Dear Sir/Madam

I acknowledge receipt of your correspondence received 27/12/2019 which is
being dealt with as a request for information in accordance with the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.
I am in the process of dealing with your request and will respond in due
course and in any case by 27/01/2020.

Please note that you will not receive a response if you have previously
been issued with a notice under section 14 of the act relating to the
subject of this request.

Please contact us by email at [1][email address] if you
have any further enquiries.

Regards

The Requests Team
Information Compliance
Cheshire Constabulary HQ
Clemonds Hey
Oakmere Road
Winsford
Cheshire
CW7 2UA

Tel :: 01606 362384

This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. Please notify
the sender if received in error. Internet email is not to be treated as a
secure means of communication. The Constabulary monitors all Internet and
email activity and requires it is used for official communications only.
Thank you for your co-operation.

References

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1. mailto:[email address]

Dear B Dean,

Please find attached a response to the request you have made under the
Freedom of Information Act.

Regards,

Cheshire Constabulary and Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service Joint Corporate
Services

Clemonds Hey | Oakmere Road | Winsford | Cheshire | CW7 2UA

Visit [1]www.cheshire.police.uk | [2]www.cheshirefire.gov.uk

Follow [3]@cheshirepolice and @CheshireFire on Twitter

Like [4]Cheshire Police and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service on Facebook

This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. Please notify
the sender if received in error. Internet email is not to be treated as a
secure means of communication. The Constabulary monitors all Internet and
email activity and requires it is used for official communications only.
Thank you for your co-operation.

References

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1. http://www.cheshire.police.uk/
2. http://www.cheshirefire.gov.uk/
3. http://www.twitter.com/cheshirepolice
4. http://www.facebook.com/cheshirepolice

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your email dated in which you express dissatisfaction
with our response to your request under the Freedom of Information Act
2000.

In view of your comments your request has been forwarded to our
independent appeals/reviewing officer, who has been appointed by the
Authority. In accordance with our current policy, in line with
the guidance from the Information Commissioner we aim to provide
a response to you within 20 working days.

If you require any further information you may contact me, details below.

Regards

Freedom of Information Officer
Information Compliance
Cheshire Constabulary HQ
Clemonds Hey
Oakmere Road
Winsford
Cheshire
CW7 2UA

Tel :: 01606 366556

This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. Please notify
the sender if received in error. Internet email is not to be treated as a
secure means of communication. The Constabulary monitors all Internet and
email activity and requires it is used for official communications only.
Thank you for your co-operation.

Dear Mr Dean

I am writing in response your email dated 21^st January 2020 requesting an
independent appeal against the decision made in relation to your request
for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. 

Your original request

Please treat this email as a request for information under the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004, alternatively the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

This Hunt is ‘employing safety officers’ who are assaulting people
verbally and violently.  It is just a matter of time before there is a
serious incident.

I have asked them on several occasions, as have others if they are SIA
members. They always answer yes, but then refuse to answer as to which
company employs them. SIA regulations require them to name their employer
so complaints about their conduct can be made.

These ‘safety officers’ state their SIA numbers have been given to
Cheshire Constabulary.

Please confirm this is correct. If this is correct please provide the
details of the company or companies that all of  these SIA/Safety Officers
are employed by.

Whilst this is an foir and you have 20 working days to reply, on this
occasion I would be grateful if you could reply immediately as I am
concerned about the increasing violence of these SIA Officers and the
police by their non presence or actions seemingly condoning their actions
and there is New Years Day Hunt looming.

The Constabulary’s original response

No Information held.

Your request for an internal review/appeal

I am writing to request an internal review of Cheshire Constabulary's
handling of my FOI request 'Cheshire Hounds Hunt Safety Officers'.

On Saturday 19 January 2020 PC 30008 advised me at about 14.30 when I
requested he take the SIA badge numbers of the security protecting the
Cheshire Hunt that “he did not need to as they knew them all and were in
regular contact with their company.”

I have very clear video evidence of my conversation with PC 30008.

So either your reply of “no information held” is incorrect or PC 30008 has
given me misleading information.

Which is it?

The Constabulary’s response to your appeal

The appeal process is to review the original request and the process
undertaken to achieve the disclosure. I can confirm that I have reviewed
your original request and the initial response sent to you, your appeal is
indeed upheld, please see our revised response below; 

Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) places two duties
on public authorities.  Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at
s1(1)(a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a
request is held.  The second duty at s1(1)(b) is to disclose information
that has been confirmed as being held.  Where exemptions are relied upon
Section 17 of the FOIA requires that we provide the applicant with a
notice which: a) states that fact; b) specifies the exemptions in question
and c) state (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the
exemption(s) applies.

From our preliminary assessment we are unable to provide this as it would
exceed the appropriate costs limit under section 12 of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. This is currently £450. The basis for this
calculation is the cost of locating and retrieving the data to answer your
questions.

Cheshire Constabulary do not routinely record (in writing) SIA Numbers,
the organisation name of SIA security officers in a central location on
our recording systems. However, it might be that the information may have
been disclosed during an officers attendance to an incident at a hunt.  In
order to establish if the information is held would require a review all
Body Worn Video (BWV) footage, for every officer that has been involved in
hunting incident.  There are on average 10 officers that may attend each
hunt of which there are 2 hunts a week lasting around 4.5 hours, equating
to an average of 1620 hours of footage.  From our calculations that
equates to in excess of 1620 hours as this would require one member of
staff one hour per hour of BWV footage to establish if the SIA security
numbers and/or company worked for has been previously disclosed.  Your
entire request is therefore refused.

The appropriate limit is defined in the Data Protection and Freedom of
Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004, which is
covered by statutory Instrument Number 3244 of 2004. Furthermore, Section
12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 allows a public authority to
refuse to respond to a request for information where the cost of
compliance would exceed the appropriate limit as defined by the above
mentioned regulations.

Officers may be aware of security company individuals work for but this
would be knowledge “in the individuals head” therefore not captured under
the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as the act relates to recorded
information held on our systems hence our revised response. 

Also, your original request was received on 27/12/2019 therefore any
information that relates to your request that was received after that date
would not fall within the remit of your request on the above date.  FOI
requests relate to information held by the public authority as of the date
in which the request was received. 

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, you have further recourse for
appeal, if required, to the Information Commissioner. Information can be
obtained about the appeal procedure from:

The Information Commissioner

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK8 5AF

Regards

Sarah Davies

Information Officer

Joint Corporate Services  | Cheshire Constabulary  | Police HQ | Clemonds
Hey | Winsford | Cheshire | CW7 2UA | Phone: 01606 366556 |  Email:
[1][email address]

Visit [2]www.cheshire.police.uk | Follow [3]@cheshirepolice on Twitter |
Like [4]Cheshire Police on Facebook

[5]logo[6]cid:image001.jpg@01D24FB5.8237DE20

This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. Please notify
the sender if received in error. Internet email is not to be treated as a
secure means of communication. The Constabulary monitors all Internet and
email activity and requires it is used for official communications only.
Thank you for your co-operation.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.cheshire.police.uk/
3. http://www.twitter.com/cheshirepolice
4. http://www.facebook.com/cheshirepolice