Dear Mr Hopkins,

Subject: Freedom of Information Acknowledgement – Reference 72018.

I refer to the request, which you have made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for records held by this office.

Your request was received by this department on 19 February 2018.

A final decision on your request would normally be sent to you within 20 working days of receipt of your request. This means that you can expect to receive your decision by 19 March 2018.

There are some limited situations under the Freedom of Information Act, which could mean that the period for a final decision may be longer than the normal 20 working days. If this occurs in your request, we will promptly advise you in writing.

Should our final decision not reach you on time, please feel free to contact the officer named to discuss any problems that may have arisen.

If you have not heard from us once the allotted time has expired, you are automatically entitled to appeal to this department for a review of the matter. This review is a full and new examination of the matter, and is carried out by a more senior member of staff of this office.

In the event that you need to make such an appeal, you can do so by writing to Kevin Payne of this department at the details given below. You should state that you are appealing because an initial decision was not sent to you within the time permitted. In that event, you would normally have 40 days (after the original decision should have been sent to you) in which time to make the appeal.

Yours sincerely.

Kevin

Kevin Payne
Office of Dame Vera Baird QC
Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria

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Dear Mr Hopkins,

Provision of information held by Northumbria Police & Crime Commissioner
made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the 'Act')

Thank you for your e mail dated 19^th February 2018, in which you made a
request for access to certain information which may be held by the Police
and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria .

As you may be aware the purpose of the Act is to allow a general right of
access to information held by a Public Authority (including the Police
Crime Commissioner), subject to certain limitations and exemptions.

You asked:

I note the formal Governance framework in place between Northumbria Police
and the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner. See
[1]http://www.northumbria-pcc.gov.uk/v2/wp-...

Within the Governance Framework, it is clear that the first responsibility
of the PCC is "Holding the Chief Constable to account for the performance
of the Force, including that of police officers and civilian staff under
their direction and control;"

I note also that in connection with any Employment Tribunal Civil Claim,
the Financial Framework defines the responsibility of the PCC very
clearly.

A. All Employment Claims & Employment Appeal Tribunal Claims against The
Chief Constable should be dealt with by the Force Legal Department

B. The Chief Constable has decision-making authority up to £25,000. The
PCC has decision-making authority for all Employment Tribunal Claims in
excess of £25,000

C. Exceptional Claims should be notified to PCC and conducted in
consultation with PCC (as requested) on case by case basis.

D. The Director provides a Quarterly Report on all Employment Tribunal
Claims

-------------------------------

With regard to the recent Employment Tribunal between Ms Denise Aubrey and
the Chief Constable of Northumbria Police – from July 2014 until January
2018

1.         Please confirm the that the Framework conditions were complied
with. That is

a)         The Expenditure by Northumbria Police was approved by the PCC
throughout the Claim period and that the PCC received Quarterly Reports
from the Director of Legal Services with regard to the increasing costs of
the Employment Tribunal Claim – which amounted to over £645,000;

b)         It has been reported that the subsequent costs of Northumbria
Police’s Cost Application against Ms Aubrey has cost over £100,000. Please
confirm whether this Employment Tribunal action was also reported to and
approved by the PCC;

c)         Please confirm whether the PCC was consulted over a decision by
Northumbria Police to pay the legal costs of retired-Chief Constable Mike
Craik, retired-Acting Chief Constable Carolyn Peacock and retired-Acting
Chief Constable Mike Vant to seek reporting Restrictions to be applied to
them during the Employment Tribunal during May 2016;

d)         Please confirm whether the Costs of this Employment Tribunal
action have been paid for by the Police Budget and therefore by the public
within the Police Precept.

2.         If Northumbria Police acted outside of the Governance Framework
during this Employment Tribunal Claim, please explain what steps the PCC
has taken to "Hold(ing) the Chief Constable to account for the performance
of the Force, including that of police officers and civilian staff under
their direction and control".

We have now had the opportunity to fully consider your request and I
provide a response for your attention.

No information held. The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for
Northumbria hold no information relevant to your request.

You may be interested to know that Northumbria Police & Crime Commissioner
routinely publish information via the Disclosure Log. The aim of the
Disclosure Log is to promote openness and transparency by voluntarily
placing information into the public arena.

The Disclosure Log contains copies of some of the information that has
been disclosed by Northumbria Police & Crime Commissioner in response to
requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Whilst it is not possible to publish all responses we will endeavour to
publish those where we feel that the information disclosed is in the
public interest.

The Disclosure Log will be updated once responses have been sent to the
requester.

I have provided the relevant link below.

[2]http://www.northumbria-pcc.gov.uk/transp...

The information we have supplied to you is likely to contain intellectual
property rights of Northumbria Police & Crime Commissioner . Your use of
the information must be strictly in accordance with the Copyright Designs
and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) or such other applicable legislation. In
particular, you must not re-use this information for any commercial
purpose.

How to complain

If you are unhappy with our decision or do not consider that we have
handled your request properly and we are unable to resolve this issue
informally, you are entitled to make a formal complaint to us under our
complaints procedure which is attached.

If you are still unhappy after we have investigated your complaint and
reported to you the outcome, you may complain directly to the Information
Commissioner’s Office and request that they investigate to ascertain
whether we have dealt with your request in accordance with the Act.

Yours sincerely.

Kevin

Kevin Payne

Office of Dame Vera Baird QC

Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria

References

Visible links
1. http://www.northumbria-pcc.gov.uk/v2/wp-...
2. http://www.northumbria-pcc.gov.uk/transp...

Dear Mr Hopkins,

We acknowledge receipt of your request for an internal review of the response you received in relation to the above mentioned Freedom of Information request.

We aim to provide a response to you within 20 working days of your request for review.

Yours sincerely.

Kevin

Kevin Payne
Office of Dame Vera Baird QC
Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria

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Dear Mr Hopkins,

Internal Review

Your request for review asked –

Dear Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner's handling of my FOI request 'Ms Denise Aubrey's Employment Tribunal - Did NP comply with PCC Governance Framework?'.

I note that Northumbria Police have spent, in total, almost £1m on professional fees to external legal companies in connection with Ms Denise Aubrey's dismissal, Employment Tribunal and then Cost Application. I also note that the Governance Arrangements between the OPCC and NP which the PCC has signed and updated are very clear in stating that any Employment Claims which incur costs of over £25,000 must be approved by the PCC.

My FOI further asked whether the costs of the actions taken against Ms Aubrey were to be met by the Policing Budget

I find it incredible that your Office can respond to my FOI request with the complete response being "No information held. The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria hold no information relevant to your request."

I look forward to hearing the outcome of an Internal Review of this most unsatisfactory response to an FOI which is clearly in the public interest.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/m...

Response

We have taken this opportunity to revisit the response you were provided. As stated, following enquiries carried out, it was determined that the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner held no information on the points you raise. I can clarify that on review, this is correct and therefore I am satisfied that the response provided was entirely appropriate.

If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of this review then it remains open to you to refer this matter to the Information Commissioner at the following address:

The Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely.

Scott

Scott Duffy
Director of Business
Office of Dame Vera Baird QC
Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria

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