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In order to comply with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, public sector organisations such as ours have to routinely publish information whenever possible.
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is intended to create openness within all public authorities and Government by giving individuals more access to information held by public authorities.
The Act provides a general right of access to non-personal information held by public authorities that is of the public interest, although there are a few exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act. The exemptions allow public authorities to legitimately withhold information under certain circumstances.
In order to comply with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, public sector organisations such as ours have to routinely publish information whenever possible.
The purpose of this scheme is to make the maximum amount of information easily available at no cost to the public. Material which is published online on our website is provided free of charge. If there is a charge for the information you request which is not publicly available on our website, you will be advised of this charge before the information is supplied to you.
In the interests of being open and transparent about information such as finances and expenses, policies or performance and so on, we try to publish as much information on our website as possible as well as obliging with our legal duties to do so.
If you are looking for particular information, please check the information provided within our Transparency pages first by using the relevant links provided on the left of this page, to ensure the information you require is not already available on this website.
Details of previous FOI requests can be viewed in the drop-downs below
Hi there,
Could you please tell me how many members of staff working in the Police and Crime Commissioner's Office have one or more of the words equality, diversity, fairness inclusion, gender, LGBT or race in their job title?
Thank you for your time and please let me know if you have any questions about this FOI request.
Best wishes,
I write in response to your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and can provide you with the information below:
Q: Could you please tell me how many members of staff working in the Police and Crime Commissioner's Office have one or more of the words equality, diversity, fairness inclusion, gender, LGBT or race in their job title?
A: There are currently 0 posts which include those words within the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner. If you require any further information regarding the PCVC team then you can visit our website via the link below:
https://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/your-pcvc/the-pcvc-team
Dear Durham Police and Crime Commissioner,
I write to you in order to request the information set out below. My request is pursuant to the FOIA.
The request concerns the investment made by the Home Office into your district under the Safer Streets Fund, announced in July 2020.
Please can you provide the following:
1. All the LSOAs (lower super output areas) under your jurisdiction that the intervention area covers 2. The specification for CCTV that will be installed in these areas including:
i) the model of camera
ii) a description of the camera
iii) the number of cameras that will be installed
If no CCTV cameras are planned, please make this clear.
If you need clarification please contact me at this email address. Under your section 16 duty to provide advice and assistance I would expect you to contact me if you find this request unmanageable in any way before the 20thworking day, which is March 4.
I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request, and I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Please see below response to your request under the Freedom of Information Act;
Q. All the LSOAs (lower super output areas) under your jurisdiction that the intervention area covers
A. Durham 036A,Durham 036C, Darlington 008C, Darlington 004A
Q. The specification for CCTV that will be installed in these areas including:
i) the model of camera
ii) a description of the camera
iii) the number of cameras that will be installed
A. 6 re-deployable CCTV cameras will be installed within the LSOAs Durham 036A, 036C.
The Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims' Commissioner does not hold the information on the specification of the CCTV as it is being procured by another partner agency.
If you require any further information then please do not hesitate to contact us again.
Requests to the incumbent crime commissioner.
Hello, I am writing to you with a request for information regarding the £5000 deposit required to stand as crime commissioner. Kindly consider my request under an FOI request if you find you cannot respond freely to the requests below.
Can you advise what terms if any you had to comply with if you were supported by a political party at the last crime commissioner’s election in regard to deposit paid by your political party.
Can you advise if you have had to donate or been asked a percentage of your crime commissioners’ yearly salary back to the political party who supported you in your crime commissioner’s campaign. If so how much?
Can you advise if the £5000 deposit required by regulations to stand was returned to your political party and if so how long did it take to be returned.
Can you advise if you kept the £5000 deposit? If so was it a gift and by whom?
Can you advise if you have donated any sums of money to the political party who supported you once you were elected as crime commissioner.
Kindly note this is a generic request to 40 Commissioners and cc to others.
Response to Freedom of Information Request 004/2021 received on 08/03/21
Q. Requests to the incumbent crime commissioner.
Hello, I am writing to you with a request for information regarding the £5000 deposit required to stand as crime commissioner. Kindly consider my request under an FOI request if you find you cannot respond freely to the requests below.
Can you advise what terms if any you had to comply with if you were supported by a political party at the last crime commissioner’s election in regard to deposit paid by your political party.
Can you advise if you have had to donate or been asked a percentage of your crime commissioners’ yearly salary back to the political party who supported you in your crime commissioner’s campaign. If so how much?
Can you advise if the £5000 deposit required by regulations to stand was returned to your political party and if so how long did it take to be returned.
Can you advise if you kept the £5000 deposit? If so was it a gift and by whom?
