RESOURCES DIRECTORATE

Corporate Support and Information Services, Lancashire Constabulary Headquarters, PO Box 77

Hutton, Preston. PR4 5SB

Carl Melling

Telephone: 01772 413327                Fax: 01772 412123 - e-mail:[email address]

Dear Mr Johnson

FOI REQUEST 1432/08 - INTERNAL REVIEW

I refer to your email of the 28^th December, 2008, regarding the concerns in respect of the original response to your request for information about Speed Indication Devices.

Firstly, may I apologise that I have not been able to respond to you before now. Unfortunately, due to other competing priorities and resource issues, it has not been possible for me to deal with all enquiries and appeals in as timely manner as I would have liked. However, I have recently reviewed our procedures for dealing with `internal reviews', following which, together with the recent addition of an extra member staff within the Department, I envisage that further reviews should ordinarily be completed within 20 days.

For the purposes of your appeal, I note that specifically you have raised the issue of no information being provided in relation to actual and projected costings. Secondly, you have requested the release of the documents previously provided with the inclusion of the names previously redacted. An Appeals Panel has now considered your appeal.

With regards to costing information, following further enquiries, no information is held.

In respect of the redaction of names from the documents provided. Clearly the inclusion of staff details, constitutes personal data, as defined under the Data Protection Act. Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act provides an exemption from disclosure if there would be a breach of one of the eight principles of the Data Protection Act. The first principle of the Data Protection Act requires the processing of personal information to be fair and lawful. Whilst the issue of fairness is sometimes difficult to define and qualify, this police force has adopted a position that names of police staff not in a public facing role, will not normally be disclosed. However, the names of Police Officers who are not in sensitive/covert roles will normally be disclosed.

The Appeals Panel consider that there is no reason to change from this position in this instance.

Accordingly, please find attached the documents previously disclosed, with redactions removed where they relate to a Police Officer. For information, the other redactions relate to a Health and Safety Officer of the Constabulary - a post with a non-public facing role, and an employee of Lancashire County Council.

Should you still be dissatisfied with my response, please do not hesitate to write to me at the address above. Of course, you have the right to complain further to the Information Commissioner should you still be dissatisfied. For completeness, the address is as follows:

Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Tel: 0845 630 6060

Yours sincerely

Carl Melling

Data Protection and Information Officer

Your Reference:

Our Reference: FOI 1432/08

Date: 17 March, 2009

Mr David Johnson

Via What Do They Know