Cotswold Water Park Society fraud case

The request was refused by Gloucestershire Constabulary.

Dear Gloucestershire Constabulary,

Please could you release, via this WhatDoTheyKnow request, any information you hold relating to the Cotswold Water Park Society fraud case.

Please also include in the scope of this request any information you hold relating to attempts to recover the money defrauded, and the destination of this recovered money.

If in any doubt which case I am referring to it is the one reported here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-glo...

If there are other public bodies which you are aware of who may hold information relating to this case, please could you let me know which they are.

Yours faithfully,

Susan Davis

Gloucestershire Constabulary

Dear Ms Davies,

Enquiry Ref : 2011/3493

I acknowledge receipt of your enquiry, which we received on 07 November 2011, requesting information concerning:

Please could you release, via this WhatDoTheyKnow request, any information you hold relating to the Cotswold Water Park Society
fraud case.

Please also include in the scope of this request any information
you hold relating to attempts to recover the money defrauded, and
the destination of this recovered money.

If in any doubt which case I am referring to it is the one reported
here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-glo...

If there are other public bodies which you are aware of who may
hold information relating to this case, please could you let me
know which they are.

As set out by the Freedom of Information Act, it will be our aim to respond to your request by 05 December 2011. However, it may be that we need to seek further clarification or information from you. This will add to the time in which we are allowed to respond to your request, of which you will be advised, together with the likely timescale within which the response will be provided.

If you have any questions regarding your request please contact me.

Yours sincerely,

Miss J Baynes
Freedom of Information Officer

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Gloucestershire Constabulary

2 Attachments

Dear Ms Davis,

Gloucestershire Constabulary Freedom of Information request 2011.3493

On the 7th November 2011 you sent a letter constituting a request under the Freedom of Information Act asking the following:

1. Please could you release, via this WhatDoTheyKnow request, any information you hold relating to the Cotswold Water Park Society fraud case.
Please also include in the scope of this request any information you hold relating to attempts to recover the money defrauded, and the destination of this recovered money.
If in any doubt which case I am referring to it is the one reported here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-glo...

If there are other public bodies which you are aware of who may hold information relating to this case, please could you let me know which they are.

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 s1, I can confirm that the Gloucestershire Constabulary holds some relevant information.

1. Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires the Constabulary, when refusing to provide information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which: (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.
The information requested in question 1 of your request is exempt, pursuant to the exemption provisions of Section 31(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Section 31 of the Act (Law Enforcement) states that information is exempt information if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice:

a) The prevention and detection of crime
b) The apprehension or prosecution of offenders
c) The administration of justice

Section 31 is qualified and prejudice based so there is a requirement to consider harm which may be caused by the disclosure and whether the disclosure is in the public interest.

Harm Test

The provision of the information requested will establish whether or not the investigation is still active at this time and also in the future by requesting the information again a picture could be created of when work has been carried out for this investigation, this in turn could identify what resources are being allocated to the investigation. This could cause harm to the Forces ability to use police tactics and therefore enforce the law.

In providing this information through the Freedom of Information Act 2000, it could jeopardise a current investigation by potentially assisting offenders or even causing more crime.

Police investigations are conducted with due regard to the confidentiality and privacy of victims, witnesses and suspects. Such investigations may also frequently involve the use of policing tactics or techniques that, if widely known, would hinder the ability of the police service to prevent and detect crime. It is further recognised that the release of information could harm ongoing investigations which may compromise any subsequent investigations and court proceedings.

Disclosures under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 are disclosures to the world, not just to the individual making the request. To release the information relating to this investigation would provide details of resourcing and planned resourcing, which in turn could undermine policing tactics and providing intelligence to criminals about the status of a police investigation. Such awareness would seriously undermine this and other investigations.

Public Interest Test

Section 31 – Law enforcement – Factors favouring disclosure:

The Police Service is charged with enforcing law, preventing and detecting crime and protecting the communities we serve and there is a public interest in the transparency of policing operations to ensure investigations are conducted appropriately.
The release of the information may also result in better awareness of policing operations in general and in turn could lead to a more informed public debate.

Section 31 – Law enforcement – Factors favouring non- disclosure:

Disclosure could hinder the prevention or detection of crime as it would reveal to the criminal fraternity information which could be used to their advantage. Information relating to the costs of and actions taken on investigations could lead to resources being identified; it could also inform those involved in criminal activities when work is being carried out in relation to that investigation by requesting disclosure of cost/action information at regular intervals, this could undermine the work of investigations so far. More crime would be committed as the suspects would be aware of the Forces resources and capabilities with regard to the investigations. If the ability to prevent and detect crime is hindered this would in turn affect public safety which is a key priority of the Police Service.

Balance Test

On balance the ability to deliver effective law enforcement is of paramount importance to the Police Service. Releasing information relating to the cost/actions of an investigation would compromise the current work and previous work of that and other investigations, therefore undermining policing tactics and resources and prejudicing the prevention and detection of crime. Therefore, at this moment in time I believe the balance test rests in favour of non disclosure and upholding the exemption. This acts as a refusal notice for this part of your request.

In order to assist I have included two press releases on this subject.

If you are not satisfied with this response or any actions taken in dealing with your request, you have the right to ask that we review your case under our internal procedure.

If you decide to request that such a review is undertaken and following this process you are still unsatisfied, you then have the right to direct your complaint to the Information Commissioner for consideration.

If we can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely,

Miss J Baynes
Information Disclosure Officer
Gloucestershire Constabulary

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