Force employee compensation claims

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Gloucestershire Constabulary should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Hello,

Under the Freedom of Information Act, I'd like to know the following, please:

1.
a. The total number of compensation claims made by employees against the force, broken down to differentiate between officers and staff and by each year between 2015 and 2019
b. The total sum paid out in compensation arising from such claims, broken down for each year

2. In each case, I’d like to know the following:

• Rank of officer or role of staff member
• Gender
• Age
* Year of incident
• Incident date
• Date claim was settled
• Injuries caused/nature of claim
• Description of incident claim related to
• Amount paid
• Status of claim, i.e. whether it is still on-going, being disputed or otherwise
• Cost in legal fees to the force

I'd like to request that the disclosure for question 2 be detailed within an xls or xlsx Excel spreadsheet, with the headings as specified within that question.

If you identify any problems with this request and could assist at all in refining it or advise as to how it could be better worded to achieve the disclosure hoped for, I'd be grateful.

Yours faithfully,

Joanna Morris

FOI, Gloucestershire Constabulary

Thank you for contacting Gloucestershire Constabulary’s Freedom of
Information Team.

 

If you have submitted a request for information, please accept this as
your acknowledgment. We may be in contact to discuss your request.

 

We aim to respond to your request within the statutory time frame of 20
working days, however if we need to extend past this date we will advise
you of this.

 

If you have sent a query to the team concerning an outstanding request for
information, we will be in contact with you shortly.

 

Please note that the team only consists of 1 ½ full time equivalent roles
who are expected to receive in excess of 1250 different requests for
information per year, therefore during busy periods your query may take
longer than usual to respond to.

 

Thank you

 

 

 

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Hello,

Your response to this FOI request is now overdue. I'd be grateful if you could let me know when I can expect disclosure, please.

Yours faithfully,

Joanna Morris

FOI, Gloucestershire Constabulary

Thank you for contacting Gloucestershire Constabulary’s Freedom of
Information Team.

 

If you have submitted a request for information, please accept this as
your acknowledgment. We may be in contact to discuss your request.

 

We aim to respond to your request within the statutory time frame of 20
working days, however if we need to extend past this date we will advise
you of this.

 

If you have sent a query to the team concerning an outstanding request for
information, we will be in contact with you shortly.

 

Please note that the team only consists of 1 ½ full time equivalent roles
who are expected to receive in excess of 1250 different requests for
information per year, therefore during busy periods your query may take
longer than usual to respond to.

 

Thank you

 

 

 

******This is an automated response. Please do not reply directly to this
e-mail. Send any further information or requests to
[email address]

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FOI, Gloucestershire Constabulary

Dear Joanna Morris

Ref: 2019.0946

I refer to your email below and apologise for the delay in providing you with a response to your request. This has been due to an exceedingly high volume of requests and resourcing issues which have impacted both upon the Information Disclosure team and the business areas upon whom we rely to supply the information.

I hope to be able to provide you with a response as soon as we can and apologise for any inconvenience caused as a result of the delay.

Yours sincerely

Disclosure Team                               

Information Disclosure/Governance & Compliance
Gloucestershire Constabulary
1 Waterwells Drive | Quedgeley | Gloucestershire | GL2 2AN
Tel – 01452 754304 | Force Control Room - 101          
www.gloucestershire.police.uk
Twitter page
Facebook page

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Hello,

Could you please provide me with an update as to the status of this request?

I've now gathered disclosures from the majority of the UK's police forces and the timing of your response would make a difference in terms of when we publish our findings.

If I can expect it within a week, I can wait, but if it is a matter of months, I'll have to go to press with what I have now and do a separate piece on your force individually when the disclosure arrives.

I'd appreciate any help you can give in this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Joanna Morris

FOI, Gloucestershire Constabulary

Thank you for contacting Gloucestershire Constabulary’s Freedom of
Information Team.

 

If you have submitted a request for information, please accept this as
your acknowledgment. We may be in contact to discuss your request.

 

We aim to respond to your request within the statutory time frame of 20
working days, however if we need to extend past this date we will advise
you of this.

 

If you have sent a query to the team concerning an outstanding request for
information, we will be in contact with you shortly.

 

Please note that the team only consists of 1 ½ full time equivalent roles
who are expected to receive in excess of 1250 different requests for
information per year, therefore during busy periods your query may take
longer than usual to respond to.

 

Thank you

 

 

 

******This is an automated response. Please do not reply directly to this
e-mail. Send any further information or requests to
[email address]

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FOI, Gloucestershire Constabulary

Dear Joanna
 
Ref: 2019.0946
 
I refer to your email below and apologise again for the delay in providing you with a response to your request.

I am unable to give any specific timescale for when your request will be completed as the Disclosure Officer dealing with your request is not in the office today but I will bring it to her attention on Monday and can update you further then.
 
Yours sincerely

Sarah Nicol
Administrator
Information Disclosure / Governance & Compliance
Gloucestershire Constabulary
1 Waterwells Drive | Quedgeley | Gloucester | GL2 2AN
Group - 01452 754304 | Force Control Room – 101

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FOI, Gloucestershire Constabulary

1 Attachment

Dear Joanna Morris

 

Ref: 2019.0946

 

Please accept my apologies for the delay in providing you with a response
to your request. This has been due to an exceedingly high volume of
requests and resourcing issues which have impacted both upon the
Information Disclosure team and the business areas upon whom we rely to
supply the information.

 

Please find your response attached and I apologise for any inconvenience
caused as a result of the delay.

 

Yours sincerely,

Miss N Cramb

Disclosure Officer

Information Disclosure / Governance & Compliance

Gloucestershire Constabulary

1 Waterwells Drive | Quedgeley | Gloucester | GL2 2AN

Phone - 01452 754304 | Force Control Room – 101

[1]www.gloucestershire.police.uk | [2]Twitter page | [3]Facebook page

 

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.gloucestershire.police.uk/
2. https://twitter.com/Glos_Police
3. https://www.facebook.com/gloucestershire...

Hello,

I acknowledge receipt of your response to this request.

However, I would like to ask for an internal review into your decision to refuse most of it under Section 40 (2) personal information.

Firstly, I would argue that the information requested is in the public interest to disclose, given that it relates to the spending of public funds in relation to incidents that occur while a police employee is on duty.

I believe the disclosure of the information requested would be lawful, fair and transparent as stipulated under the Act.

However, you say that processing of this request would breach principle one of the DPA, suggesting that disclosure would be unfairly and unlawfully processed were you to provide it. You have provided no proof or explanation to support your decision making in this respect.

I would like an explanation that sets out how you have identified the data requested as personal and identifying data, as defined by the DPA. I believe there are ways in which you can present the information requested that would not enable individuals to be identified, as many other forces across the country have done in their responses.

As you will be aware, information is not automatically exempt from disclosure because it relates in some way to the personal data of somebody else. You have not provided evidence to support your suggestion that disclosure in this instance would be unfair or unlawful.

I believe there is a legitimate interest in the disclosure of this information to the public and that the disclosure would be fair and transparent - you have not provided sufficient explanations as to why you disagree, or proof that you have engaged fully with the required legitimacy tests in your handling of this request.

Further, I believe that you can reveal details relating to each claim without breaching Section 40 (2). In particular, I would highlight the following requests as being answerable without resort to the exemption:

* A full breakdown of the financial cost of each individual claim to the force
* A full breakdown of the financial cost of legal fees relating to each claim to the force
* Details relating to the incidents which inspired each claim - for example, 'assaulted while on duty' would not give rise to the identification of an individual, and even if it were to do so, you have provided no proof to say why disclosure of these facts would be harmful
* The status of each claim, whether it is on-going or has been settled
* Whether claimants were officers or staff members
* Injuries caused

Guidance from the ICO stipulates that an authority must consider, before engaging this exemption, whether the disclosure would be lawful by answering the questions set out below:

1. Is the information special category data?
(It does not pertain to personal data about an
individual’s race, ethnic origin, politics, religion, trade
union membership, genetics, biometrics health, sex life or sexual orientation, so should not be considered special category data).

2. Is the information criminal offence data?
(I don't believe that it is, but would accept part exemptions for cases that engaged this exemption)

3. Is there any Article 6 lawful basis for processing the
personal data?
(Yes, legitimate interest, I would say)

4. Does lawful basis (a) – consent - apply?

5. Does lawful basis (f) - legitimate interests - apply?
(I believe there is a legitimate interest in processing information that relates to public funds and the operational duties and costs of a public authority, for the purposes of journalistic use)

I would be grateful if you could provide a full explanation as to how you have answered the questions above and the conclusions you drew in relation to them.

ICO guidance suggests there is a basis for processing this data if:
“… necessary for the purposes of legitimate interests
pursued by the controller or by the third party, except where
such interests are overridden by the interests or
fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which
require the protection of personal data, in particular where
the data subject is a child”.

I do not believe the interests of the data subject (who is unlikely to be identifiable via full disclosure) outweigh the legitimate interests in this instance.

The ICO says:

"Examples of a legitimate interest include the general requirement
for transparency in public life, or in the issue that the information in
question relates to. This particularly applies to issues of interest to
the wider public and where disclosure demonstrates accountability.
For example, disclosing the expenses claims of a public official may
lead to increasing accountability and transparency in the spending
of public funds."

It is clear that journalistic pursuit of this disclosure will be in the public interest and that it will demonstrate accountability concerning the allocation of public funds and the operation of the force. This request clearly engages the requirement to enhance transparency relating to public life.

You have not provided an explanation of how adverse consequences would result from the disclosure of this data and have not provided evidence to support a connection between the disclosure and any consequences.

I look forward to hearing from you quickly with a full response to the points raised above, and hopefully disclosure of the information requested.

Yours faithfully,

Joanna Morris

FOI, Gloucestershire Constabulary

Thank you for contacting Gloucestershire Constabulary’s Freedom of
Information Team.

 

If you have submitted a request for information, please accept this as
your acknowledgment. We may be in contact to discuss your request.

 

We aim to respond to your request within the statutory time frame of 20
working days, however if we need to extend past this date we will advise
you of this.

 

If you have sent a query to the team concerning an outstanding request for
information, we will be in contact with you shortly.

 

Please note that the team only consists of 1 ½ full time equivalent roles
who are expected to receive in excess of 1250 different requests for
information per year, therefore during busy periods your query may take
longer than usual to respond to.

 

Thank you

 

 

 

******This is an automated response. Please do not reply directly to this
e-mail. Send any further information or requests to
[email address]

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