All payments, amounts paid to Northumbria OPCC, PCC Vera Baird relating to Headlines from the First Three Years, the book, by Vera Baird

Martin McGartland made this Freedom of Information request to Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner did not have the information requested.

Martin McGartland

Martin McGartland

23 May 2017

Dear Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner,

I have included (below) my complaint/s which I made to Northumbria Crime Panel and OPCC concerning Vera Baird. I have also included Elaine Snaith, OPCC's Chief Executive, reply of 23 May 2017 to my complaint. I will rely on all of those documents in full as regards this request. However, Ms. Snaith included the following in her email to me of today;

"The book that you refer to covers the first three years of achievements within the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. This book was written by the Commissioner in her role as Police and Crime Commissioner. This is a book referring to her public office. There is no personal advantage to her of this as any money from the sales of the book go back in to Northumbria Police funds. The promotion of this book does not benefit the Commissioner personally or indeed her staff in any way."

The book being; Headlines from the First Three Years by Vera Baird, link to amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Headlin...

I am making the following FOIA request for all recorded information PCC Baird and OPCC hold concerning this request. I am also requesting copies of all original documents which relate to this request as follows;

1. Copies of all publishing agreements and contracts between Northumbria OPCC, PCC (Vera Baird) and publishers that relate to book (including Headlines from the First Three Years by Vera Baird).

2. Copies of all correspondence between Northumbria OPCC, PCC (Vera Baird) and publishers relating to this request (and above) including all emails and letters.

3. Copies of all royalty statements and or invoices, since the publication of the book, which details full amounts paid to Northumbria OPCC, PCC (Vera Baird) relating to this request (the above, the book) by the publishers.

4. Details of all payments paid to date from publishers as well as other third parties, received by Northumbria OPCC, PCC (Vera Baird) relating to the book, including but not limited to;

a All advance payments against royalties (Supply breakdown)
b All expenses payments (Supply breakdown)
c All newspaper book serialisations payments ((Supply breakdown)
d All Appearance Fees relating to media, Tv, radio etc (Supply breakdown)
e All Fees, payments from newspapers, magazines and also any other publications (Supply breakdown)

5. How much, the total amount has been paid to date to OPCC Northumbria relating to the book.

6. How much, the total amount has been paid to date to PCC (Vera Baird) Northumbria relating to the book.

You are required to reply to this request within the time limit and I would expect OPCC Northumbria and PCC (Vera Baird) to be completely transparent and open with the public when replying to this request.

Yours faithfully,

Martin McGartland

COMPLAINT to Northumbria Police Crime Panel against Vera Baird

Martin McGartland

16 May 2017

Dear Sir,

I would like to make a complaint against PCC Vera Baird.

Vera Baird, her staff have added a photo (book cover and link to amazon) as well as the following; “Headlines From The First Three Years” is now available at Amazon, click here, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Headlines-First-... to emails and FOI requests that the send to the public. The above link is to the amazon page where Vera Bairds book can be purchased for £5.99. (See OPCC emails with the links included below. Also see here; https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/i...
, Here; https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...). There are others.

I would like to make a complaint about this abuse and conflict. Vera Baird, her staff are using and abusing public office (funded by tax payer) to promote herself, her book and to profit from it. I believe this is in clear breach of the Code of Conduct E.g. 1.3 The Commissioner must abide by the seven principles of public life: a) Selflessness b) Integrity c) Objectivity d) Accountability e) Openness f) Honest g) Leadership

2. GENERAL OBLIGATIONS 2.1 "g Not to use their position improperly to confer on or secure for them self or
any other person, an advantage or disadvantage"

USE OF RESOURCES 3.1 "When using or authorising the use by others of the resources of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria;- a) Not to use those resources for personal benefit, for the benefit of friends, or any other person in relation to any of the Commissioners business interests."

4.1 The Commissioner agrees:- "a) To act solely in the public interest and in exercising the functions of their office not act to gain financial or other benefits for themself, family, friends, or any person in relation to any personal business of or use or attempt to use their office to confer or secure for any person, including them self, an advantage or a disadvantage." Etc... I will rely on the entire Code of Conduct regards this complaint; https://www.northumbria-pcc.gov.uk/v2/wp...

I look forward to hearing from you regards this complaint.

