Thank you for your email to the Information Management Department at
Northumbria Police.  Please accept this reply as acknowledgement it has
been received and note that this mailbox only deals with queries that are
directly related to Freedom of Information Act matters.

Freedom of Information Act Requests

Where a request falls under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, we will
aim to return to you within 20 working days. However, due to current
circumstances, we apologise for any delay in providing a response. We will
endeavour to process your request as quickly as possible and thank you for
your patience.

Where a request falls outside of the Freedom of Information Act 2000:

Personal Information / Subject Access Requests / Third Party Information
Requests 

Are forwarded to our colleagues in Data Protection, who will contact you
directly. 

Insurance Companies

Queries relating to a crime are forwarded
to: [1][email address]

Queries relating to a collision records are forwarded
to: [2][email address]

Colleagues will contact you directly and advise of any fees payable and
processes to follow.

Update on A Crime You Have Reported / Follow Up My Crime

Please complete the form in the following link as we cannot access such
details: [3]Follow up my crime : Northumbria Police

Clare’s Law

You are asked to access the following links:

[4]Clare’s Law – Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme : Northumbria Police

Sarah’s Law

You are asked to access the following links:

[5]Sarah’s Law – Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme : Northumbria Police

Court Orders

Are managed separately but service is accepted via this mailbox.

Please note that this mailbox is managed during normal office hours from
Monday to Friday.

Kind Regards, 

Information Management Unit

NORTHUMBRIA POLICE PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE The information
contained in this message and any attachment(s) is confidential and
intended only for the attention of the named organisation or individual to
whom it is addressed. The message may contain information that is covered
by legal, professional or other privilege. No mistake in transmission is
intended to waive or compromise any such privilege. This message has been
sent over public networks and the sender cannot be held responsible for
its integrity. If you are not the intended recipient be aware that any
disclosure, copying, distribution or action taken in reliance of the
information contained herein is strictly prohibited, and is contrary to
the provisions of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act, 1988 and of the
Data Protection Act, 2018. Any views expressed are those of the sender
and, unless specifically stated, do not necessarily represent the view of
Northumbria Police. We cannot accept any liability for any loss or damage
sustained as a result of software viruses. It is your responsibility to
carry out such virus checking as is necessary. If you have received this
message in error, please notify the sender by e-mail at once and delete
the message immediately. For more information about Northumbria Police
please visit our website - http://www.northumbria.police.uk

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4. https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
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Provision of information held by Northumbria Police made under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 (the 'Act')

Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) Request 536/23 - Consensual Child
Sexting

Thank you for your email received on the 22 March 2023 in which you made a
request for access to certain information which may be held by Northumbria
Police.

As you may be aware the purpose of the Act is to allow a general right of
access to information held at the time of a request, by a Public Authority
(including the Police), 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:

For each of the years 2016, 2017 and 2018 separately:

1.     How many individuals under the age of 18 have been dealt with by
means of 'Outcome 21' (per the Home Office counting rules) for any offence
relating to consensual child sexting in:

2.     How many individuals under the age of 18 have been deal with by
means of a simple or conditional caution for any offence relating to
consensual child sexting in:

3.     How many individuals under the age of 18 have been charged with any
offence relating to consensual child sexting in:

For clarity, references above to 'consensual child sexting' refer to any
offence under s.1 of the Protection of Children Act 1978 or s.160 of the
Criminal Justice Act 1988 committed (or alleged against) a child where the
subject of the indecent image made, distributed or possessed consents to
the offence and is also a child. At the material times, such offences were
'counted' under Home Office Counting Rules as offences 86/02 and 86/10.

Following receipt of your request, searches were conducted with the
Corporate Development Department of Northumbria Police.  I can confirm
that the information you have requested is held by Northumbria Police but
will not be disclosed as the below exemption has been considered and
applied as appropriate.

Section 40(2) - Personal Information 

Section 40(2) is a class based absolute exemption and there is no
requirement to consider the public interest in disclosure. That being
said, where Section 40(2) is engaged, in order to make the exemption
absolute, there needs to be evidence that a data protection principle
would be breached by disclosure. In this case, it would not be fair to
process information which, we believe by providing all the information you
have requested, could lead to the identification of an individual.
Therefore, the first principle of the Data Protection Act would be
breached. 

Due to the different methods of recording information across 43 forces, a
specific response from one constabulary should not be seen as an
indication of what information could be supplied (within cost) by
another.  Systems used for recording these figures are not generic, nor
are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  For this reason
responses between forces may differ, and should not be used for
comparative purposes.

