Current amount held by PSNI under the proceeds of Crime Act
Dear Police Service of Northern Ireland,
Please provide the following information under the freedom of Information Act:
How much money is currently held by the PSNI, which has been removed from persons under the Proceeds of Crime act?
Of the amount held, how much has been returned to the persons it was seized from within the last 12months?
Of the seized amount, how much relates to persons belonging to the Protestant Community?
Of the Seized amount, how much relates to persons belonging the Roman Catholic Community?
Please also provide the amounts seized; categorized by each Police district within Northern Ireland.
Yours faithfully,
Christopher Hamilton
This e-mail has been marked OFFICIAL [PUBLIC];
5th September 2023
Dear Mr. Hamilton,
FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000
I write in connection with your request for information dated 4th
September 2023 which was received by the Police Service of Northern
Ireland (PSNI) on 4th September 2023. I note you seek access to the
following information:
Proceeds of Crime Act
This request will be dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. A response should be sent to you within 20 working
days. The Freedom of Information team will advise you in writing if there
are any delays in responding to your request and will keep you advised of
progress.
If your request is unclear and clarification is required the 20 day
legislative time limit dictated by the Freedom of Information Act 2000
will be stopped until we receive clarification of your request. The ICO
guidance at paragraph 40 of the link below sets out that the clock begins
anew the day after the clarification is received. It states:
“If the requester subsequently provides enough detail to enable the
authority to identify and locate the information, then the authority must
respond to the clarified request within a new 20 working day time limit
with the ‘clock’ starting the day after it receives the required
clarification.”
The link for this is:
[1]https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/gui...
In the event where the cost of complying with the request would exceed the
“appropriate level”, which is fixed at £450, as stated in the Freedom of
Information Regulations 2004, it is the policy of the PSNI to close the
request. You will however be notified of this decision and given an
opportunity to refine and resubmit the request.
If your request requires either full or partial transference to another
public authority in order to answer your request again, you will be
notified.
If you have any queries regarding your request please write to the
Corporate Information Branch via email or the address below. Please
remember to quote the reference number listed above in any future
communications with the Corporate Information Branch.
If you are dissatisfied in any way with the handling of your request, you
have the right to request a review. You should do this as soon as possible
or in any case within two months of the date of issue of this letter. In
the event that you require a review to be undertaken, you can do so by
writing to the Corporate Information Manager, Corporate Information
Branch, PSNI Headquarters, 65 Knock Road, Belfast, BT5 6LE or by emailing
[email address].
If, following an Internal Review carried out by an independent decision
maker, you remain unhappy about how your request has been handled you have
the right to apply in writing to the Information Commissioner at
‘Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF. There are a number of other platforms you can use to
contact the ICO and these can be found on the ICO’s website at the
following link: Make a complaint | ICO
([2]https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/).
In most circumstances, the Information Commissioner will not investigate a
complaint unless an internal review procedure has been carried out
however, the Commissioner has the option to investigate the matter at
their discretion.
Yours sincerely,
Eddie
Corporate Information Branch
PSNI HQ Brooklyn
References
Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/gui...
2. https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/
This e-mail has been marked OFFICIAL [PUBLIC];
19th September 2023
Dear Mr. Hamilton,
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000
I write in connection with your request for information dated 4th
September 2023 which was received by the Police Service of Northern
Ireland (PSNI) on 4th September 2023. I note you seek access to the
following information:
Proceeds of Crime Act
To enable the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to meet your
request could you please provide further clarification on the following:
Please provide a timeframe for your request.
You should be aware that the 20 day legislative time limit dictated by the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 has been stopped. Once we receive
clarification of your request a new 20 working day time limit will
commence.
Please send clarification of your request by writing to Corporate
Information Branch, PSNI Headquarters, 65 Knock Road Belfast BT5 6LE or by
email to [email address]. Alternatively, if you wish to discuss your
request or have any additional queries you can contact the Corporate
Information Branch on 028 9070 0164.
Yours sincerely,
Jane
Corporate Information Branch
PSNI HQ Brooklyn
Dear Police Service of Northern Ireland,
If you read the FOI request it quite clearly stated "within the last 12 months".
Please respond as you should have. Should the ICO get involved it is in black and white exactly what time period i asked for.
Yours faithfully,
Chris Hamilton
This e-mail has been marked OFFICIAL [PUBLIC];
16th October 2023
Dear Mr. Hamilton,
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000
I write in connection with your request for information dated 4th
September 2023 which was received by the Police Service of Northern
Ireland (PSNI) on 4th September 2023. I note you seek access to the
following information:
Proceeds of Crime Act
Your previous clarification refers
To enable the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to meet your
request could you please provide further clarification on the following
Please provide the following information under the freedom of Information
Act:
1. How much money is currently held by the PSNI, which has been removed
from persons under the Proceeds of Crime act?