Yours sincerely,

Martin McGartland

COMPLAINT to Northumbria PCC

Martin McGartland

16 May 2017

Includes new complaint

Dear Scott,

My 11 April 2017 (11:22) email has still not been answered. I refer you to what I included in that email; "Would you please let me have a copy of the referral form and also all other supporting documents which are being sent to the IPCC. I would also like to know who the OPCC's single point of contact is at the IPCC."

I have not been sent a copy of the referral form and the other supporting documents that OPCC Northumberia sent to the IPCC. Would you please deal with this, email those to me.

Complaint against Vera Baird

On a different note and on the subject of conflict by the Police & Crime Commissioner Vera Baird. I notice that OPCC have added a photo (book cover) aw well as the following a link; “Headlines From The First Three Years” is now available at Amazon, click here, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Headlines-First-... to amazon, the page where Vera Bairds book can be purchased for £5.99.

I would like to make a complaint about this conflict. The same link is appearing on other OPCC Northumbria correspondence (including emails and FOI replies). Vera Baird, her staff are using and abusing public office (funded by public) to promote herself, her book and to profit from it. I believe this is in clear breach of the Code of Conduct E.g. 1.3 The Commissioner must abide by the seven principles of public life: a) Selflessness b) Integrity c) Objectivity d) Accountability e) Openness f) Honest g) Leadership

2. GENERAL OBLIGATIONS 2.1 "g Not to use their position improperly to confer on or secure for them self or
any other person, an advantage or disadvantage"

USE OF RESOURCES 3.1 "When using or authorising the use by others of the resources of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria;- a) Not to use those resources for personal benefit, for the benefit of friends, or any other person in relation to any of the Commissioners business interests."

4.1 The Commissioner agrees:- "a) To act solely in the public interest and in exercising the functions of their office not act to gain financial or other benefits for themself, family, friends, or any person in relation to any personal business of or use or attempt to use their office to confer or secure for any person, including them self, an advantage or a disadvantage." Etc... I will rely on the entire Code of Conduct regards this complaint; https://www.northumbria-pcc.gov.uk/v2/wp...

Please pass this complaint on so that it can be fully investigated. I look forward to hearing from you regards both matters.

Yours sincerely,

Martin McGartland

Reply to my complaint from Elaine Snaith, Chief Executive Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner for Northumbria, on 23 May 2017

Dear Mr McGartland

Thank you for your email of 17 May 2017, in which you make a complaint about the Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria.

Under the provisions of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (“the Act”), and the Elected Local Policing Bodies (Complaints and Misconduct) Regulations 2012 (“the Regulations”) made under the Act, complaints regarding the conduct of the Police and Crime Commissioner (“the Commissioner”) for Northumbria are to be considered by the Police and Crime Panel for Northumbria (“the Panel”). Under the Act the Panel has delegated responsibility for progression of such complaints to myself as the Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. I can confirm that this delegation of responsibility applies for all complaints, not just your complaint.

I have therefore recorded your complaint pursuant to the Regulations and respond as follows.

I am satisfied that your complaint is not within the scope of Regulation 13 and part 3 of the Regulations which relates to formal progression of serious complaints requiring a referral to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Your complaint therefore falls to be dealt with by informal resolution under part 4 of the Regulations. I have considered the information provided in your email of 17 May 2017. I have also asked the Commissioner for any relevant information.

Your email sets out your complaint that you believe the Commissioner, and her staff have used and abused public office (funded by the taxpayer) by promoting herself, her book and to profit from it. You believe that this is a clear breach of the Code of Conduct.

The book that you refer to covers the first three years of achievements within the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. This book was written by the Commissioner in her role as Police and Crime Commissioner. This is a book referring to her public office. There is no personal advantage to her of this as any money from the sales of the book go back in to Northumbria Police funds.

The promotion of this book does not benefit the Commissioner personally or indeed her staff in any way.

I am therefore satisfied that the Commissioner has therefore not abused her office by promoting the book on emails from the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner. The work is a reflection of what has happened since she took office in November 2012 to November 2015. I am satisfied that the Commissioner is not profiting from the book, as she does not handle any matters dealing with the sale, all payments go to Northumbria Police. Therefore I do not believe that this is an inappropriate use or abuse of public resources. The Commissioner continues to adhere to the code of conduct.

