

Section 40 (2) (Personal Information) of the Act provides:

Information that would identify or could assist to the identification
of individuals is exempt from disclosure by virtue of Section 40(2) of
the Act. In this instance providing the name of the internal
employee's name as a point of contact would allow for identification
of third parties. One of the main differences between the Data
Protection Act (1998) and the Freedom of Information Act (2000) is
that any information released under FOI is released into the public
domain, not just to the individual requesting the information. As
such, any release that identifies an individual through releasing
their personal data, even third party personal data, is exempt.

Personal data is defined under the Data Protection Act (1998) as data
that is biographical in nature, has the applicant as its focus and/or
affects the data subject's privacy in his or her personal,
professional or business life.

In order for the exemption provided under Section 40(2) to be engaged
disclosure of the requested information must satisfy either the first
or second condition as defined by subsections 3 and 4.

Having reviewed the requested data I have decided that disclosure of
the internal employee's name would breach principle one of the Data
Protection Act, fair and lawful processing. To determine whether or
not the disclosure would be fair and lawful I have considered the
conditions for processing personal data which are defined by Schedule
2 of the Data Protection Act. Condition 1 relates to the consent of
the data subject and condition 6 relates to legitimate interests. I
do not believe that the data subject (in this instance the internal
employee) would agree to public disclosure of their personal
information. In relation to condition 6, I believe that the public
interest in this request will be satisfied by the disclosure of the
white notes as requested. There is no legitimate public interest in
disclosure of these personal details. My conclusion therefore is that
disclosure would not be fair.

I have applied the exemption provided under Section 40(2) of the
Freedom of Information Act to this information as the first condition,
defined in subsection 3(a)(i) of Section 40 has been satisfied.

In complying with their statutory duty under sections 1 and 11 of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 to release the enclosed information,
the Metropolitan Police Service will not breach the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988. However, the rights of the copyright owner of
the enclosed information will continue to be protected by law.
Applications for the copyright owner's written permission to
reproduce any part of the attached information should be addressed to
MPS Directorate of Legal Services, 1st Floor (Victoria Block), New
Scotland Yard, Victoria, London, SW1H 0BG.
COMPLAINT RIGHTS

Are you unhappy with how your request has been handled or do you think
the decision is incorrect?

You have the right to require the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to
review their decision.

Prior to lodging a formal complaint you are welcome and encouraged to
discuss the decision with the case officer that dealt with your
request.

Ask to have the decision looked at again ***

The quickest and easiest way to have the decision looked at again is
to telephone the case officer that is nominated at the end of your
decision letter.

That person will be able to discuss the decision, explain any issues
and assist with any problems.

Complaint

If you are dissatisfied with the handling procedures or the decision
of the MPS made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act)
regarding access to information you can lodge a complaint with the MPS
to have the decision reviewed.

Complaints should be made in writing, within forty (40) working days
from the date of the refusal notice, and addressed to:

FOI Complaint
Public Access Office
PO Box 57192
London
SW6 1SF
[email address]

In all possible circumstances the MPS will aim to respond to your
complaint within 20 working days.
The Information Commissioner

After lodging a complaint with the MPS if you are still dissatisfied
with the decision you may make application to the Information
Commissioner for a decision on whether the request for information has
been dealt with in accordance with the requirements of the Act.

For information on how to make application to the Information
Commissioner please visit their website at
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk. Alternatively, phone or write to:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Phone: 01625 545 700

The Metropolitan Police Service is here for London - on the streets and in
your community, working with you to make our city safer.

Consider our environment - please do not print this email unless
absolutely necessary.

NOTICE - This email and any attachments may be confidential, subject to
copyright and/or legal privilege and are intended solely for the use of
the intended recipient. If you have received this email in error, please
notify the sender and delete it from your system. To avoid incurring
legal liabilities, you must not distribute or copy the information in this
email without the permission of the sender. MPS communication systems are
monitored to the extent permitted by law. Consequently, any email and/or
attachments may be read by monitoring staff. Only specified personnel are
authorised to conclude any binding agreement on behalf of the MPS by
email. The MPS accepts no responsibility for unauthorised agreements
reached with other employees or agents. The security of this email and
any attachments cannot be guaranteed. Email messages are routinely scanned
but malicious software infection and corruption of content can still occur
during transmission over the Internet. Any views or opinions expressed in
this communication are solely those of the author and do not necessarily
represent those of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).