Can you advise if you have donated any sums of money to the political party who supported you once you were elected as crime commissioner.
Kindly note this is a generic request to 40 Commissioners and cc to others.
A. No information held - The Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims Commissioner does not hold any recorded information in regards to your request.
Dear Durham OPCC,
I hope whoever is reading this is well.
I am a freelance reporter writing in connection to the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Please could you endeavour to answer the following questions within 20 working days, as specified under its clauses:
Please can you break down the following information for the financial years: 2015/6, 2016/7, 2017/8, 2018/9 and 2019/20. Can you also please provide me the information for the period between 1 April 2020 and 28 February 2021.
Q1) How many "political advisers" were appointed by your force area's PCC over the stated period?
1a) Please can you tell me the name of the serving PCC at the time who hired such advisers, the combined yearly salaries of said political advisers (£), their full names and dates of appointment (in the format- DD/MM/YYYY).
1b) If the PCC had a deputy PCC below them, how many "political advisers" were appointed by the deputy PCC(s) over the stated period, and how many of them were party political office holders or active party members (please state) at the time of appointment?
For Q1b, could you please tell me the name of the political party (for example, but not limited to: the Labour Party, the Conservative Party) or party political office said adviser(s) belonged to.
I am aware that staff and resources are limited at this time, so I appreciate your help with this.
If you have any further queries about these questions please do not hesitate to contact me on this email address.
Please see below in relation to the FOI request received into the Durham PCVC Office.
Response to Freedom of Information Request – 10/03/21
Q. Please can you break down the following information for the financial years: 2015/6, 2016/7, 2017/8, 2018/9 and 2019/20. Can you also please provide me the information for the period between 1 April 2020 and 28 February 2021.
Q1) How many "political advisers" were appointed by your force area's PCC over the stated period?
1a) Please can you tell me the name of the serving PCC at the time who hired such advisers, the combined yearly salaries of said political advisers (£), their full names and dates of appointment (in the format- DD/MM/YYYY).
A) I can confirm that Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner has not appointed any political advisors between 2015-2021, therefore no information is held.
1b) If the PCC had a deputy PCC below them, how many "political advisers" were appointed by the deputy PCC(s) over the stated period, and how many of them were party political office holders or active party members (please state) at the time of appointment?
A) The Office of the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner has not had a Deputy PCC appointed since PCC’s were introduced in 2012.
For Q1b, could you please tell me the name of the political party (for example, but not limited to: the Labour Party, the Conservative Party) or party political office said adviser(s) belonged to.
A) N/A
Dear Mr White.
In accordance with Ref A and following the recent increase in the police precept for County Durham, an increase of 7%, I request the following information. You may recall that in 2019-20 the increase in the police precept was a whopping 13.2%!
Please inform me of your annual salary. Also, please inform me of the number of staff who work for the PCVC, together with their job titles and their annual salaries.
I write to you in relation to your Freedom of Information request and have provided the response below:
006/2021 Freedom of Information Response
Q: Please inform me of your annual salary. Also, please inform me of the number of staff who work for the PCVC, together with their job titles and their annual salaries.
A: This information is already in the public domain and can be accessed via the link to the PCVC website which has been provided below:
https://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/your-pcvc/the-pcvc-team
If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact us again.
To whom it may concern,
Freedom of Information request into Out of Court Disposals Scrutiny Panels
I would be grateful if you could provide the following data under the Freedom of Information Act 2000:
- Whether there is a scrutiny panel in existence in your area, and whether this is active
And if there is an active scrutiny panel in your area:
- Who attends the panel on a regular basis
- What the outcomes of the panel are, and how they are shared with the police and public.
Yours sincerely,
XXX
Good Afternoon,
Please see attached in relation to your Freedom of Information Request regarding Out of Court Disposals.
If you require any further information then please do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind Regards,
XXX
Response prepared by XXX
ODPCVC Response to Freedom of Information Request – Out of Court Disposals
‘Whether there is a scrutiny panel in existence in your area, and whether this is active’
Yes, the panel is active and meets on a quarterly basis.
‘Who attends the panel on a regular basis’
Representatives from the following organisations attend the panel on a regular basis:
· Magistrates Courts (both Teesside and Durham – the group is now chaired by Durham Magistrates)
· Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland
· Office of the Police, Crime and Victims Commissioner for Durham
· Cleveland Police
· Durham Constabulary
· Crown Prosecution Service
· National Probation Service
· Durham Tees Valley Community Rehabilitation Company
· Youth Offending Teams from across both regions
· Victim Care and Advice Service
· Restorative Cleveland
· Restorative Hub [Durham]
‘What the outcomes of the panel are, and how they are shared with the police and public’
In reviewing a case, the Panel will discuss and agree a categorisation against the options:
Score of 1: Consistent with Police policies and the CPS Code for Crown Prosecutors.
