Dear Nandini

Thank you for your email of 24 January to the Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC).

I confirm receipt of your email and that this is being dealt with as a Freedom of Information (FOI) request under the FOI Act 2000. You will receive a response in due course and within the statutory 20 working day timescale.

I will be back in touch with you if there are any delays or I need any further details from you.

Yours sincerely

Matt

Matthew F | Correspondence, Enquiries and FOI Officer | Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime | Website www.london.gov.uk/mopac |Address MOPAC, Ground Floor, 169 Union Street, London, SE1 0LL

Matthew Foley | Correspondence, Enquiries and FOI Officer | Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime | Email [email address] | Website www.london.gov.uk/mopac |Address MOPAC, Ground Floor, 169 Union Street, London, SE1 0LL

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Dear Nandini

Thank you for your request for information which the Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) received on January 24.

I can confirm that your request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and that MOPAC does hold some information relating to your request.

You asked for:

Request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the “FOI Act”) I would like to see copies of the meeting notes and minutes of the last two Extraordinary London CONTEST Board Meeting which should have taken place on 16 November and 11 December 2023 and were chaired by the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime.

Our response:

MOPAC does hold information relating to your request.

Public meeting notes of November and December extraordinary CONTEST Board can be found on our website at: https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/....

The release of minutes from these meetings is exempt for under Section 24 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for information relating to national security.

Under Section 24(1) of the Act, Public Authorities can withhold information that is required for the purpose of safeguarding national security. I have claimed this exemption in that some of the information requested is required for this purpose.

Section 24 is a qualified exemption. I am therefore required to consider whether the 'Public Interest' lies in disclosing or withholding the requested information. In addition to conducting a public interest test, I must also establish the nature of the prejudice/harm that would result from disclosure and where prejudice/harm is established but not certain, determine the likelihood of it occurring.

Please find the public interest test considerations that I have identified and considered in relation to claiming this exemption, in the section of this notice titled ‘Public Interest Test’ below.

Safeguarding National Security:

Public Interest Test:

Factors in favour of non-disclosure

• The requested document contains information that is relevant to safeguarding national security.

• MOPAC considers that any information that is required to safeguard national security to be operationally sensitive and likely to be unsuitable for public disclosure.

• The reason that MOPAC does not disclose information that is required for the purpose of safeguarding national security, is to ensure that the flow of information in this area of policing remains uninhibited. By disclosing information that is held for the purpose, MOPAC would disrupt the process of obtaining and exchanging this type of information.

• Furthermore, the release of information that is required for the purpose of safeguarding national security would, over time, present a picture of the Metropolitan Police Service’s (MPS) work in this area, undermining its ability to operate effectively. There are clear links between confidentiality and success in this area of police work. The overriding public interest remains in maintaining the ability of all parties involved in maintaining national security, to continue to work in an uninhibited way.


Factors in favour of disclosure

When considering whether the release of information is in the public interest, I have to consider whether the public interest is in favour of releasing information into the public domain or whether there is sufficient reason to support withholding the requested information.

Having considered your request, I accept that there is a public interest in transparency when any request is made for information held by a public authority.

Balance Test

The public interest favouring release must be balanced against any associated risk and/or prejudice that would be caused by disclosure.

In this regard, I have firstly considered whether it is appropriate to disclose information that is required to safeguard national security. Having considered this, I have found that that the public release of this information would, over time, present a picture of the Met's work in this area, undermining its ability to effectively maintain national security.

There is generally no greater public interest factor favouring withholding information than safeguarding national security and for this reason, I have found that the public interest supports withholding the requested information.

If you are unhappy with the response to your Freedom of Information request, please see the MOPAC website on what the next steps are at: https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/may...

Yours sincerely,

Matt

Matthew Foley | Correspondence, Enquiries and FOI Officer | Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime | Website www.london.gov.uk/mopac |Address MOPAC, Ground Floor, 169 Union Street, London, SE1 0LL

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