Police officer driver training

The request was successful.

Dear Tayside Police,

1)Is there a guideline on how often police officers should retake their standard response police driving test driving test?

2)Is there a law on how often police officers should retake their standard response police driving test driving test?

3)Can I have access to the database Tayside Police use to see when officers last took their standard response police driving test or higher?

4)If not, what percentage of officers have passed their most recent standard response police driving test or higher?

5)Also, what number of officers have and have not passed their most recent standard response police driving test or higher?

6)What is the longest amount of time a current officer has gone without having a standard response police driving test or higher?

7)If a database Tayside Police use to see when officers last took their standard response police driving test or higher does not exist, what are the procedures for finding out if an officer needs to be take their standard response police driving test?

Yours faithfully,

Ollie Gillman

FIID (FOI),

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Our Ref:       FOI 104-13

E-mail:         [Tayside Police request email] for all correspondence
relating to FOI requests

 

Dear Mr Gillman

 

I write to acknowledge receipt of your request for information under the
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, received on 20 February 2013.

 

Your request is now currently being processed by this department and under
the terms of this Act, there are 20 working days allowed to respond to you
following the date of receipt of your request.  Please note, however, that
there may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of
the information requested.  You will be advised of this should a payment
be required and no information will be supplied prior to receipt of the
fee.

 

If you require any further information or assistance, please do not
hesitate to contact me on 01382 596169.

 

Regards,

 
Wendy Snedden
Freedom of Information Officer
Crime & Intelligence Division
Tayside Police
Tel:       01382 596169
Fax:      01382 596048
Email:   [1][Tayside Police request email]
 

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References

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FIID (FOI),

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Our Ref: FOI 104-13

E-Mail:   [Tayside Police request email] for all correspondence
relating to FOI requests

 

Dear Mr Gillman

 

I refer to your request, received on 20 February 2013, seeking information
under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, as detailed in full
below.

 

Having considered your request in terms of the above Act, I would respond
as follows:

 

Q1  Is there a guideline on how often police officers should retake their
standard response police driving test?

 

      Police Officers generally undergo only one Standard Response Driving
Course and are not authorised to drive police vehicles until this has been
attained.  There is no requirement for Police Officers to re-take the
Standard Response Driving Course once the required standard has been
achieved.

 

Q2  Is there a law on how often police officers should retake their
standard response police driving test?

 

      As stated in my response to Question 1 above, there is no
requirement for Police Officers to re-take the Standard Response Driving
Course once the required standard has been achieved, however Police
Officers who are authorised drivers are required to undergo
recertification every 5 years.

 

      You may care to note that the Road Safety Act 2006, Section 19, made
provision for the creation of regulations requiring Standard and Advanced
Response Police drivers engaged in an operational role to undertake
reassessment in Emergency Response Techniques every 5 years.  Whilst this
framework to create further regulations has been in place for some time,
Parliament has still to legislate.  As such, the 5-year timescale for
reassessment is not yet law, but is regarded as good practice.

 

Q3  Can I have access to the database Tayside Police use to see when
officers last took their standard response police driving test or higher?

 

      Details relating to an Officer s authorisation to drive police
vehicles are recorded within the Officer s electronic personal record. 
These records contain personal and sensitive data which is considered
exempt from disclosure under Section 38(1)(b) (Personal Information) of
the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.  As such, members of the
public would not be permitted access to this database, as this would be in
clear breach of the Data Protection Act 1998.

 

      It is incumbent upon the Chief Constable to process data held by her
in accordance with the principles set forth in the Data Protection Act
1998. The release of this information to a third party would breach the
requirement that exists to process personal data fairly, in contravention
of the first data protection principle in Schedule 1 in that legislation.

 

Q4  If not, what percentage of officers have passed their most recent
standard response police driving test or higher?

&   

Q5  Also, what number of officers have and have not passed their most
recent standard response police driving test or higher?

&

Q6  What is the longest amount of time a current officer has gone without
having a standard response police driving test or higher?