Score of 2: Appropriate, but with observations.
Score of 3: Inappropriate and inconsistent with policy.
Score of 4: Panel fails to reach a conclusion. More information is required. In these instances the case is discussed and scored again at the following panel when more information has been provided
When feedback is identified, the panel member for that agency will be responsible for bringing this to the attention of the relevant personnel within their own organisation. Feedback can be written or verbal depending on the circumstances and whatever is appropriate for that particular case.
If the panel identifies an action or decision taken in a case that they consider to be so poor that an individual’s actions may constitute an act of misconduct, then the Panel Chairperson will discuss with the representative of the relevant agency and refer the case to the relevant agencies’ Professional Standards department for consideration as to further action if necessary.
Scrutiny panel findings will be recorded in writing and shared with all panel members and Heads of Crime for Cleveland and Durham. Head of Crime will identify operational implications and feedback through appropriate internal mechanisms reporting (by exception) to the Police and Crime Commissioners where appropriate.
Following the Panel meeting a report for publication to internal and external stakeholders will be provided by the minute taker and approved by the Chairperson. Results will be published on the PCC/PCVC website.
Dear Information Team,
This is an information request relating to size of offices, revenue and general staffing of your PCC office.
Please provide the following information:
· The total cost of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s office in 2016-17, 2017-18,2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21
· The total remuneration bill in 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21.Remuneration should be taken to mean pay, pension contributions, bonuses and any other benefits in kind. Please itemize all of these separately.
· The total remuneration paid to the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner in 2016-17,2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21
I would prefer a response via email, but if this is not possible,I will gladly accept letters to the address below.
Please acknowledge this information request as soon as possible.
Kind regards,
XXX
Dear XXX,
Freedom of Information Request – PCC Offices – Response 04/11/2021
The total cost of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s office in 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21
The total remuneration bill in 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21. Remuneration should be taken to mean pay, pension contributions, bonuses and any other benefits in kind. Please itemize all of these separately.
Please see below a breakdown of costs during the time requested (all other information on PCC staffing is available on the PCC website https://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/your-pcc/the-pcc-team :
PCC office costs
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
202021
Salary Costs
571,505
675,321
752,460
769,329
766,043
General Costs
280,838
239,991
344,372
350,060
308,248
Misc income
-85,760
-280,443
-100,619
-154,200
-121,494
Net Cost
766,583
634,869
996,213
965,189
952,797
The total remuneration paid to the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner in 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21 –
No Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner in post during this time.
If you require any further information then please do not hesitate to contact the office.
Kind Regards,
XXX
To whom it may concern I am an undergraduate student currently doing my dissertation. Please find below the questions that I would like answered if possible. 1. Is heritage crime an issue in your county? 2. Is heritage crime an important issue for your county? 3. What are the levels of recorded heritage crime in your county over the last 5 years? 4. What categories of heritage crime have been recorded in your county over the last 5 years? 5. Is heritage crime considered as a priority for the Police & Crime Commissioner, e.g. is it included in your Police and Crime Plan 6. Does your service partake in and/or encourage partnership working with outside bodies with regards to heritage crime working, for example Historic England? 7. Are situational crime prevention techniques used by the service you are responsible for to prevent heritage crimes? Many thanks XXX
Dear XXX,
I write to you again in relation to your Freedom of Information Request dated 22 November 2021. As mentioned in my previous email you will find responses below to points 5&6 of your request. The other parts to your request will need to be re-directed to Durham Constabulary’s Freedom of Information Team.
5. Is heritage crime considered as a priority for the Police & Crime Commissioner, e.g. is it included in your Police and Crime Plan
6. Does your service partake in and/or encourage partnership working with outside bodies with regards to heritage crime working, for example Historic England?
Heritage Crime is not formally documented as a priority in PCC Allen’s Police and Crime Plan. However, PCC Allen does encourage and partake in partnership working with outside bodies in relation to heritage crime, in particular with Historic England with whom she has already met with to discuss how it directly affects County Durham and Darlington.
If you require any further information then please do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind Regards,
XXX
To whom this may concern,
ASB Help are currently completing a piece of work in relation to best practice and the PCC’s involvement in the Community Trigger Process. This piece of work is being developed in corroboration with a number of key stakeholders and organisations across England and Wales. We have already had the first of three workshops and the second workshop is to take place in 2022. We are fully aware that there is a current review of the role of the PCC and any recommendations which come out of this work will be taken on board.