You may be interested to know that Northumbria Police 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 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 wider
public interest.

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

I have provided the relevant link below.

[1]https://beta.northumbria.police.uk/about...

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, 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

Data Protection and Disclosure Adviser

Information Management Department

[NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED]

'Our vision is to deliver an outstanding police service; working with
communities to prevent crime and disorder and protect the most vulnerable
people from harm.'

References

Visible links
1. https://beta.northumbria.police.uk/about...

Thank you for your email to the Information Management Department at
Northumbria Police.  Please accept this reply as acknowledgement it has
been received and note that this mailbox only deals with queries that are
directly related to Freedom of Information Act matters.

Freedom of Information Act Requests

Where a request falls under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, we will
aim to return to you within 20 working days. However, due to current
circumstances, we apologise for any delay in providing a response. We will
endeavour to process your request as quickly as possible and thank you for
your patience.

Where a request falls outside of the Freedom of Information Act 2000:

Personal Information / Subject Access Requests / Third Party Information
Requests 

Are forwarded to our colleagues in Data Protection, who will contact you
directly. 

Insurance Companies

Queries relating to a crime are forwarded
to: [1][email address]

Queries relating to a collision records are forwarded
to: [2][email address]

Colleagues will contact you directly and advise of any fees payable and
processes to follow.

Update on A Crime You Have Reported / Follow Up My Crime

Please complete the form in the following link as we cannot access such
details: [3]Follow up my crime : Northumbria Police

Clare’s Law

You are asked to access the following links:

[4]Clare’s Law – Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme : Northumbria Police

Sarah’s Law

You are asked to access the following links:

[5]Sarah’s Law – Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme : Northumbria Police

Court Orders

Are managed separately but service is accepted via this mailbox.

Please note that this mailbox is managed during normal office hours from
Monday to Friday.

Kind Regards, 

Information Management Unit

NORTHUMBRIA POLICE PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE The information
contained in this message and any attachment(s) is confidential and
intended only for the attention of the named organisation or individual to
whom it is addressed. The message may contain information that is covered
by legal, professional or other privilege. No mistake in transmission is
intended to waive or compromise any such privilege. This message has been
sent over public networks and the sender cannot be held responsible for
its integrity. If you are not the intended recipient be aware that any
disclosure, copying, distribution or action taken in reliance of the
information contained herein is strictly prohibited, and is contrary to
the provisions of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act, 1988 and of the
Data Protection Act, 2018. Any views expressed are those of the sender
and, unless specifically stated, do not necessarily represent the view of
Northumbria Police. We cannot accept any liability for any loss or damage
sustained as a result of software viruses. It is your responsibility to
carry out such virus checking as is necessary. If you have received this
message in error, please notify the sender by e-mail at once and delete
the message immediately. For more information about Northumbria Police
please visit our website - http://www.northumbria.police.uk

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://beta.northumbria.police.uk/conta...
4. https://beta.northumbria.police.uk/advic...
5. https://beta.northumbria.police.uk/advic...

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

INTERNAL REVIEW - Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) Request 536/23 -
Consensual Child Sexting

Thank you for your correspondence dated 22 March 2023 in which you
requested a review of the response to your request for access to certain
information which may be held by Northumbria Police.

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)
subject to certain limitations and exemptions

You asked for:

You asked:

For each of the years 2016, 2017 and 2018 separately:

1.    How many individuals under the age of 18 have been dealt with by
means of 'Outcome 21' (per the Home Office counting rules) for any offence
relating to consensual child sexting in:

2.    How many individuals under the age of 18 have been deal with by
means of a simple or conditional caution for any offence relating to
consensual child sexting in:

3.    How many individuals under the age of 18 have been charged with any
offence relating to consensual child sexting in:

For clarity, references above to 'consensual child sexting' refer to any
offence under s.1 of the Protection of Children Act 1978 or s.160 of the
Criminal Justice Act 1988 committed (or alleged against) a child where the
subject of the indecent image made, distributed or possessed consents to
the offence and is also a child. At the material times, such offences were
'counted' under Home Office Counting Rules as offences 86/02 and 86/10.

In response we advised:

Following receipt of your request, searches were conducted with the
Corporate Development Department of Northumbria Police.  I can confirm
that the information you have requested is held by Northumbria Police but
will not be disclosed as the below exemption has been considered and
applied as appropriate.

Section 40(2) - Personal Information 

Section 40(2) is a class based absolute exemption and there is no
requirement to consider the public interest in disclosure. That being
said, where Section 40(2) is engaged, in order to make the exemption
absolute, there needs to be evidence that a data protection principle
would be breached by disclosure. In this case, it would not be fair to
process information which, we believe by providing all the information you
have requested, could lead to the identification of an individual.
Therefore, the first principle of the Data Protection Act would be
breached. 

