Home Office Circular 46/2004 - Survey Reference

Dear Home Office,

Freedom Of Information Act Request

I would like a copy of a 'survey' that was mentioned in Home Office
Circular 46/2004 Annex C

An earlier Home Office FOIA response identified the survey's
origin. The reference is T1130/9 dated 20 January 2009.

It would seem reasonable to assume that the Home Office would have
had a copy of the survey referred to, as it saw fit to mention it
in Home Office Circular 46/2004 Appendix C as follows:

'A recent survey found that practice in this area was diverse. Some
forces automatically reduced degree of disablement benefits to the
lowest banding when this age had been reached - others continued to
pay benefits at the same rate until the death of the Officer
concerned.'

I am therefore requesting a copy of the survey together with a copy
of any other document of any description or format that references
the survey. To help you in your search I am looking for documents
that show how the survey was considered for inclusion as a
reference in HOC 46/2004 Annex C.

Your assistance in this matter is very much appreciated.

Yours sincerely,

Ms N. McCall

Dear Ian Moir,

Thank you for your response to my FOIA request.

Unfortunately, your answer was not sufficient to assist me, nor to
provide the response I require. You quoted pretty much what had
already been said in a FOIA response given to a different
researcher in Jan. 2008.

I do hope that you can agree that as the guidance issued by the
Home Office in Annex C to its circular no. 46/2004 contained
reference to a 'recent survey' then it is logical to assume that
the Home Office must have some documentary evidence of the contents
of the survey. Even if the survey only took the form of a 'round
the table discussion' then some detail of that discussion must have
found its way into the hands of the authors of circular 46/2004.
How otherwise could the authors of that guidance know that the
'survey' indicated something of the practices then current
concerning police injury award pensions?

Could you please apply yourself to that question. If the situation
was that a representative of the Home Office was present at the
relevant meeting of the National Attendance Management Forum,
perhaps he or she made notes which were later used in fabricating
the assertion contained in the guidance? If that was the case, I
should like a copy of those notes.

It is not sufficient to state that minutes of the relevant meeting
of the national Attendance Management Forum at West Midlands Police
training centre were not published. That may well be the case, but
if there were minutes, and if those minutes, or indeed any other
document in whatever format, actually exist, then they should
provide the information I am requesting. The fact that minutes are
not published does not preclude them from being provided in
response to a FOIA request.

I have asked West Midlands Police to provide certain information
and I am awaiting their full response. Meanwhile, in the
expectation that somewhere in the Home Office system there must be
documents that refer to or contains data resulting from the
National Attendance Management Forum 'survey', I must press you to
produce it.

I am sure that it is not necessary to remind you that the FOIA
places an obligation on you to assist me in this matter and I do
hope that I can rely on you to do so. Indeed, as your name and that
of John Gilbert appear in Circular 46/2004 it would seem reasonable
that you should have personal knowledge of the 'recent survey' and
any associated documentary evidence of its existence.

Should you tell me that there is in fact no document referring to
the 'survey' would you then be willing to advise me that there was
no survey?

Yours sincerely,

Ms. N. McCall

Dear Ian Moir,

I am following up on a message I sent to you on the 26th of
February - a message that you have not acknowledged receipt of.

Some 15 working days have now passed since I sent that message. I
consider that would be more than sufficient time for you to provide
your full response.

I ask, therefore, that you please provide a prompt acknowledgement
of this message and of my message of the 26th Feb.

I also ask that you provide the information requested without
further delay.

Yours sincerely,

Ms. N. McCall

Dear Mr Moir,

I will consider your reply and respond to it further in due course.

Yours sincerely,

Ms. N. McCall

Dear Mr Moir,

Having considered your reply, I feel that I have to press you on
this matter. You will be aware that new policies and procedures
implemented by police authorities across the country as a result of
the guidance contained in Home Office Circular 46/2004 and its
Annex C have resulted in much disquiet amongst disabled former
police officers in receipt of an injury pension. Indeed, there are
strong, viable suggestions that such policies may be illegal. I am
sure that the Home Office would not wish to be associated with
breaches of the law on such a widespread scale and thus feel
confident that you will be anxious to assist me to the best of your
ability.