For the reasons outlined above, I do not believe that the Commissioner has abused her office or placed herself in a conflict situation as you allege.

I therefore do not uphold your complaint. There is no right of appeal contained in the Regulations and this notification concludes the complaints process.

Yours sincerely

Elaine

Elaine Snaith

Chief Executive

Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner for Northumbria.

Martin McGartland (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

Reply by Elaine Snaith,
Chief Executive Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner for Northumbria to Martin McGartland complaint against PCC Vera Baird

23 May 2017

Dear Mr McGartland

Thank you for your email of 17 May 2017, in which you make a complaint about the Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria.

Under the provisions of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (“the Act”), and the Elected Local Policing Bodies (Complaints and Misconduct) Regulations 2012 (“the Regulations”) made under the Act, complaints regarding the conduct of the Police and Crime Commissioner (“the Commissioner”) for Northumbria are to be considered by the Police and Crime Panel for Northumbria (“the Panel”). Under the Act the Panel has delegated responsibility for progression of such complaints to myself as the Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. I can confirm that this delegation of responsibility applies for all complaints, not just your complaint.

I have therefore recorded your complaint pursuant to the Regulations and respond as follows.

I am satisfied that your complaint is not within the scope of Regulation 13 and part 3 of the Regulations which relates to formal progression of serious complaints requiring a referral to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Your complaint therefore falls to be dealt with by informal resolution under part 4 of the Regulations. I have considered the information provided in your email of 17 May 2017. I have also asked the Commissioner for any relevant information.

Your email sets out your complaint that you believe the Commissioner, and her staff have used and abused public office (funded by the taxpayer) by promoting herself, her book and to profit from it. You believe that this is a clear breach of the Code of Conduct.

The book that you refer to covers the first three years of achievements within the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. This book was written by the Commissioner in her role as Police and Crime Commissioner. This is a book referring to her public office. There is no personal advantage to her of this as any money from the sales of the book go back in to Northumbria Police funds.

The promotion of this book does not benefit the Commissioner personally or indeed her staff in any way.

I am therefore satisfied that the Commissioner has therefore not abused her office by promoting the book on emails from the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner. The work is a reflection of what has happened since she took office in November 2012 to November 2015. I am satisfied that the Commissioner is not profiting from the book, as she does not handle any matters dealing with the sale, all payments go to Northumbria Police. Therefore I do not believe that this is an inappropriate use or abuse of public resources. The Commissioner continues to adhere to the code of conduct.

For the reasons outlined above, I do not believe that the Commissioner has abused her office or placed herself in a conflict situation as you allege.

I therefore do not uphold your complaint. There is no right of appeal contained in the Regulations and this notification concludes the complaints process.

Yours sincerely

Elaine

Elaine Snaith

Chief Executive

Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner for Northumbria.

Enquiries, Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner

Dear Mr McGartland,

Subject: Freedom of Information Acknowledgement – Reference 112017.

I refer to the request, which you have made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for records held by this office.

Your request was received by this department on 23 May 2017.

A final decision on your request would normally be sent to you within 20 working days of receipt of your request. This means that you can expect to receive your decision by 21 June 2017.

There are some limited situations under the Freedom of Information Act, which could mean that the period for a final decision may be longer than the normal 20 working days. If this occurs in your request, we will promptly advise you in writing.

Should our final decision not reach you on time, please feel free to contact the officer named to discuss any problems that may have arisen.

If you have not heard from us once the allotted time has expired, you are automatically entitled to appeal to this department for a review of the matter. This review is a full and new examination of the matter, and is carried out by a more senior member of staff of this office.

In the event that you need to make such an appeal, you can do so by writing to Kevin Payne of this department at the details given below. You should state that you are appealing because an initial decision was not sent to you within the time permitted. In that event, you would normally have 40 days (after the original decision should have been sent to you) in which time to make the appeal.

Yours sincerely.

Kevin Payne
Office of Mrs Vera Baird QC
Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria

show quoted sections

Enquiries, Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner

1 Attachment

Dear Mr McGartland,

 

Provision of information held by Northumbria Police & Crime Commissioner
made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the 'Act').