However, it would be really useful to obtain some information as to the involvement of your PCC in the Community Trigger process as it currently stands. Consequently, I am writing to you to make an open government request for the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000: -
1. Do you have information relating to the Community Trigger on your website?
2. Does this information include any statistics pertaining to the community trigger?
3. If yes to question 2, what statistics are detailed and is this for all the local authority areas you cover?
4. In making and revising the review procedures, the relevant bodies in a local government area must consult the local policing body for the relevant police area. Please could you advise when these reviews last occurred in all of your local authority areas?
5. Are you involved in the Community Trigger appeals process in any of your local authority areas? If so, can you explain the extent of your involvement? and the grounds on which someone can make an appeal?
Please could I ask that your answers to the above questions are sent to kanderson@asbhelp.co.uk and if you require further clarification about this request, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely,
XXX
Dear XXX
I write in response to your Freedom of Information request regarding Community Trigger which was received by the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office on 26/11/21.
Just to clarify that this response is specifically in relation to the OPCC's website and not Durham Constabulary who have a separate website and any information in relation to the community trigger and any statutory published data would normally sit on the Local Authority's and partner agencies websites.
The responses specifically to your questions are listed below:
1. No
2. No
3. N/A
4. Currently under review
5. Currently under review
The Durham PCC website does refer to the Community Trigger as it is included as part of the PCC’s new Police and Crime Plan. The PCC has also just appointed an Anti-Social Behaviour Champion to lead on ASB on her behalf and plans to further improve the community trigger process are in place.
I do hope that this answers your request appropriately however, if you do require any further information then please do not hesitate to contact us again.
Kind Regards
XXX
Dear XXX
I wish to make a FOI request for data on:
Total number of Police complaint reviews by Office of Durham PCC from1/2/2020 to 19/11/2021
Total number of police complaints upheld by Office of DurhamPCC from 1/2/2020 to 19/11/2021
Regards
XXX
Dear XXX,
I write in relation to your recent request under the Freedom of Information Act.
The information you have requested is in the public domain and can be viewed via the link below
https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/news/iopc-publishes-figures-police-complaints-made-202021
If you require any further information then please do not hesitate to contact the office.
Kind Regards,
XXX
Dear XXX
I’m writing to you to make a request under the freedom of information act relating to incidents reported in your region where cyclists have been close passed by a motor vehicle such as those made as part of Operation Snap or similar.
Please could I receive the information broken down by calendar year from 2016 onwards in order to establish trends?
I’d like to know how many close passes involving cyclists have been reported and how many of them were accompanied by supporting video evidence.
I’m also interested in the outcomes of the reports. What are the outcomes and what is their split amongst the reports? E.g., how many reports result in no further action being taken, how many resulted in the driver being written to, how many resulted in the drivers being asked to attend an awareness course, and in how many instances were drivers prosecuted etc.?
Also, in how many of the reports did the cyclist receive a warning or prosecution relating to their part in the incident?
Having submitted many videos to different regions, highlighting what I believed to be obviously dangerous close passes that have resulted in different outcomes, I’d also like to understand how the level of outcome is arrived at and how the consistency of the evidence review is ensured? For example:
· Is there a minimum level of training required for each person reviewing evidence?
· Is it ever acceptable for a vehicle to pass close within 1.5m of a cyclist? If not, how is the proximity assessed from video evidence? If so, how is the speed of pass or risk presented assessed from video evidence?
· What are the documented guidelines/standards that those reviewing the video evidence follow?
Finally, with respect to the changes in the Highway Code concerning a hierarchy of vulnerable road users, will this be acknowledged in your regions budget spend and what will I notice as a cyclist?
I look forward to hearing from you in due course.
Yours sincerely
Good afternoon,
Thank you for your email dated 24/12/2021. You will need to request this information directly from Durham Constabulary, you can do this by emailing FOI@durham.police.uk , alternatively the Durham PCC office can forward this request on your behalf. We will need your permission to do so.
Please let us know if you are happy for this to be forwarded.
Kind Regards,
XXX
Dear XXX
I would like to request the following information:
1. Please confirm whether your police force has considered entering into a collaboration agreement pursuant to section 22A of the Police Act 1996 (as amended by the PRSRA) to establish a Forensic Capability Network (FCN).
2. Please confirm whether, as a result of such consideration, that such an agreement has been signed and if not please supply the reasons for not entering such an agreement.
