Dear Sir or Madam,

Policy documents - Common Purpose

Please supply

1. copies of your organisation's policy documents relating to the
selection of personnel for Common Purpose training.

2. copies of ALL correspondence (email, letters, memos etc)
relating to the selection of personnel for Common Purpose training.

By "Common Purpose", I mean the training organisation of that name:
http://www.commonpurpose.org/home.aspx

Yours faithfully,

John Walker

Dear Mr Walker

Freedom of Information Request Reference No: 2008070008824

I write in connection with your request for information which was received
by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on 31/07/2008. I note you seek
access to the following information:

Copies of your organisation's policy documents relating to the
selection of personnel for Common Purpose training.

Copies of ALL correspondence (email, letters, memos etc)
relating to the selection of personnel for Common Purpose training.

By "Common Purpose", I mean the training organisation of that name:
http://www.commonpurpose.org/home.aspx

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.

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

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
the MPS.

Should you have any further inquiries concerning this matter, please write
or contact Shannon Aldridge on telephone number 020 7161 3527 quoting the
reference number above.

Yours sincerely

Shannon Aldridge
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 and addressed to:

FOI Complaint
Public Access Office
PO Box 57192
London
SW6 1SF

In all possible circumstances the MPS will aim to respond to your
complaint within three months.

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

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Walker

Freedom of Information Request Reference No: 2008070008824

I write in connection with your request for information which was received
by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on 31/07/2008. I note you seek
access to the following information:

QUESTION:
1. Copies of your organisation's policy documents relating to the
selection of personnel for Common Purpose training.

2. Copies of ALL correspondence (email, letters, memos etc)
relating to the selection of personnel for Common Purpose training.

By "Common Purpose", I mean the training organisation of that name:
http://www.commonpurpose.org/home.aspx

Following receipt of your request searches were conducted within the MPS
to locate information relevant to your request. I can confirm that the
information you have requested is held by the MPS.

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 1 record relevant to your request.

DECISION

I have today decided to:

Disclose records numbered 1 in full;
Fully exempt records number 2 pursuant to the provisions of section 12 of
the Act.

REASONS FOR DECISION

Section 17: Refusal of request
Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides when a public
authority refuses a request for information, it must give notice to the
applicant.

17(5) A public authority which, in relation to any request for
information, is relying on a claim that section 12 or section 14 applies
must, within the time for complying with section 1(1), give the applicant
a notice stating that fact.

In considering the request made by John Walker the following exemption
would apply to question 2.

Section 12: Exemption where cost exceeds limit
Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 exempts public
authorities from the obligation to disclose the information requested, if
the cost of doing so exceeds a threshold prescribed by the Secretary of
State.
12(1) Section 1(1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a
request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of
complying with the request would exceed the appropriate limit.
The cost of providing you with the information you have requested would
exceed the appropriate cost set to which we are legally required to
respond. The cost of locating, retrieving and extracting the information
would exceed the appropriate level as stated in the Freedom of Information
Act (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004. It is estimated that
it would take over 18 hours and cost in excess of £450 to comply with this
request. 16 invoices have been identified which relate to Common Purpose
Training, an overview of these invoices has been made available in a
previous request. The MPS only retain invoices from the previous
financial year, in order to retrieve the information, this would involve
contacting each individual BOCU who have sent an individual on the course
and locating all correspondence relating to the subject. For the invoices
which were from earlier financial years, these would have to be requested
from storage which would take a couple of weeks to retrieve. Once
received, firstly, we would have to search through all the invoices in
that year to find the Common Purpose invoices and secondly, once the
invoices relating to Common Purpose had been found, we would have to
contact the individual BOCU to obtain all correspondence. In both
circumstances, to provide the information requested would exceed the
appropriate cost and time limit to process this request
In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, this letter acts as a
refusal notice.

Please find attached your copies of records number 1.

The attached document contains the Learning Management SOP: Section 2
Funding for External Training:

COMPLAINT RIGHTS

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

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
the MPS.

Should you have any further inquiries concerning this matter, please write
or contact James Dowman on telephone number 020 7161 0579 quoting the
reference number above.

Yours sincerely

James Dowman
FOI Manager/Analyst

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 and addressed to:

FOI Complaint
Public Access Office
PO Box 57192
London
SW6 1SF

In all possible circumstances the MPS will aim to respond to your
complaint within three months.

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

show quoted sections