I feel it only fair that police injury pensioners are provided with
a full and reasoned explanation of how the Home Office decided on
the content and emphasis of that guidance. The 'survey' that is
referred to is pivotal. Its mention in Annex C seems to indicate
that it was used to underpin the guidance offered. I am interested
to learn the detail of that survey. Once that is completely
established I may then move on to other matters and hope that I can
rely on your continued assistance and good will in that endeavour.

I have indeed asked West Midlands Police for information, but this
does not mean that the Home Office need not provide any. The
document trail extends from the West Midlands to the Home Office
and I need to understand its journey from start to finish.

I understand that a representative of the Home Office may have been
present at the meeting or meetings of the National Attendance
Management Forum when the 'round the table discussion/s' took
place. Would you please then identify the date/s when the meeting
or meetings took place? I note that, in response to an earlier
researcher, the Home Office indicated that the discussion took
place at a meeting, singular.

If a Home Office representative were present then is it not
reasonable to conclude that he or she took with them some notes
concerning the continuing discussion - perhaps even initiating it?
I would like a copy of any notes that any Home Office
representative took with them on the day or days in question. I
would also like a copy of any notes that were made by any Home
Office representative during or after and resulting from the
meeting or meetings - and you can take that to mean that I am now
clarifying my request to include any notes or other documents that
were made by any Home Office representative at the meeting or
meetings when the round the table discussion/s took place, taken to
the meeting or meetings, or any other document that were brought
away from the meeting or meetings that in any way illustrates that
discussion/s. Further, I would like a copy of any other document
that resulted from the discussion/s in reference to police injury
pensions.

As the FOI act requires that you assist me to identify material, I
ask that you either confirm or deny that there are notes or any
other document that references the discussion/s identified and
either confirm or deny that there are documents that illustrate the
transmutation of the round the table discussion/s into the 'survey'
that was mentioned in HOC 46/2004 Annex C. If the discussion took
place over several meetings as you now indicate then I must assume
that a Home Office representative or some other person must have
made a record so as to later make it possible to combine the
various discussions into something approaching a 'survey'.

Further, I think it reasonable to assume that there were other
documents circulating in the Home Office that were relevant to the
decision not only to act on information resulting from the 'round
table discussion/s' but also to include reference to it in the
Circular. Please either confirm or deny that such documents exist.
If they exist, please supply me with a copy of each document.

As this clarification results from my original request I trust that
you will give it your urgent attention and provide a full response
without delay.

Yours sincerely,

Ms. N. McCall

Dear Ian Moire,

Your full response to my enquiry is now overdue. This means that
you are in breach of the requirements of the legislation.

Your initial response did not answer my question, which I then
clarified to assist you in a follow-up message. The 20 working day
limit within which a full response should have been forthcoming was
not extended by that exchange.

I ask therefore that you provide a full response to my enquiry
within five working days. Failure to comply will result in a report
being sent to the Information Commissioner.

Yours sincerely,

Ms. N. McCall

Dear Sir or Madam,

Thank you for attempting to respond to my enquiry.

Unfortunately your response document was blank, save for the
heading.

You can see it for yourself at:

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ho...

Could you please check and re-send?

Yours sincerely,

Ms. N. McCall

Dear Sir or Madam,

Could you please respond to my earlier message.

Yours sincerely,

Ms. N. McCall

Dear Sir or Madam,

Your Ref. T5047/9

I am yet again contacting you to ask that you please respond to my
enquiry.

You sent a response on the 20th April but, as previously advised,
the document you provided was blank apart from the heading.

This document was named ResponseT5047 9.doc

Please check and send your response again without further delay.

I regret that if I do not get a full response within five working
days I will have no option but to report your non-compliance to the
Information Commissioner.

Yours sincerely,

Ms. N. McCall

Dear Sir or Madam,

Your Reference T5047/9

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Home Office's
handling of my FOI request 'Home Office Circular 46/2004 - Survey
Reference'.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ho...

You will see that Mr Moire sent a reply but it was an empty letter.
All that is required is for Mr Moire to check his document and send
it again in a format that is visible.

Yours sincerely,

Ms. N. McCall

Dear Sir or Madam,

Your Reference T5047/9

I have heard nothing from you.

Could you please promptly acknowledge this message and confirm that
you are actioning my request for an internal review.

If I hear nothing before the 29th of June I will have no
alternative than to bring this matter to the attention of the
Information Commissioner.

Yours sincerely,

Ms. N. McCall