 

Thank you for your e mail dated 23 May 2017 in which you made a request
for access to certain information which may be held by the Police and
Crime Commissioner for Northumbria.

 

As you may be aware the purpose of the Act is to allow a general right of
access to information held by a Public Authority (including the Police
Crime Commissioner), subject to certain limitations and exemptions.

 

We have now had the opportunity to fully consider your request and I
provide a response for your attention.

 

You asked:

 

I am making the following FOIA request for all recorded information PCC
Baird and OPCC hold concerning this request.  I am also requesting copies
of all original documents which relate to this request as follows;

 

1.  Copies of all publishing agreements and contracts between Northumbria
OPCC, PCC (Vera Baird) and publishers that relate to book (including
Headlines from the First Three Years by Vera Baird).

 

No information held. For clarity, I have provided further information.
There are no publishing agreements or contracts relating to this book. No
separate publisher was used.

 

2.  Copies of all correspondence between Northumbria OPCC, PCC (Vera
Baird) and publishers relating to this request (and above) including all
emails and letters.

 

As per the answer to Q1, as there were no publishing agreements - no
information held.

 

3.   Copies of all royalty statements and or invoices, since the
publication of the book, which details full amounts paid to Northumbria
OPCC, PCC (Vera Baird) relating to this request (the above, the book) by
the publishers.

 

No information held. For clarity, I have provided further information. No
monies have been paid to the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner
relating to this book.

 

4.   Details of all payments paid to date from publishers as well as other
third parties, received by Northumbria OPCC, PCC (Vera Baird) relating to
the book, including but not limited to;

a) All advance payments against royalties (Supply breakdown)
b)  All expenses payments (Supply breakdown)
c)  All newspaper book serialisations payments ((Supply breakdown)
d)  All Appearance Fees relating to media, Tv, radio etc (Supply
breakdown)

e)  All Fees, payments from newspapers, magazines and also any other
publications (Supply breakdown)

 

a. Zero

b. Zero.

c. Zero. For clarity, I have provided further information. The book was
not serialised.

d. Zero

e. Zero

For clarity, I have provided further information. The OPCC has received no
payments relating to this book.

 

5.  How much, the total amount has been paid to date to OPCC Northumbria
relating to the book.

 

Zero. For clarity, I have provided further information. No money has been
paid to the OPCC relating to this book.

 

6.  How much, the total amount has been paid to date to PCC (Vera Baird)
Northumbria relating to the book.

Zero.

You may be interested to know that Northumbria Police & Crime Commissioner
routinely publish information via the Disclosure Log.  The aim of the
Disclosure Log is to promote openness and transparency by voluntarily
placing information into the public arena.

 

The Disclosure Log contains copies of some of the information that has
been disclosed by Northumbria Police & Crime Commissioner in response to
requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

Whilst it is not possible to publish all responses we will endeavour to
publish those where we feel that the information disclosed is in the
public interest.

 

The Disclosure Log will be updated once responses have been sent to the
requester.

 

I have provided the relevant link below.

 

[1]http://www.northumbria-pcc.gov.uk/transp...

 

The information we have supplied to you is likely to contain intellectual
property rights of Northumbria Police & Crime Commissioner .  Your use of
the information must be strictly in accordance with the Copyright Designs
and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) or such other applicable legislation. 
In particular, you must not re-use this information for any commercial
purpose.

 

How to complain

 

If you are unhappy with our decision or do not consider that we have
handled your request properly and we are unable to resolve this issue
informally, you are entitled to make a formal complaint to us under our
complaints procedure which is attached.

If you are still unhappy after we have investigated your complaint and
reported to you the outcome, you may complain directly to the Information
Commissioner’s Office and request that they investigate to ascertain
whether we have dealt with your request in accordance with the Act.

Yours sincerely.

Kevin

 

Kevin Payne

Office of Dame Vera Baird QC

Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria

 

References

Visible links
1. http://www.northumbria-pcc.gov.uk/transp...

Martin McGartland

Martin McGartland

30 June 2017

Dear Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner's handling of my FOI request 'All payments, amounts paid to Northumbria OPCC, PCC Vera Baird relating to Headlines from the First Three Years, the book, by Vera Baird'.

