Early Deletion Unit and its future

The request was partially successful.

Dear Metropolitan Police Service (MPS),

As the MPS comes under increasing pressure to save money, please can you tell me how this will affect the Early Deletion Unit (EDU)? Where will it be sitting (business group, Unit)? What will it’s structure be, i.e. how many staff, their bands, job titles etc?. Please can I see the job description for these roles?

Please can I see any minutes from meetings held to discuss the future of the EDU, from June 2017? Please limit your search to the business group it falls in.

Please can you provide any documentation used to consult current EDU staff about it’s new structure? By documentation I mean emails, forms, reports, letters etc., from June 2017. Please also provide the response from the relevant staff, suitably redacted of course.

Please can I see any risk assessment that has been performed to determine any impact this restructuring might have on the legal requirements to provide this service, from June 2017.

Yours faithfully,

Tony Davison

Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)

Dear Mr Davison

Freedom of Information Request Reference No: 2017110001196

I write in connection with your request for information which was received
by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on 29/11/2017.  I note you seek
access to the following information:

"As the MPS comes under increasing pressure to save money, please can you
tell me how this will affect the Early Deletion Unit (EDU)? Where will it
be sitting (business group, Unit)? What will it’s structure be, i.e. how
many staff, their bands, job titles etc?. Please can I see the job
description for these roles?

Please can I see any minutes from meetings held to discuss the future of
the EDU, from June 2017? Please limit your search to the business group it
falls in.

Please can you provide any documentation used to consult current EDU staff
about it’s new structure? By documentation I mean emails, forms, reports,
letters etc., from June 2017. Please also provide the response from the
relevant staff, suitably redacted of course.

Please can I see any risk assessment that has been performed to determine
any impact this restructuring might have on the legal requirements to
provide this service, from June 2017."

Your request will now be considered in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (the Act).  You will receive a response within the
statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act.  

If you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please contact
us at [email address] or on the phone at 0207 161 3500, quoting the
reference number above. Should your enquiry relate to the logging or
allocations process we will be able to assist you directly and where your
enquiry relates to other matters (such as the status of the request) we
will be able to pass on a message and/or advise you of the relevant
contact details.

Yours sincerely

R. Loizou
Support Officer - Freedom of Information Triage Team
 
COMPLAINT RIGHTS

Are you unhappy with how your request has been handled or do you think the
decision is incorrect?

You have the right to require the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to
review their decision.

Prior to lodging a formal complaint you are welcome to discuss the
response with the case officer who dealt with your request.  

Complaint

If you are dissatisfied with the handling procedures or the decision of
the MPS made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) regarding
access to information you can lodge a complaint with the MPS to have the
decision reviewed.

Complaints should be made in writing, within forty (40) working days from
the date of the refusal notice, and addressed to:

FOI Complaint
Information Rights Unit
PO Box 57192
London
SW6 1SF
[email address]

In all possible circumstances the MPS will aim to respond to your
complaint within 20 working days.

The Information Commissioner

After lodging a complaint with the MPS if you are still dissatisfied with
the decision you may make application to the Information Commissioner for
a decision on whether the request for information has been dealt with in
accordance with the requirements of the Act.

For information on how to make application to the Information Commissioner
please visit their website at www.ico.org.uk.  Alternatively, write to or
phone:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Phone: 0303 123 1113

Consider our environment - please do not print this email unless
absolutely necessary.

NOTICE - This email and any attachments may be confidential, subject to
copyright and/or legal privilege and are intended solely for the use of
the intended recipient. If you have received this email in error, please
notify the sender and delete it from your system.  To avoid incurring
legal liabilities, you must not distribute or copy the information in this
email without the permission of the sender. MPS communication systems are
monitored to the extent permitted by law.  Consequently, any email and/or
attachments may be read by monitoring staff. Only specified personnel are
authorised to conclude any binding agreement on behalf of the MPS by
email. The MPS accepts no responsibility for unauthorised agreements
reached with other employees or agents.  The security of this email and
any attachments cannot be guaranteed. Email messages are routinely scanned
but malicious software infection and corruption of content can still occur
during transmission over the Internet. Any views or opinions expressed in
this communication are solely those of the author and do not necessarily
represent those of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).

 

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Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)

3 Attachments

Dear Mr Davison,

Freedom of Information Request Reference No: 2017110001196

I write in connection with your request for information which was received
by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).  I note you seek access to the
following information:

"As the MPS comes under increasing pressure to save money, please can you
tell me how this will affect the Early Deletion Unit (EDU)? Where will it
be sitting (business group, Unit)? What will it’s structure be, i.e. how
many staff, their bands, job titles etc?. Please can I see the job
description for these roles?

Please can I see any minutes from meetings held to discuss the future of
the EDU, from June 2017? Please limit your search to the business group it
falls in.

Please can you provide any documentation used to consult current EDU staff
about it’s new structure? By documentation I mean emails, forms, reports,
letters etc., from June 2017. Please also provide the response from the
relevant staff, suitably redacted of course.

Please can I see any risk assessment that has been performed to determine
any impact this restructuring might have on the legal requirements to
provide this service, from June 2017."