3. If, such an agreement has been entered, please supply the date on which the agreement came into legal force.
4. Please confirm whether your police force has agreed that the Forensic Capability Network will prepare the next round of contracts for physical forensic services as part of their "next generation procurement" as detailed here on the FCN website https://www.fcn.police.uk/news/2021-11/seven-year-plan-next-generation-procurement-physical-forensics-goes-market , in other words, is your police force using this process or something else to procure such services?
5. If your police force is using something other than the Forensic Capabilty Network's process described in (4), please provide information as to what that process is.
kind regards
Good Morning,
Thank you for your email dated 30/12/2021. You will need to request this information directly from Durham Constabulary, you can do this by emailing FOI@durham.police.uk , alternatively the Durham PCC office can forward this request on your behalf. We will need your permission to do so.
Please let us know if you are happy for this to be forwarded.
Kind Regards,
XXX
Dear Durham Police and Crime Commissioner, I would like to request the following: The value and amount of parking fines in your area for 2018. The value and amount of fines for running a red light in your area in 2018. The value and amount of speeding fines in your area in 2018. The value and amount of fines for using Bus Lanes incorrectly in 2018 in your area. The value and amount of fines for incorrectly using Eco Lanes in 2018 in your area please.
Thank you for your email unfortunately the Office of the Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner does not hold this data it is held by Durham Constabulary. To gather this information you will need to contact the Constabulary’s Freedom of Information Department; their email address is FOI@durham.pnn.police.uk.
I write to request copies of the following under the Freedom of Information Act 2000: - Any correspondence relating to Drug Consumption Rooms / facilities / centres (or Overdose Prevention Rooms / facilities / centres). If it is possible to do keyword searches on “drug consumption” and “overdose prevention”, this would suffice. For guidance, I am seeking correspondence sent or received by the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner between 1 January 2019 and today (13 January 2020). If this FOI request is too wide or unclear in any respect, please contact me as per your section 16 duty to provide advice and assistance. If any of this correspondence is already in the public domain, I would be grateful if you could direct me to it. I would prefer to receive the information electronically, if possible. I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request.
Thank you for your below Freedom of Information request dated 13th January 2020. The relevant people within the office are looking at this information and will get back to you. Email response with relevant information on 27th January 2020
Please could I request the following information: Please provide details of grants awarded in the financial years 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 • For which at least one of the outputs/outcomes was to provide services to victims of stalking. This could be any service to help victim’s e.g. counselling, information and advice, casework however there must be specific reference to working with victims of stalking. • Please provide details of the grant including the amount, the service provider, the services provided and the specific stalking outcome/output. • Please indicate with a y/n if the service is open to victims of stalking who are not ex-intimate in the table below
Thank you for your below Freedom of Information request dated 24th January 2020. The relevant people within the office are looking at this information and will get back to you.
Email response 28/01/2020 In response to your FOI request, we have awarded no grants in the financial years 2017/18 and 2018/19 for which at least one of the outputs/outcomes was to provide services to victims of stalking.
Hi there, My FOI request concerns the salaries of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. 1. Could you please tell me the PCC’s annual salary and whether this has remained the same since the post was created in 2012? 2. How many members of staff did your office have when it was created in November 2012, and what was the annual salary cost at that time? 3. How many members of staff does your office have as of now, January 2020, and what is the current annual salary cost? 4. How many members of staff are paid an annual salary of more than £100,000 as of now, January 2020? 5. How many members of staff has the office employed since November 2012 and what is the total salary cost of this? Please let me know if you require any further clarification about this. Best wishes
Good afternoon, Please find below answers to your questions regarding the salaries of the Office of the Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner.
1. Could you please tell me the PCC’s annual salary and whether this has remained the same since the post was created in 2012? Started at £70,000 in 2012 and is now £71,400.
2. How many members of staff did your office have when it was created in November 2012, and what was the annual salary cost at that time? When the office was created in November 2012, there were 9 members of staff in the PCC Office but many of the activities undertaken by the team then were provided by staff at Durham County Council under a Service Level Agreement.
3. How many members of staff does your office have as of now, January 2020, and what is the current annual salary cost? 16 members of staff at a projected annual salary cost of £566,000 in 2019/20.
4. How many members of staff are paid an annual salary of more than £100,000 as of now, January 2020? None
5. How many members of staff has the office employed since November 2012 and what is the total salary cost of this? I can provide an answer on the salary costs but there has been staff turnover so a direct answer to your question is difficult. Please can you clarify what you mean regarding how many staff members the office has employed. If you have any further enquiries please do not hesitate to contact me. Kind Regards
With the police tax increasing next financial year can you please tell me how much was spent on the previous commissioners funeral including the road blocks, police on duty, the hire of Durham cathedral as well as the cars involved in the funeral.
