This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request 'Operation Planet'.




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09/12/2013 
 
Your Ref:             
 
Our Ref: IM-FOI-2013-1493 
      
 
request-183947-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
 
 
 
Sir Stephen House QPM
Chief Constable
FOI Central Processing Unit
173 Pitt Street
Glasgow
G2 4JS
xxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx.xxxxxx.xx
 
 
 
Dear Ms Scott 
 
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002 
SUBJECT: OPERATION PLANET 
 
I refer to your email dated 07/11/2013 regarding the above which has been 
handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 
(FOISA).  Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to your 
request. 
 
QUESTION 
Operation Planet 
1 What was the purpose, remit and terms of reference of the operation 
2 What dates it ran 
3 What results it achieved in terms of number of arrests, number charged, 
number of convictions and for what offences for each 
4 Who the Police officer was in charge and how many officers were on the 
operation 
5 Why the operation was instigated 
6 Where the operation was run from and what area did it cover 
7 Why was the name chosen 
8 Where this information is now kept, and in what form -physical or electronic 
 9 Whether there were any Executive Summaries or reports produced 
10 What legal entity is Police Scotland. If a corporation , what is the corporate 
number 
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scotland.police.uk   
@PoliceScotland    
 PoliceScotland 
 

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RESPONSE 

There is no information held regarding Operation Planet in any division of 
Police Scotland apart from Edinburgh/legacy Lothian & Borders Police whose 
response is noted below.  Therefore under Section 17 of the Freedom of 
Information (Scotland) Act 2002 I must inform you that we do not hold the 
information you have requested. 
 
Edinburgh/Legacy Lothian & Borders Police 
Questions 1,2, 3, 5 & 6 
The information you seek is obtainable through open-source searching of the 
Internet, As you are able to access this information yourself, under section 25 
of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 I need not disclose the 
information to you. 
However, to be of some assistance I have attached a link to the relevant 
website below; 
 
http://www.ukcolumn.org/article/operation-planet-abuse-justice-crown-office-
scotland 
 
Question 4 
The officer who oversaw the investigation was Detective Superintendent 
George Ritchie and the Reporting Officer was Detective Inspector Peter 
Robertson.  Due to the passage of time we cannot confirm how many officers 
were involved in the investigation therefore under Section 17 of the Freedom 
of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 I must inform you that we do not hold the 
information you have requested. 
 
Question 7 
As this is an historic case we cannot confirm the procedure for choosing 
operational names. Procedures have changed over the years and latterly 
there is no particular reason for picking names.  Local divisions keep a 
register of available operational names.  The first letter reflected the division it 
belonged to e.g. operations beginning with “a” belonged to A Division (former 
City of Edinburgh division).  These names are taken from the dictionary and 
allocated to each operation on an alphabetical basis. 
 
Question 8 
Information relating to offences is kept in line with our Records Retention 
schedule.  Files exist in electronic and paper format.  
 
Question 9 
Police Scotland does not hold information relating to Executive Summaries or 
Reports therefore under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) 
Act 2002 I must inform you that we do not hold the information you have 
requested. 
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Question 10
Police Scotland was established by Section 6 of the Police & Fire Reform 
(Scotland) Act 2012 which states “There is to be a constabulary to be known 
as the Police Service of Scotland”. 
 
I trust that the information available is of assistance and should you require any 
further assistance concerning this matter please contact me on 01463720555 
quoting the reference number given. 
 
If you are not satisfied with the way in which your request has been dealt with, 
you are entitled in the first instance and within 40 working days of receiving 
this letter to request a review of the decision made by the Force.  Should you 
wish to do so, contact details are; Police Service of Scotland, FOI Central 
Processing Unit, 173 Pitt Street, Glasgow, G2 4JS. (Or email 
xxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx.xxxxxx.xx) 
 
Once informed of the Review decision, if you are still not satisfied, then you 
are entitled to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner within six 
months for a decision.  Contact details are; ‘Office of the Scottish Information 
Commissioner, Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 
9DS’, telephone 01334 464610.   
 
 
Yours sincerely 
 
 
 
 
Andrene Macleod 
Information Management 
Freedom of Information 
 
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