No inference can be taken from this refusal that the information you have
requested does or does not exist.  A disclosure in this instance, because
it is so specific, would infringe the first Data Protection Principle, in
that it would be both unlawful and unfair.  

Your request for Internal review stated:

Dear Northumbria Police,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Northumbria Police's
handling of my FOI request 'Request for information relating to consensual
child sexting offences'.

Please review this decision, as I believe the exemption has been applied
wrongly. Note that I am not requesting personal information, nor is it
possible to identify any individual from the information I have requested.

For the avoidance of doubt, this request does not relate to any personal
data to which either UK GDPR or the Data Protection Act 2018 might apply.
My request asks you to simply provide nine numbers; one for each of the
requested questions. It is absolutely not possible for me, or anyone to
whom this data is made available, to identify any individual from the
disclosure of nine numbers relating to offences which have been reported
to you and counted for official purposes.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address:
[1]https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

I look forward to receiving your response within the statutorily permitted
time.

In response:

We have revisited our original response as follows.

 1. How many individuals under the age of 18 have been dealt with by means
of 'Outcome 21' (per the Home Office counting rules) for any offence
relating to consensual child sexting in:

There were no offences where the offender was under the age of 18 and was
dealt with by means of Outcome 21.

 2. How many individuals under the age of 18 have been deal with by means
of a simple or conditional caution for any offence relating to
consensual child sexting in:

Whilst revisiting our original response to you as part of the review
process, we have arrived at the same decision in question 2, as previously
outlined.

Although you note that you are not requesting personal information, it is
possible to identify individuals from the figures, thus processing the
data in this way would not be lawful and fair. 

Therefore, the type of information which you are requesting would be
considered as the personal information of a third party and as such would
not be released under the FOIA.  I am sure you would agree, you would not
wish any member of the public to be able to request and be provided with
what information we hold, if any, about you, as such this information is
exempt in accordance with FOI legislation.

Therefore, for the reasons outlined in our original response this
information will not be disclosed and that Section 40(2) Personal
Information is fully applicable.

 3. How many individuals under the age of 18 have been charged with any
offence relating to consensual child sexting in:

For clarity, references above to 'consensual child sexting' refer to any
offence under s.1 of the Protection of Children Act 1978 or s.160 of the
Criminal Justice Act 1988 committed (or alleged against) a child where the
subject of the indecent image made, distributed or possessed consents to
the offence and is also a child. At the material times, such offences were
'counted' under Home Office Counting Rules as offences 86/02 and 86/10.

There were no offences where the offender was under the age of 18 and was
dealt with by means of a Charge.

In conclusion, we have amended our response to you following this review
in relation to questions 1 and 3, whilst the response to question 2
remains unchanged.

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 [2]Contact us | ICO or:

The Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely,

Hayley Young

Information Management Department Manager

References

Visible links
1. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/r...
2. https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

Dear Dr Baldwin,

Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA)

Case reference: IC-231190-J6V9

Your reference: 536/23

Complainant: Dr Chris Baldwin

Information request to Northumbria Police relating to consensual child

sexting offences between 2016 and 2018

Following your appeal to the ICO regarding your initial FOI request made
on 22nd March 2023, and subsequent request for review on 21st April 2023,
I can now confirm I have reconsidered the case.

Firstly I’d like to apologise for the delayed response, this was due to
the time taken to consult the relevant departments within Northumbria
Police.

I can confirm that the decision to withhold the information requested
under section 40(2) of FOIA was incorrect. It is not defined as personal
data, and although the numbers are low, individuals cannot be identified
from it.

I have reviewed the previous responses and can provide the answer to
question two below.

Outcome 2017 2018 Total
First Youth Caution 2 2 4
Youth Cond. Caution 7 3 10
Total 9 5 14

I can confirm that we hold no figures for 2016 as this type of data is
deleted after 6 years, as per our record retention policy.

For completeness, I have copied the ICO into this email to allow this case
to be closed.

Regards

Alistair

Alistair Burdon 5332
Information Security & Assurance Manager
Information Management

| M: 07590 011388 | W: [1]www.northumbria.police.uk

We are a flexible working organisation. Please only respond to this email
in your own working hours.

'Our vision is to deliver an outstanding police service; working with
communities to prevent crime and disorder and protect the most vulnerable
people from harm.'

tice at [2]www.ico.org.uk/privacy-notice.

References

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