I am requesting a review and complaining because the information that I requested relating to this request has not been disclosed. You say that no information is held, however, this can not be possible. When a book is published the author and publishers enter into a written agreement/contract. The publishers also pay monies to the author by way of Advances & Royalties. Royalties are based on book sales. I note that the book in question was first published by; " pinkapublishing; 1 edition (25 Nov. 2015) "

On 21 May 2017 the Chief Executive Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner for Northumbria, Elaine Snaith, wrote to me concerning this matter and she included the following;

"The book that you refer to covers the first three years of achievements within the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. This book was written by the Commissioner in her role as Police and Crime Commissioner. This is a book referring to her public office. There is no personal advantage to her of this as any money from the sales of the book go back in to Northumbria Police funds. "

That letter has been attached below. I will rely on that letter and also my 17 May 2017 email regarding this matter.

As a result, OPCC Northumbria should hold all of the recorded information which relates to this request.

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

Yours faithfully,

Martin McGartland

Reply by Elaine Snaith,
Chief Executive Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner for Northumbria to Martin McGartland complaint against PCC Vera Baird

23 May 2017

Dear Mr McGartland

Thank you for your email of 17 May 2017, in which you make a complaint about the Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria.

Under the provisions of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (“the Act”), and the Elected Local Policing Bodies (Complaints and Misconduct) Regulations 2012 (“the Regulations”) made under the Act, complaints regarding the conduct of the Police and Crime Commissioner (“the Commissioner”) for Northumbria are to be considered by the Police and Crime Panel for Northumbria (“the Panel”). Under the Act the Panel has delegated responsibility for progression of such complaints to myself as the Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. I can confirm that this delegation of responsibility applies for all complaints, not just your complaint.

I have therefore recorded your complaint pursuant to the Regulations and respond as follows.

I am satisfied that your complaint is not within the scope of Regulation 13 and part 3 of the Regulations which relates to formal progression of serious complaints requiring a referral to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Your complaint therefore falls to be dealt with by informal resolution under part 4 of the Regulations. I have considered the information provided in your email of 17 May 2017. I have also asked the Commissioner for any relevant information.

Your email sets out your complaint that you believe the Commissioner, and her staff have used and abused public office (funded by the taxpayer) by promoting herself, her book and to profit from it. You believe that this is a clear breach of the Code of Conduct.

The book that you refer to covers the first three years of achievements within the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. This book was written by the Commissioner in her role as Police and Crime Commissioner. This is a book referring to her public office. There is no personal advantage to her of this as any money from the sales of the book go back in to Northumbria Police funds.

The promotion of this book does not benefit the Commissioner personally or indeed her staff in any way.

I am therefore satisfied that the Commissioner has therefore not abused her office by promoting the book on emails from the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner. The work is a reflection of what has happened since she took office in November 2012 to November 2015. I am satisfied that the Commissioner is not profiting from the book, as she does not handle any matters dealing with the sale, all payments go to Northumbria Police. Therefore I do not believe that this is an inappropriate use or abuse of public resources. The Commissioner continues to adhere to the code of conduct.

For the reasons outlined above, I do not believe that the Commissioner has abused her office or placed herself in a conflict situation as you allege.

I therefore do not uphold your complaint. There is no right of appeal contained in the Regulations and this notification concludes the complaints process.

Yours sincerely

Elaine

Elaine Snaith

Chief Executive

Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner for Northumbria.

Enquiries, Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner

Dear Mr McGartland,

I refer to the request, which you have made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for records this office may hold.

I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your request for an internal review of the response you received in relation to the above mentioned Freedom of Information Request, which will be carried out by a colleague.

A response will be supplied upon completion of the review.

Best Wishes.

Kevin

Kevin Payne
Office of Dame Vera Baird QC
Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria

show quoted sections

Enquiries, Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner

Dear Mr McGartland,

Your request for review asked –

Internal Review Request

 

Dear Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner,

 

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Northumbria Police and Crime
Commissioner's handling of my FOI request 'All payments, amounts paid to
Northumbria OPCC, PCC Vera Baird relating to Headlines from the First
Three Years, the book, by Vera Baird'.