 

      As explained in my response to Question 1, Police Officers are not
required to re-take the Standard Response Driving Course once the required
standard has been achieved.  Accordingly, I have based my response to the
above questions on Officers initially undertaking the Course I trust
that this is acceptable to you.

 

      On this basis, I regret to inform you that I am unable to provide
you with the information requested in Questions 4, 5 and 6 above, as it
would prove too costly to do so within the context of the fee regulations
set out in the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.  As you may be
aware the current cost threshold is £600 and I estimate that it would cost
well in excess of this amount to process your request.

 

      As explained above, details relating to an Officer s authorisation
to drive police vehicles are recorded within their electronic personal
record.  To identify the information you have requested, this would
involve manually interrogating each Officer s training record
individually.  To illustrate the scale of such a task, I would advise you
that Tayside Police currently has in excess of 1,200 Police Officers and
it is evident that this piece of work would clearly exceed the cost limit
referred to above.

 

      Taking the above into account, I would advise you that, in terms of
Section 16(4) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, this
represents a refusal notice for this information under Section 12(1) of
the Act (Excessive Cost of Compliance).

 

      However, to be of as much assistance as possible, in relation to
Questions 4 & 5, I can advise you that since January 2012, 90 Officers
were successful in achieving the standard required for the Standard
Driving Course, and 8 Officers failed to achieve the required standard.

 

      In relation to Question 6, I can advise you that probationers may
have to wait 12-14 months before taking the Standard Response Driving
Course and are not permitted to drive police vehicles until this has been
attained.  There are currently 45 Officers on the waiting list for a place
on the Standard Response Driving Course.

 

Q7  If a database Tayside Police uses to see when officers last took their
standard response police driving test or higher does not exist, what are
the procedures for finding out if an officer needs to be take their
standard response police driving test?

 

      I have interpreted the last part of your request to read if an
officer needs to re-take their standard response police driving test .  On
this basis, and as previously advised, there is no requirement for Police
Officers to re-take the Standard Response Driving Course once the required
standard has been achieved.

 

I trust the enclosed information will be of assistance to you.  However,
if you are not satisfied with the way in which your request has been dealt
with, you are entitled, in the first instance, to request a review of the
decision made by the Force.  Should you wish to request such a review,
please write to me within 40 days of receiving this communication.  I will
arrange for a senior officer, who has not been involved in the decision
making process, to conduct a review as required by the Act.  If, after
having been informed of the review panel's decision, you are still not
satisfied, you are then entitled to apply to the Scottish Information
Commissioner for a decision.  You have 6 months from the date of the
review response in which to do so. The contact details are the Office of
the Scottish Information Commissioner, Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road,
St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS, telephone 01334 464610.

 

Regards,
 
Wendy Snedden
Freedom of Information Officer
Crime & Intelligence Division
Tayside Police
Tel:       01382 596169
Fax:      01382 596048
Email:   [1][Tayside Police request email]

 

* * * * *

 

Please note that on 1 April 2013 the Chief Constable of the new Police
Service of Scotland comes under Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation.

 

The creation of the new single police force means that whilst the various
ways we provide information, eg letter, email etc remain the same, all
force-specific FOI postal and email addresses,
eg [2][Tayside Police request email] will cease to exist.

 

From 1 April 2013:

Email requests should be addressed to:

[3][email address]

 

Written requests should be addressed to:

 

Police Service of Scotland

Freedom of Information Central Processing

173 Pitt Street

GLASGOW

G2 4JS

 
Regards,
 
Wendy Snedden
Freedom of Information Officer
Crime & Intelligence Division
Tayside Police
Tel:       01382 596169
Fax:      01382 596048
Email:   [4][Tayside Police request email]
 

NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED

This communication is intended for the person(s) or organisation named and
may be in nature, legally privileged and protected in law.

If you are not the intended recipient please advise us immediately and do
not disclose, copy or distribute the contents to any other person.

Failure to comply with these instructions may constitute a criminal
offence. You should be aware that all Tayside Police email communications
may be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information (Scotland)
act 2002.

References

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