Dear Apologies for the delay in replying to your request, there has been a lot of information to sift through in order to provide a response. We are now able to provide you with the following response from the Chief Finance Officer: Q: With the police tax increasing next financial year can you please tell me how much was spent on the previous commissioners funeral including the road blocks, police on duty, the hire of Durham cathedral as well as the cars involved in the funeral.
A: The contribution to the cost of the funeral was £2456.81. The policing of the funeral was commensurate with the high profile of the Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner and the number of high profile local, regional and national figures that attended. We are unable to accurately record, because of the time involved, the cost of the road blocks, police on duty, and the cars involved in the funeral.
The Role of the PCVC’s office with regards to PAT hearings
This can be dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 with the response given below:
The Role of the PCVC’s office with regards to PAT hearings
Police Appeals Tribunals (PATs) hear appeals against the findings of gross (serious) misconduct brought by police officers or special constables. PATs are currently governed by Police Appeals Tribunal Rules 2012, which were amended in 2015. The Police and Crime Commissioner is responsible for appointing the chair to conduct the proceedings.
Under the FOIA I'd like to request the following information please (if different to the main Durham Police Service).
1. Name of SIRO / Senior Information Risk Owner, (or person who will be SIRO if current SIRO is planning to leave).
2. Contact email for SIRO.
3. Name of Data Protection Officer.
4. Contact email for DPO.
5. Do you have Information Asset Owners appointed?
6. Who would be responsible for organising training IAO's (If appointed)
7. Contact email for person named in Q6.
8. Do you have, have you considered, or do you align yourself towards the ISO 27001 standard?
9. Who would be responsible for ISO 27001 consideration/implementation/maintenance (if applicable)?
10. A contact email for person in the answer to Q9.
Thanks in advance.
Under the FOIA I'd like to request the following information please (if different to the main Durham Police Service).
1. Name of SIRO / Senior Information Risk Owner, (or person who will be SIRO if current SIRO is planning to leave) - Chief Executive, Office of the Durham, Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner
2. Contact email for SIRO - general.enquiries@durham.pcc.pnn.gov.uk
3. Name of Data Protection Officer – Charles Oakley, Office of the Durham, Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner
4. Contact email for DPO - general.enquiries@durham.pcc.pnn.gov.uk
5. Do you have Information Asset Owners appointed? Yes – included on the PCVC Information Asset Register
6. Who would be responsible for organising training IAO's (If appointed) The Data Protection Officer
7. Contact email for person named in Q6. Same as Q4
8. Do you have, have you considered, or do you align yourself towards the ISO 27001 standard? No
9. Who would be responsible for ISO 27001 consideration/implementation/maintenance (if applicable)? N/A
10. A contact email for person in the answer to Q9 – N/A
I am re-sending this request to both Durham Police e-mail accounts as unbelievably, the official e-mail listed on your website returns the e-mail undelivered.
Under the terms of the above Act I would like to request information as to the number of people issued with fines for non-compliance with Government guidelines form their imposition in March 2020 to date. Specifically:
The total number of fines issued from 1st March 2020 to date (or to the end of May 2020 in only monthly numbers are available)
The total value of the fines issued, together with the range of highest to lowest.
The number of fines issued by date
The value of fines issued by date
The date the first fine was issued
I am a private citizen and have no media affiliations or connections and the information is for my personal use.
Good morning,
Thank you for your below email dated 23rd May 2020 and I apologise for the difficulty you have faced when sending your FOI request via email.
The below request is a matter for the Durham Constabulary FOI Team.
If you would like me to forward this request onto the Durham Constabulary FOI Team on your behalf I would need your permission to do so.
Alternatively, if you would prefer to do this yourself I can confirm the correct email address is: FOI@durham.pnn.police.uk.
Dear Durham Police and Crime Commissioner,
There appears to be lots of confusion regarding when and how Durham police spoke with the Cummings family some reports state March 31st others April 1st
Therefore my questions are:-
1) when exactly did Durham Police talk to the Cummings family .
please supply times and dates for each occasion
2) how and when was Durham Police made aware of events at the Cummings household in Durham regarding Dominic Cummings family travel from London during lockdown.
a) For example was this brought to the attention of the Police by a member of the public from inside the Cummings family or some other member of the public
3) on the above dates in question what was Durham Police enforcement regarding travel into the county by people who lived elsewhere in the UK
4) how many complaints have been regarding this matter
This information should be available given the publicity surrounding these events
Good afternoon,
I write to acknowledge receipt of your email dated 27th May 2020. The PCVC does not hold this information and you would need to contact the Freedom of Information Team within Durham Constabulary with your request. You can contact them on FOI@durham.pnn.police.uk or alternatively, with your permission I can forward the email on your behalf.
