Home Office Circular 2004

Police Service of Northern Ireland did not have the information requested.

Dear Police Service of Northern Ireland,

Can you kindly confirm for me that Home Office 2004 was withdrawn at High Court in January 2012.

Are your Selected Medical Practitioners still adhering to a withdraw circular.

You will be aware of the time frames that require compliment with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Yours faithfully,

David Buchanan

Police Service of Northern Ireland

This e-mail has been marked OFFICIAL [PUBLIC];

24th September 2019

Dear Mr. Buchanan,

FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000

I write in connection with your request for information dated 23rd
September 2019 which was received by the Police Service of Northern
Ireland (PSNI) on 23rd September 2019.  I note you seek access to the
following information:

Home Office Circular 2004

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 however I would like to advise you that PSNI are currently
experiencing a delay in the processing of requests and we aim to respond
to your request as soon as possible.

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/media/for-organisatio...

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 query, again, you will be
notified.

If you have any queries regarding your request please write or contact the
Corporate Information Branch on 028 9070 0164. 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 Head of 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 were to remain dissatisfied in any way with the handling of the
request you may make a complaint, under Section 50 of the Freedom of
Information Act, to the Information Commissioner’s Office and ask that
they investigate whether the PSNI has complied with the terms of the
Freedom of Information Act.  You can write to the Information Commissioner
at Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. 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 his discretion.

Yours sincerely,

June

FOI Decision Maker
Corporate Information Branch
PSNI HQ Brooklyn

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References

Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...

Police Service of Northern Ireland

1 Attachment

This e-mail has been marked OFFICIAL [PUBLIC];

Subject:  FOI-2019-02435
5th October 2019

Dear Mr. Buchanan,

FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000

I write in connection with your request for information received by the
Police Service of Northern Ireland.  I note you seek access to the
following information:

Home Office 2004

Please find attached response to your request.

Yours sincerely

Gillian

FOI Decision Maker
Corporate Information Branch
PSNI HQ Brooklyn

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Dear Police Service of Northern Ireland,
This is not a suitable answer.
As you have referred to Occupational Health and Welfare and Selected Medical Practioners, therefore I conclude that you are aware of Home Office Circular 46/2004.

I refer you to the link from Injury On Duty Pensioners Association.

https://iodpa.org/tag/home-office-circul...

I again ask are Selected Medical Practioners using Home Office Circular 46/2004 in light of the amount of successful Judicial reviews and the withdrawing of annex C in particular?

I believe this is a precise enough question to launch an internal review on how your organisation has handled this matter.

Yours faithfully,

David Buchanan

Police Service of Northern Ireland

This e-mail has been marked OFFICIAL [PUBLIC];

Subject:       FOI-2019-02435
7th October 2019

Dear Mr. David Buchanan,

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:

Home Office Circular 2004

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 me on 028 9070 0164.  Please remember to quote the reference
number above in any future communications.

If following an internal review you were to remain dissatisfied in any way
with the handling of the request you may make a complaint to the
Information Commissioner’s Office and ask that they investigate whether
the PSNI has complied with the terms of the Freedom of Information Act. 
You can write to the Information Commissioner at Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF. 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 his discretion.

 

Yours sincerely

Paddy

FOI Decision Maker
Corporate Information Branch
PSNI HQ Brooklyn

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Police Service of Northern Ireland

1 Attachment

This e-mail has been marked OFFICIAL [PUBLIC];

Subject: FOI-2019-02435
29th October 2019

Dear Mr. Buchanan,

FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000

Following your request for us to review our previous response concerning:

Home Office Circular 2004

I can advise you that Police Service of Northern Ireland has now completed
its review - please see attachment.

Yours sincerely,

Ms Morris
Corporate Information

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Dear Police Service of Northern Ireland,

It is rather disagreeable to me that both an FOI and an internal review has stated that you do not hold this information.
Upon scrutiny of the Northern Ireland Policing Board web site I found the following.
"In light of the Simpson judgment in February 2012, Home Office Circular 46/2004 and the reciprocal Northern Ireland Office Circular 06/2007 were withdrawn (the latter by the Department of Justice, DOJ). "

I trust that you will inform your Selected Medical Practitioners, that this would appear to mean, that they can no longer use suitability for employment into a Police Service/Force despite their injuries , as a standard for refusing a Retrospective Injury on Duty medical award.

Yours faithfully,

David Buchanan