DECISION

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Question 1:
As the MPS comes under increasing pressure to save money, please can you
tell me how this will affect the Early Deletion Unit (EDU)? Where will it
be sitting (business group, Unit)? What will it’s structure be, i.e. how
many staff, their bands, job titles etc?. Please can I see the job
description for these roles?

The EDU will remain in Locally Delivered Support Services, which sits
within Operational Support Services, but will referred to in the future as
the Records Deletion function with the LDSS HQ team. There will be no
specific number of Band Es as staff will be posted, dependant on demand.
 There will be 1 Band D Team Leader assigned to this portfolio and 0.5 of
a Band C who will have responsibility for another portfolio.  The Team
Leader will rotate portfolios to increase knowledge of this group and
increase resilience. The draft role description for the Team Leader post
is attached which will be finalised early in the New Year.  

Question 2:
Please can I see any minutes from meetings held to discuss the future of
the EDU, from June 2017? Please limit your search to the business group it
falls in.

There are unfortunately none available, therefore the no information is
held for this question.    

Question 3:
Please can you provide any documentation used to consult current EDU staff
about it’s new structure? By documentation I mean emails, forms, reports,
letters etc., from June 2017. Please also provide the response from the
relevant staff, suitably redacted of course

A process review workshop, which helped inform the new design, was held on
20th Feb 2017, which all EDU staff were invited to attend.  Staff have
been provided with a context letter which was sent from HR, a briefing was
given by the Implementation lead to all Team Leaders on 15 November 2017.
Individuals within the team were also spoken to by the interim Band C, on
several occasions to give them the opportunity to ask any questions and
raise concerns.  Please see attached context letter.

Question 4:

Please can I see any risk assessment that has been performed to determine
any impact this restructuring might have on the legal requirements to
provide this service, from June 2017

The risk around Records Deletion has been dealt with via the LDSS and OSS
risk registers.  One of the mitigating actions to reduce the risks
highlighted, including the high number of outstanding cases and public
complaints was to increase the resilience in the function by training more
staff to perform the relevant activities.  An increased number of LDSS
staff now have an understanding of the process for case preparation and
the new model will ensure that this continues at both Band E and D level.
  These actions have now cleared the backlog and mitigated the risk of
this happening, the SLT feel the risk has been mitigated and it has been
removed from the LDSS and OSS risk register.   The new processes have all
been agreed by the Commissioner’s office and the delegated authority DAC
Professionalism.

Please note there are no formal risk assessments held.

Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please
contact me on quoting the reference number above.

Yours sincerely

Audeeba Ali
Information Manager

In complying with their statutory duty under sections 1 and 11 of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 to release the enclosed information, the
Metropolitan Police Service will not breach the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988. However, the rights of the copyright owner of the
enclosed information will continue to be protected by law.  Applications
for the copyright owner's written permission to reproduce any part of the
attached information should be addressed to MPS Directorate of Legal
Services, 10 Lambs Conduit Street, London, WC1N 3NR.
 
COMPLAINT RIGHTS

Are you unhappy with how your request has been handled or do you think the
decision is incorrect?

You have the right to require the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to
review their decision.

Prior to lodging a formal complaint you are welcome to discuss the
response with the case officer who dealt with your request.  

Complaint

If you are dissatisfied with the handling procedures or the decision of
the MPS made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) regarding
access to information you can lodge a complaint with the MPS to have the
decision reviewed.

Complaints should be made in writing, within forty (40) working days from
the date of the refusal notice, and addressed to:

FOI Complaint
Information Rights Unit
PO Box 57192
London
SW6 1SF
[email address]

In all possible circumstances the MPS will aim to respond to your
complaint within 20 working days.

The Information Commissioner

After lodging a complaint with the MPS if you are still dissatisfied with
the decision you may make application to the Information Commissioner for
a decision on whether the request for information has been dealt with in
accordance with the requirements of the Act.

For information on how to make application to the Information Commissioner
please visit their website at www.ico.org.uk.  Alternatively, write to or
phone:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Phone: 0303 123 1113

Consider our environment - please do not print this email unless
absolutely necessary.

NOTICE - This email and any attachments may be confidential, subject to
copyright and/or legal privilege and are intended solely for the use of
the intended recipient. If you have received this email in error, please
notify the sender and delete it from your system.  To avoid incurring
legal liabilities, you must not distribute or copy the information in this
email without the permission of the sender. MPS communication systems are
monitored to the extent permitted by law.  Consequently, any email and/or
attachments may be read by monitoring staff. Only specified personnel are
authorised to conclude any binding agreement on behalf of the MPS by
email. The MPS accepts no responsibility for unauthorised agreements
reached with other employees or agents.  The security of this email and
any attachments cannot be guaranteed. Email messages are routinely scanned
but malicious software infection and corruption of content can still occur
during transmission over the Internet. Any views or opinions expressed in
this communication are solely those of the author and do not necessarily
represent those of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).

 

Find us at:

Facebook: Facebook.com/metpoliceuk

Twitter: @metpoliceuk