We will await your reply.
Dear Sir
Under protection of the FOIA 2000 please provide me with unredacted copy of enquiries and PCC response related to the unlawful visit to Durham by Mr Dominic Cummings
I refer to the Freedom of Information request received by the Office of the Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner on 26th May 2020.
Please could you provide us with further clarity on the specific enquiries you are referring to? We will then be in a better position to process your request.
Freedom of Information Request received by the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victim’s Commissioner
Thank you for clarifying details of your request. I can now provide you with a response:
Your request following clarification from the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner:
Dear Sirs
I understand from press briefing the your office had dealing with Mr Cummings father, hence I am looking for any records from the PCC which you gave Mr Cummings Sen advice or instructions
Response:
The Office of the Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner did not have any direct dealings with Mr Cummings or any other family member, therefore no information is held.
If you have any further queries in relation to this matter then please contact us via the details below.
Kind Regards,
FOI Decision Maker
It has been widely reported that the Durham PCC, has written to the Chief Constable requiring her to investigate allegations surrounding Mr Dominic Cummings stay in Durham during what is colloquially called the lockdown period relating to Covid-19.
This appears to be an unlawful act, interfering with the Chief Constable’s operational independence and the letter must be withdrawn. Politically motivated investigations and prosecutions are the hallmark of a police state commonly encountered in totalitarian states. The duties of a PCC are clearly set out in Legislation and operational interference is specifically excluded. Such unlawful interference has no place in the United Kingdom, and the PCVC must withdraw his letter and direction to the Chief Constable.
FOI Request
Please provide a copy of the following:
a) The letter written to the Chief constable requiring her to investigate Mr Cummings.
b) Any related correspondence between the Crime Commissioner and the force in relation to this matter; and
c) Any other letters, emails or correspondence where the Crime Commissioner, during his tenure of office, has directed the Chief Officer of Police to investigate criminal activity.
I make this request under the provisions of the Freedom Of Information Act and the timescales imposed by that legislation.
Dear Sir/Madam
I write in connection with your request for information dated 26 May 2020 which was received by the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner on that date. I note you seek access to the following information:
FOI Request
Please provide a copy of the following:
a) The letter written to the Chief constable requiring her to investigate Mr Cummings.
b) Any related correspondence between the Crime Commissioner and the force in relation to this matter; and
c) Any other letters, emails or correspondence where the Crime Commissioner, during his tenure of office, has directed the Chief Officer of Police to investigate criminal activity.
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 obliges us to respond to requests promptly and in any case no later than 20 working days after receiving your request. We must firstly consider whether we can comply with Section 1(1)(a) of the Act, which is our duty to confirm whether or not the information requested is held and secondly, we must comply with Section 1(1)(b) which is the provision of such information. However when a qualified exemption applies either to the confirmation or denial or the information provision and the public interest test is engaged, the Act allows the time for response to be longer than 20 working days.
Please note that the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner will require longer than the estimated 20 days in order to respond to your request. Public interest factors in responding to your request are still being reviewed and considered.
The key exemption being considered is:
In these circumstances we consider that we are unable to complete this within the 20 working day period and in accordance with Section 10(3) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 hereby give you notice of an extended response date. We now estimate that our date of response will be no later than 15th July 2020. I can assure you that every effort will be made to ensure an appropriate response within this new timescale.
Please note if you are not satisfied with this interim decision or any actions taken in dealing with your request you have the right to request that we review your case under our review procedure. If you decide to request that such a review is undertaken and following this process you are still dissatisfied you then have the right to direct your complaint to the Information Commissioner for consideration.
Your attention is drawn to the below links which details your right to complain:
https://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Information-Hub/Compliments-and-complaints.aspx
https://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Information-Hub/Transparency/Freedom-of-Information-FOI.aspx
Yours sincerely
The Office of the Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner
Dear Sir/Madam,
Request to the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner under the Freedom of Information Act
Received 26th May 2020
Your Request
Please provide a copy of the following:
d) The letter written to the Chief constable requiring her to investigate Mr Cummings.
e) Any related correspondence between the Crime Commissioner and the force in relation to this matter; and
f) Any other letters, emails or correspondence where the Crime Commissioner, during his tenure of office, has directed the Chief Officer of Police to investigate criminal activity.
