Dear Sir or Madam,

The following quote appears on the websites of a number of police
authorities in England Wales and Northern Ireland:
"... If you are seeking emigration, visas, work permits or
residency in Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the United States of
America only, you do not need subject access. Instead you need to
obtain a special ACPO Police Certificate
under a different process. ..."

I am making a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I
would like to know about FCO involvement in the setting up of the
ACPO Criminal Records Office (ACRO) 'service'. Please would you
provide the following information:

(a) please provide electronic copies of any correspondence
regarding the creation of this service by ACPO;

(b) were Ministers consulted on the provision of this service by
ACPO and if so why was the provision of the service by ACPO
preferred over the delivery of the service by the CRB which already
handles disclosure requests within the UK;

(c) Does the FCO consider it reasonable and legally acceptable for
a private limited company to be accessing official UK police
records to provide the 'Police Certificates' for use by officials
in Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the United States of America;

(d) What is the legal status of the 'Police Certificates' issued by
ACRO and what liability does the UK Government have for any
information incorrectly supplied (or withheld).

Yours faithfully,

John Brown

Dear John

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request. It has been passed to
the relevant section within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to deal
with. They will be in touch with you should your request need
clarification.

We received your request on 16 February 2009 and will aim to respond
within 20 working days.

Yours sincerely

Information Rights
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
email: [FCO request email]
... visit our blogs at [1]http://blogs.fco.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Brown,

Please find attached the response to your freedom of information request
ref: 0130-09.

Regards,

Tanweer Hussain
Information Rights Team
FCO

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Dear Mr Brown,

Please find attached the response to your freedom of information request
re 0131-09.

Regards

Tan

Tanweer Hussain

Case Manager, Information Rights Team

Information Management Group

OAB SG/124

Team e-mail: [1][email address]

***********************************************************************************
Join the debate on the London Summit at [2]www.londonsummit.gov.uk

Visit [3]http://www.fco.gov.uk for British foreign policy news and travel
advice and [4]http://blogs.fco.gov.uk to read our blogs.

Please note that all messages sent and received by members of the Foreign
& Commonwealth Office and its missions overseas may be automatically
logged, monitored and/or recorded in accordance with the
Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of
Communications) Regulations 2000. We keep and use information in line with
the Data Protection Act 1998. We may release this personal information to
other UK government departments and public authorities.

***********************************************************************************

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.londonsummit.gov.uk/
3. http://www.fco.gov.uk/
4. http://blogs.fco.gov.uk/

Dear Mr Brown,

Attached is the response to your request for an internal review re FOI
0131-09.

Regards,

Tan

Tanweer Hussain
Information Rights Team
FCO

<<IR 0131-09.docx>>

***********************************************************************************
Visit [1]http://www.fco.gov.uk for British foreign policy news and travel
advice and [2]http://blogs.fco.gov.uk to read our blogs.

Please note that all messages sent and received by members of the Foreign
& Commonwealth Office and its missions overseas may be automatically
logged, monitored and/or recorded in accordance with the
Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of
Communications) Regulations 2000. We keep and use information in line with
the Data Protection Act 1998. We may release this personal information to
other UK government departments and public authorities.

***********************************************************************************

References

Visible links
1. http://www.fco.gov.uk/
2. http://blogs.fco.gov.uk/