10 June 2008
Your Ref:
Our Ref:
0433/08
Mr John Gilmour
[email address]
Force Disclosure Unit
Police Headquarters
173 Pitt Street
GLASGOW
G2 4JS
Tel: 0141 435 1216
Fax: 0141 435 1218
Dear Mr Gilmour
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NUMBER 0433/08
I refer to your request for information dated 11 May 2008, which was received by Strathclyde
Police on same date. Your request has now been considered and on 10 June 2008, a decision
was made to grant some of your request. As such, the information you have requested is
detailed below.
Please provide information showing the categories of meals available to detainees
(omnivorous, vegetarian, vegan, fruitarian, halal for example) and the numbers of each
meal issued to detainees, by category, in Strathclyde CD Sub Division, for all periods for
which records exist.
The categories of meal available to persons kept in custody by Strathclyde Police at CD Sub
Division (now known as BF Sub Division which covers part of the East-Dunbartonshire
council areas) are described as follows.
Beef Casserole, Vegetarian Lasagne, Macaroni Cheese, Cottage Pie, Savoury Mince, Chicken
Country Style, Sausage Casserole, Full Breakfast, Vegetarian Breakfast, Breaded Fish, Scotch
Pie, Sausage Roll, Beef Curry with Rice, Halal Vegetarian, Halal Lamb, Halal Chicken, Halal
Keema. Meals are not categorised by those you describe.
Availability during any particular period of custody is, of course, subject to it being in stock
during that period.
In relation to the numbers of each meal issued to detainees by category, this information is not
routinely collated.
By way of explanation, the meals are ordered from the supplier on the basis of checking the
stock to see what is running low, however, a list is not kept as to what has been used or
ordered in the past. Also, our Prisoner Processing records do not have any specific data fields
dedicated to the food requirements of prisoners, however, on some occasions a specific food
type may be added to the duty officer’s notes within the free-text field based on information
provided by a prisoner. If there is any dubiety as to the suitability of the meal for the
individual then they will be clarified.
It may be possible for us to extract information if you made your request more specific and
specified a much smaller time frame, however, the information, if retrievable, would be more
than likely to be inaccurate as in most cases the information is not recorded.
I hope this information is helpful, 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 request such a review, please write to
Mrs Sheena Brennan, Disclosure Manager at the above address within 40 working days of
receiving this letter.
Once informed of the Review Panel’s decision, if you are still not satisfied, then you are
entitled to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision. Contact details are;
Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner, Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St
Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS, telephone 01334 464610.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in Strathclyde Police.
Should you require any further assistance concerning this matter please contact me directly on
0141 435 1216 quoting the reference number given.
Yours sincerely
Colette McFarlane
Freedom of Information Officer