 

I am requesting a review and complaining because the information that I
requested relating to this request has not been disclosed. You say that no
information is held, however, this can not be possible. When a book is
published the author and publishers enter into a written
agreement/contract. The publishers also pay monies to the author by way of
Advances & Royalties. Royalties are based on book sales. I note that the
book in question was first published by; "pinkapublishing; 1 edition (25
Nov. 2015)"

 

On 21 May 2017 the Chief Executive Office of the Police & Crime
Commissioner for Northumbria, Elaine Snaith, wrote to me concerning this
matter and she included the following;

 

"The book that you refer to covers the first three years of achievements
within the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. This book was
written by the Commissioner in her role as Police and Crime Commissioner.
This is a book referring to her public office. There is no personal
advantage to her of this as any money from the sales of the book go back
in to Northumbria Police funds."

 

That letter has been attached below. I will rely on that letter and also
my 17 May 2017 email regarding this matter.

 

As a result, OPCC Northumbria should hold all of the recorded information
which relates to this request.

 

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address:
[1]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Martin McGartland

 

Dear Mr McGartland

 

Thank you for your email of 17 May 2017, in which you make a complaint
about the Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria.

 

Under the provisions of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act
2011 (“the Act”), and the Elected Local Policing Bodies (Complaints and
Misconduct) Regulations 2012 (“the Regulations”) made under the Act,
complaints regarding the conduct of the Police and Crime Commissioner
(“the Commissioner”) for Northumbria are to be considered by the Police
and Crime Panel for Northumbria (“the Panel”). Under the Act the Panel has
delegated responsibility for progression of such complaints to myself as
the Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer of the Office of the Police and
Crime Commissioner. I can confirm that this delegation of responsibility
applies for all complaints, not just your complaint.

 

I have therefore recorded your complaint pursuant to the Regulations and
respond as follows.

 

I am satisfied that your complaint is not within the scope of Regulation
13 and part 3 of the Regulations which relates to formal progression of
serious complaints requiring a referral to the Independent Police
Complaints Commission. Your complaint therefore falls to be dealt with by
informal resolution under part 4 of the Regulations. I have considered the
information provided in your email of 17 May 2017. I have also asked the
Commissioner for any relevant information.

 

Your email sets out your complaint that you believe the Commissioner, and
her staff have used and abused public office (funded by the taxpayer) by
promoting herself, her book and to profit from it. You believe that this
is a clear breach of the Code of Conduct.

 

The book that you refer to covers the first three years of achievements
within the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. This book was
written by the Commissioner in her role as Police and Crime Commissioner.
This is a book referring to her public office. There is no personal
advantage to her of this as any money from the sales of the book go back
in to Northumbria Police funds.

 

The promotion of this book does not benefit the Commissioner personally or
indeed her staff in any way.

 

I am therefore satisfied that the Commissioner has therefore not abused
her office by promoting the book on emails from the Office of the Police &
Crime Commissioner. The work is a reflection of what has happened since
she took office in November 2012 to November 2015. I am satisfied that the
Commissioner is not profiting from the book, as she does not handle any
matters dealing with the sale, all payments go to Northumbria Police.
Therefore I do not believe that this is an inappropriate use or abuse of
public resources. The Commissioner continues to adhere to the code of
conduct.

 

For the reasons outlined above, I do not believe that the Commissioner has
abused her office or placed herself in a conflict situation as you allege.

 

I therefore do not uphold your complaint. There is no right of appeal
contained in the Regulations and this notification concludes the
complaints process.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Elaine

Elaine Snaith

Chief Executive

Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner for Northumbria.

 

Response

 

We have taken this opportunity to revisit the response you were provided
at each point in the original request.

 

It has been confirmed that there is no publishing agreement held by the
Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner. Therefore there was no document
to consider for disclosure to you. Similarly as no separate publisher was
used, there is no correspondence with the publisher. Pinka Publishing is
not a separate organisation. Regarding payments, as per the letter you
have copied above, the response was clear on this point, no payments such
as the kinds described in your request have been received by the Office of
the Police and Crime Commissioner.

 

In conclusion, having reviewed the entire request, it is clear that the
response provided to you was entirely appropriate. No exemptions were
applied, much of the information you sought simply does not exist and
accordingly could not be provided to you. Where there was a zero response,
this was specified.

 

If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of this review then it remains
open to you to refer this matter to the Information Commissioner at the
following address:

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

Yours sincerely.