2. Of the amount held, how much has been returned to the persons it was
seized from within the last 12months?
3. Of the seized amount, how much relates to persons belonging to the
Protestant Community? - Does this refer to Request 1 or the “last 12
months” as per your 1^st clarification under?
4. Of the Seized amount, how much relates to persons belonging the Roman
Catholic Community? - Does this refer to Request 1 or the “last 12 months”
as per your 1^st clarification under?
5. Please also provide the amounts seized; categorized by each Police
district within Northern Ireland. – Does this refer to Request 1 or the
“last 12 months” as per your 1^st clarification under?
1^st Clarification to Requester
Please provide a timeframe for your request.
1^st Clarification response from the Requester
If you read the FOI request it quite clearly stated "within the last 12
months".
You should be aware that the 20 day legislative time limit dictated by the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 has been stopped. Once we receive
clarification of your request a new 20 working day time limit will
commence.
Please send clarification of your request by writing to Corporate
Information Branch, PSNI Headquarters, 65 Knock Road Belfast BT5 6LE or by
email to [email address]. Alternatively, if you wish to discuss your
request or have any additional queries you can contact the Corporate
Information Branch on 028 9070 0164.
Yours sincerely,
ARW
Corporate Information Branch
PSNI HQ Brooklyn
Dear Police Service of Northern Ireland,
Please treat question one as a whole amount currently held by the PSNI, and treat all other requests as "within the last 12 months".
Yours faithfully,
Chris Hamilton
This e-mail has been marked OFFICIAL [PUBLIC];
Subject: FOI-2023-02912
17th October 2023
Dear Mr. Chris Hamilton,
FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000
I write in connection with your request for information dated 4th
September 2023 which was received by the Police
Service of Northern Ireland on 4th September 2023 concerning:
Proceeds of Crime Act
Please find attached response to your request.
Yours sincerely,
ARW
Corporate Information Branch
PSNI HQ Brooklyn
Dear Police Service of Northern Ireland,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Police Service of Northern Ireland's handling of my FOI request 'Current amount held by PSNI under the proceeds of Crime Act'.
I believe the public interest test highlights the need to show transparency when dealing with cases under POCA. I fail to see how providing answers to equality information held by PSNI can lead to the PSNI to comment that releasing this information has - " the potential to compromise policing actions to thwart financial and organised criminality". The religious background information requested should have no bearing on investigations currently ongoing. Unless of course there is a clear disparage the PSNI are trying to cover up which could lead the public to have no confidence in their policing of the matter.
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,
Chris Hamilton
This e-mail has been marked OFFICIAL [PUBLIC];
Subject: FOI-2023-02912
23rd October 2023
Dear Mr. Chris Hamilton,
FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000
I acknowledge receipt of your correspondence dated requesting that Police
Service of Northern Ireland review its response to your request for
information concerning:
Proceeds of Crime Act
An internal review will be conducted in accordance with Police Service of
Northern Ireland's review procedure.
In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 an independent
decision maker will carry out a review of this case and advise you in
writing of the outcome.
If you wish to discuss this matter prior to receiving a response please
contact us on 028 9070 0164. Please remember to quote the reference
number above in any future communications.
If, following an Internal Review carried out by an independent decision
maker, you remain dissatisfied about how your request has been handled you
have the right to apply in writing to the Information Commissioner at
‘Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF. There are a number of other platforms you can use to
contact the ICO and these can be found on the ICO’s website at the
following link: Make a complaint | ICO
([1]https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/).
In most circumstances, the Information Commissioner will not investigate a
complaint unless an internal review procedure has been carried out
however, the Commissioner has the option to investigate the matter at
their discretion.
Yours sincerely,
Paddy
Corporate Information Branch
PSNI HQ Brooklyn
References
Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/
This e-mail has been marked OFFICIAL [PUBLIC];
Subject: FOI-2023-02912
13th November 2023
Dear Mr. Hamilton,
FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000
Following your request for us to review our previous response concerning
the following subject:
Proceeds of Crime Act
We can advise you that Police Service of Northern Ireland has now
completed its review and the response is attached.
Yours sincerely,
Jane
Corporate Information Branch
PSNI Headquarters • Brooklyn • 65 Knock Road Belfast • BT5 6LE
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