UK Central Authority for the Exchange of Criminal Records

Dear Sir or Madam,

In the European Council Decision on the exchange of information
extracted from criminal records - Manual of Procedure (5459/09) -
pages 100-103 relate to the UK Central Authority for the Exchange
of Criminal Records (UKCA-ECR). I am making a request under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Please would you provide the
following information:

(a) what was the rationale for the FCO agreeing to the nomination
of ACPO Criminal Records Office (ACRO) to perform the role of the
UKCA-ECR. {ACPO is a private limited company and not an official
government/public body)

(b) Were Ministers aware of and briefed on the legal status of ACPO
before agreeing to its nomination as the UKCA-ECR;

(c) Given that the Police National Computer is operated by NPIA (a
public agency), why was it resolved to use ACRO rather than NPIA to
be the UKCA-ECR;

(d) What are the estimated annual costs of the UKCA-ECR, how are
these costs covered and which Ministry/Department is responsible
for paying them;

(e) Is the provision of the UKCA-ECR service by ACRO undertaken
under a contract and if so which Ministry/Department placed the
contract.

Yours faithfully,

John Brown

Dear Sir or Madam,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Foreign and
Commonwealth Office's handling of my FOI request 'UK Central
Authority for the Exchange of Criminal Records'.

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

On the website of the UK Representative to the EU
(http://ukeu.fco.gov.uk/en/what-we-do/) it states that "The staff
of the Permanent Representation currently work with their European
counterparts to ensure that the UK's interests are represented on a
wide range of issues at the European level." One of the areas
specifically covered by the description of the UK Representative's
work is "Justice & home affairs issues". As this Foreign Office
organisation, is involved in liaison with other EU members on
police and judicial cooperation, please would you ensure that your
review included information held by or forwarded by the UK
Representative.

Yours sincerely,

John Brown

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please could I have an update on the status of the internal review?

Yours faithfully,

John Brown

Dear Sir or Madam,

Sorry I cannot provide ny FOI request reference number - you do not
appear to have assigned one. The request and thread of
correspondence it has generated can be found at the following url:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/uk...

I await your reply.

Yours faithfully,

John Brown