The British National Party

Mark Walker made this Freedom of Information request to West Midlands Police

The request was successful.

From: Mark Walker

3 November 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him
by paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the Police Regulations 2003 (S.I.
2003/527), and having complied with the requirements of regulation
46, has determined that, with effect from 1st January 2005, there
shall be inserted before Annex A of the Determinations under the
Police Regulations 2003 the following Annex:

“ANNEX AA Regulation 6 Schedule 1
RESTRICTIONS ON THE PRIVATE LIFE OF MEMBERS OF POLICE FORCES

No member of a police force may be a member of any of the following
organisations-
a) the British National Party;
b) Combat 18;
c) the National Front.”

I would like to request the following information under the Freedom
of Information Act

1. Prior to 1st January 2005 had any members of your Police Force
been disciplined in connection with membership of:-
a) the British National Party;
b) Combat 18; or
c) the National Front

Please provide details of how many and the outcomes of such
disciplinary procedures if any.

2. After 1st January 2005 have any members of your Police Force
been disciplined in connection with membership of:-
a) the British National Party;
b) Combat 18; or
c) the National Front

Please provide details of how many and the outcomes of such
disciplinary procedures if any.

3. After 1st January 2005 did you review the Human Rights
implications of the restriction? Please supply minutes and other
documentation relating to such a review.

4. The restriction relates to membership. Do you consider that
there is any restriction on a member of your Police Force:-
a) donating to the British National Party
b) subscribing to a British National Party publication
c) purchasing goods from the British National Party
d) signing a petition in favour of the British National Party
e) signing a nomination form for a British National Party candidate

Yours sincerely

Mark Walker
Solidarity Trades Union

solidaritytradeunion.org

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From: foi
West Midlands Police

5 November 2009

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Dear Mr Walker

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

Thank you for your request for information, received 3 November
2009, concerning the British National Party.

Your request is being considered and you will receive a response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days, as defined by the Act, subject
to the application of any statutory exemptions. Where consideration is
being given to the application of any exemptions the 20 working day
timescale may be extended under the terms of the Act to a period
considered reasonable depending on the nature and circumstances of your
request. In such cases you will be notified and, where possible, a revised
time-scale will be indicated. In all cases we shall attempt to deal with
your request at the earliest opportunity.

There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of
the information requested, where the request exceeds the statutory limit.
In such cases you will be informed in writing and the 20 working day
timescale will be suspended until we receive payment from you or your
request is modified and /or reduced. If you chose not to make full payment
or modify your request then the request will remain unanswered.

Your request may require either full or partial transfer to another public
authority. You will be informed if your request is transferred.

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information Unit

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From: Mark Walker

3 December 2009

Dear Sir

I am writing to request an internal review of West Midlands
Police’s handling of my FOI request submitted on 3rd Nov 2009. The
statutory 20 working days has now passed. The normal 20 working day
limit can be extended under section 10(3) if a qualified exemption
is engaged and additional time is required to consider the public
interest. In order to extend the deadline in accordance with
section 10(3) the authority must inform the applicant of this fact
within the 20 working day deadline and provide him/her with a
revised response deadline “that is reasonable in the
circumstances”. I have not been informed of the need for any
extension and my complaint has not been answered.

I believe that section 10(1) of the FOI Act has been breached,
given that no letter was sent extending the deadline under Section
10(3).

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:

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

Yours sincerely

Mark Walker
Solidarity Trade Union
www.solidaritytradeunion.org

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From: foi
West Midlands Police

3 December 2009

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Attachment 2988 ans 01.pdf
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Attachment 2988 policy 20 2005.pdf
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Dear Mr Walker

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

Your request for information, received 03 November 2009 concerning the
British National Party has now been considered. Please accept my apologies
for the delay in responding.

Please find attached our response (2988_ans_01.pdf) along with a relevant
policy (2988_policy_20_2005.pdf).

Your attention is drawn to your right to request a re-examination of your
case under West Midlands Police review procedure (attached). Please note
that such an appeal must be received within six months of the date of this
correspondence.

If you require any further information, then please do not hesitate to
contact me.

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information Unit

West Midlands Police in complying with their statutory duty under sections
1 and 11 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to release the enclosed
information 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 The Force Solicitor, West Midlands
Police Headquarters, Lloyd House, Colmore Circus Queensway, Birmingham, B4
6NQ.

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From: foi
West Midlands Police

11 December 2009

Dear Mr Walker

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 REQUEST REFERENCE No: 2988/09

Thank you for your email received 3 December where you requested West
Midlands Police to review its response to your request for information
concerning BNP membership.

A review has been conducted and the complaint is upheld for the following
reasons:

A response to this request from West Midlands Police should have been
received by you on or before 1 December 2009. The response was not sent
from my office until 3 December which was two days after the legal
deadline. Please accept my apologies for my failure to meet the
deadline. I can assure you that West Midlands Police takes its
responsibilities under the Freedom of Information Act very seriously and
there has been no attempt to deliberately delay responding to your
request. We have also reviewed our administrative process to ensure that
we are able to respond within the legislative timescales.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information
Commissioner*s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF

Yours sincerely,

S J Mountford

FOI Unit Manager

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