Dean

Dean Lowery
Office of Dame Vera Baird QC
Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

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Martin McGartland (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

25 Years of Serious CORRUPTION by Northumbria Police - from the very Top down - in the Martin McGartland cases ....
Read more:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/dufferpad/v...

Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/search?content_ty...

Google: https://www.google.co.uk/search?source=h...

.............................................

Martin McGartland (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

It is also very relevant to place on record Vera Baird's resent public comments concerning complaints against the police, i.e. 'APCC’S RESPONSE TO THE INDEPENDENT OFFICE FOR POLICE CONDUCT’S COMPLAINTS REPORT' Which includes; APCC Deputy Lead for Transparency and Integrity, Dame Vera Baird QC PCC said:

“There is a simple concept when dealing with complaints, make sure they are dealt with efficiently, thoroughly and fairly – if the police have got it wrong, don’t be afraid to say so. Here in Northumbria, our complaints triage team have been delivering this ethos since 2014 – and it’s now part of the Governments new national model, so it’s proved to work. It’s about restoring the complainant’s faith in the service that they are complaining about.

“The IOPC make a number of valid points, but they need to recognise that change is happening and PCCs are leading this. Going forward, I want to see PCCs challenge their forces when bureaucracy and legal jargon gets in the way of putting the public first, in Northumbria we keep the public we serve at the heart of everything we do. “The IOPC are right when they say lessons need to be learnt from complaints – that’s the only way forces can get better. Every complaint should offer a challenge of how to improve further. Under the leadership of Mike Lockwood, I am confident that we will see a changed culture at the IOPC which will also be reflected in forces across England and Wales.”

Page link Here; http://www.apccs.police.uk/latest-news/a...

I have made a number of serious complaints to Vera Baird over the years which relate to very serious corruption, failures in my attempted murder investigation, serious failures regards me as victim, NP smear / dirty tricks campaign against me (and the ongoing 19 year cover up of it), NP protecting suspects from arrests as well as IRA terrorists who tried to murder me, obstruction of the investigations Etc

Vera Baird (as well as others acting on her behalf) have failed at every stage to properly record or investigate those complaints. This, I am clear, was to protect her corrupt force, officers who I complained about. All complaints were Whitewashed and covered up in one way or another by Vera Baird and Co. She also has very deliberately circumvented, when she was well aware my complaints were not suitable, local resolution (LR) so that no proper investigations (Again, I say, for above reasons) were ever carried out.

Vera Baird is much more aware than most that LR is not suitable - as with my complaints - (and as the IPCC/IOPC have made clear in one of their upheld latest decisions in my case against her) for complaints, if proven, could potentially lead to disciplinary proceedings. In their 13 September 2018 decision (in which they upheld my appeal against OPCC / PCC Baird) the IOPC / IPCC also stated; 'As far as I can be seen from the background papers , the OPCC has not made any enquiries or conducted any scoping exercise to ascertain whether there is any merit in your allegations that Mr Ashman was aware of the findings of the report and ignored them, nor any attempt made to ascertain how they can be 'resolved'. And the IPCC /IOPC also stated; 'Furthermore, importantly, there is no indication that OPCC has attempted to engage with you to take part in the local resolution process. Plus, no action plan on how to conduct the local resolution has been agreed between you. These are both essential actions expected of local resolution process, yet neither have been conducted.'

Vera Baird above public and following comments; “There is a simple concept when dealing with complaints, make sure they are dealt with efficiently, thoroughly and fairly.' Are pure Poppycock - not worth the paper they are written on so far as the way so, her office has deal with my complaints over the years. Has she dealt with my complaints 'efficiently' ? Absolutely Not. 'Thoroughly'? Absolutely Not. And not at all. 'Fairly.'? All she (others acting on her behalf) has done with my complaints is Cover Up, Whitewash and protect her corrupt force, the corrupt officers I complained about. And she (they) have also ignored evidence (including independent evidence) which supported my complaints.

Martin McGartland (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

The smearing of Martin McGartland and the Massive Northumbria Police (CC Winton 'Cover Up' Keenen - Team Winton) conspiracy and corruption to cover it up / protect all those who were/are involved in it:

Watch Here - The Smearing of Martin McGartland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_conti...

More here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjqphnDx...