Operation Malaya

Paul Ponting made this Freedom of Information request to Lancashire Constabulary This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

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

Dear Lancashire Constabulary,

I would like you to provide me with all information regarding the task force, 'Operation Malaya'.

The Police and Crime Commissioner confirmed Operation Malaya does exist and was set up 13th June 2017.

This police task force operation was discussed in open court on 2rd April 2019 and therefore is of public record. It was discussed by a man named George Vella who informed the court he was involved in the operation and is privy to the details.

In 2019, by way of a FOI request, Lancashire constabulary identified two men, George Vella and Darren Hogan as operatives within Operation Malaya.

In a further civil hearing in open and public court in March 2020, a serving Lancashire police Inspector was asked on oath to confirm the names, the Inspector disclosed another operative named Neil Wilkes, this name was never disclosed in the original FOI request and therefore Lancashire constabulary failed to abide by the FOI rules previously.

Operation Malaya was confirmed to have spanned a period of in excess of four months by full-time Lancashire police officers.

I am therefore asking for ;

1. the names of ALL operatives of Operation Malaya.
2. the names/collar number and rank of all officers who were involved in Operation Malaya.
3. The total cost of Operation Malaya to the public purse.
4. Who authorised Operation Malaya name/rank
5. The purpose of Operation Malaya in the context it was a dedicated operation/task force of such magnitude
6. The outcome of Operation Malaya
7. Information on what constitutes a 'task force' creation
8. How Operation Malaya complied with point 7.
9. Identification of other police forces that cooperated with Operation Malaya.

If it is not possible to provide the information requested due to the information exceeding the cost of compliance limits identified in Section 12, please provide advice and assistance, under your Section 16 obligations, as to how I can refine my request to be included in the scope of the Act. In any case, if you can identify ways that my request could be refined please provide further advice and assistance to indicate this.

I look forward to your response within 20 working days, as stipulated by the Act.

Yours faithfully,
Paul Ponting