Dear Northern Ireland Policing Board,

1. May I please be provided with a copy of the “paper” referred to at a meeting of the Resources Committee on the 30th July 2020 titled

“Implications of the McKee & Others v The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland”.

Your full cooperation will be fully appreciated .

Kind Regards

Yours faithfully,

PC

Dear NIPB FOI,
As you are now aware of my identity, which was confirmed by email some time ago. I would appreciate a response to my original request forthwith.

Yours sincerely,

PC

Dear NIPB FOI,
I would be grateful if you could furnish me with an estimated date for the substantive response to my request.

Noted that you corresponded with me on 11 January 2024 to express apologies for delay in response, however the reality is that some 60 working days have expired since my original request, which I find totally unacceptable. If a substantive report cannot be issued forthwith, please furnish with details as to why this is the case.

Yours sincerely,

PC

Dear NIPB FOI,
Thank you for your response.

I have received further information regarding this issue and would ask you to consider the contents of the attached link.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/l…

Following the McBride judgment of May 2019, the DfC issued a Letter of Comfort (LoC), to the Charity Commission confirming the Department would meet any costs which the Commission could not meet from its own resources which were incurred as a result of any claim made against the Commission in respect of decisions taken prior to the High Court Draft Judgment handed down by Madam Justice McBride on 16 May 2019 and then later up held on appeal on the 19th February 2020.

The redacted paper you have released to me highlights the similarities between the CCNI and the NIPB and confirms that the Board was concerned about the issue of delegated authority and the validity of decisions made by Boards officials prior to the McKee judgement.

1. Did the NIPB ask any government dept for a “Letter of Comfort " on foot of the above judgement.

2. Please provide details of the communication strategy referred to in the redacted document.

3. In light of the new information released by the Dept of Communities will the NIPB reconsider my original request and release the paper without redaction.

Yours sincerely,

PC

Dear NIPB FOI,

Given that a reply to my last FOI is now long overdue from original request, could you please furnish me with a date when I will be in receipt of completed response.

Yours sincerely,

PC

Dear Northern Ireland Policing Board,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Northern Ireland Policing Board's handling of my FOI request 'Copy of Resource Committee papers'.

My request for an internal review relates to your reliance on section 36 of the FOIA to deny access to large swathes of the requested document that relates to the McKee & Others v The Charity Commission For Northern Ireland.

You have also stated that the “qualified Person” the Acting Chief Executive conducted a public interest test.

I am surprised that the result and indeed the wording are exactly the same as the previous Public interest test that was conducted by the then C.E.O. in November 2022. It appears as if the previous result was copy and pasted and provided to me as a recent consideration.

My reasons for making this allegation are numerous.

1. The original document was written and presented to the Resources Committee on the 30th July 2020 almost 4 years ago. It is therefore difficult to accept under what circumstances the NIPB is still having a “full and frank exchange” which you say is fundamental to the administration of Justice.

2. That the issues arising from the Judgment are still “LIVE” 4 years on.

3. That fundamental changes to processes were introduced on foot of the McKee Judgment but have never been made public.

4. The premise that this judgment could impact the NIPB and in particular its administration of The Police Injury Benefit Regulations 2006 was considered by Justice Scoffield at a recent judicial review [Chadwick & Harviston] in February 2023. The following has been extracted from his Judgment :

“ [47] The respondent relied upon the decision of the Court of Appeal in McKee & Hughes v The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland [2020] NICA 13 in support of the proposition that the NIPB must retain an ultimate oversight role over the medical authorities taking decisions on its behalf. I do not consider this authority to provide any material assistance in the present circumstances or to represent an apt analogy. That case involved statutory powers specifically conferred on the Charity Commission being discharged (at the Commission’s election) by members of its staff. Here, the power to determine medical questions has specifically been conferred by the statutory provisions upon the relevant medical authority; and the Board’s general power of decision-making is expressly “subject to” the more detailed procedural mechanisms set out in Part 4 of the 2006 Regulations. Although the specialist decisions of the SMP or the IMR, as the case may be, become part of the decision- making process conducted by the Board, the medical practitioners are not to be viewed simply as a delegate of the Board”. [emphasis added]

The above remarks by Justice Scoffield I suggest invalidates all reasons to withhold the requested

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...

Yours faithfully,

PC

Dear NIPB FOI,
I am deeply disappointed that, as yet, I have not received any confirmation of receipt of my request of 4 May 2024. This request was for an internal review. To date, I have not received any communication by any form.
I would request an update as to progress.

Yours sincerely,

PC