Responses from the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner
a) This information is held by the Office of the Durham, Police Crime and Victims’ Commissioner and is attached (Email from Acting PCVC to Chief Constable 25.05.20)
b) The Acting PCVC received a response from the Chief Constable on 28.05.20 we are unable to provide you with this information as it is relevant to FOIA Section 31 in protecting information provided in confidence to a regulator.
c) It is not accepted that the Acting PCVC did direct in this instance and accordingly there are none.
If you have any further queries relating to this matter please contact the office via the details below.
I hope this is of assistance to you.
Kind Regards,
FOI Decision Maker
Please provide the following information. I make this request under the Freedom of Information Act.
1) A schedule of documents held by the acting PCVC (and his office) relating to allegations of breaches of lockdown restrictions by Dominic Cummings.
2) A copy of any correspondence sent and received by the acting PCVC (and his office) mentioning Dominic Cummings between February and May this year.
Dear XXXX
I write in connection with your request for information dated 28 May 2020 which was received by the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner on that date. I note you seek access to the following information:
1) A schedule of documents held by the acting PCVC (and his office) relating to allegations of breaches of lockdown restrictions by Dominic Cummings.
2) A copy of any correspondence sent and received by the acting PCVC (and his office) mentioning Dominic Cummings between February and May this year.
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 obliges us to respond to requests promptly and in any case no later than 20 working days after receiving your request. We must firstly consider whether we can comply with Section 1(1)(a) of the Act, which is our duty to confirm whether or not the information requested is held and secondly, we must comply with Section 1(1)(b) which is the provision of such information. However when a qualified exemption applies either to the confirmation or denial or the information provision and the public interest test is engaged, the Act allows the time for response to be longer than 20 working days.
Please note that the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner will require longer than the estimated 20 days in order to respond to your request. Public interest factors in responding to your request are still being reviewed and considered.
The key exemption being considered is:
In these circumstances we consider that we are unable to complete this within the 20 working day period and in accordance with Section 10(3) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 hereby give you notice of an extended response date. We now estimate that our date of response will be no later than 15th July 2020. I can assure you that every effort will be made to ensure an appropriate response within this new timescale.
Please note if you are not satisfied with this interim decision or any actions taken in dealing with your request you have the right to request that we review your case under our review procedure. If you decide to request that such a review is undertaken and following this process you are still dissatisfied you then have the right to direct your complaint to the Information Commissioner for consideration.
Your attention is drawn to the below links which details your right to complain:
https://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Information-Hub/Compliments-and-complaints.aspx
https://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Information-Hub/Transparency/Freedom-of-Information-FOI.aspx
Yours sincerely
The Office of the Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner
Freedom of Information request received by the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner
Please see below responses in relation to your FOIA request received by the PCVC Office on 28th May 2020.
Please provide the following information. I make this request under the Freedom of Information Act.
1) A schedule of documents held by the acting PCVC (and his office) relating to allegations of breaches of lockdown restrictions by Dominic Cummings.
I can confirm that there is no schedule of documents held by the Office of the Durham Police. Crime and Victims’ Commissioner.
2) A copy of any correspondence sent and received by the acting PCVC (and his office) mentioning Dominic Cummings between February and May this year.
Your request has now been considered and the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner are not obliged to provide the information that you have requested.
Although the information is held, there is no facility to easily access the information requested. To access and retrieve accurate data would require a member of staff to manually review 451 records. A conservative estimate of the time needed to check each individual record is 3 minutes.
A search was conducted From 1st February to 31st May, across the PCVC office, for all electronic correspondence held including the words “Dominic Cummings” (including emails, tasks etc), the search revealed 451 hits/records.
A member of staff would need to manually interrogate each record to ascertain if it were relevant to your request, this would greatly exceed the limit of hours of work which is prescribed by the Freedom of Information Act.
The cost of providing you with the information is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond. Accordingly therefore, we will be unable to provide any information in relation to your request under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
In accordance with Section 17(5) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter represents a Refusal Notice for this particular request.
Due to the numbers involved then we are unable to advise how you request could be amended which would allow it to be answered within the prescribed cost limit.
Further request:
As part of the PIT, regarding Section 30 (1), please could the attached statement from Durham Constabulary be taken into account. It confirms that the force is taking no further action in the matter. Regarding Section 30 (2), I am not requesting any information involving confidential sources. I believe there is a strong public interest in this information being released given the high-profile nature of these events and the need for openness and transparency, especially at this time during the coronavirus pandemic.
This information is not held by The Office of the Durham Police Crime and Victims’ Commissioner.
If you have any further queries in relation to this matter then please contact us.
I hope this is of assistance to you.
Kind Regards,
FOI Decision Maker
Dear FOI team,
I write with a request for information under the FOIA as follows:
* Please provide a copy/copies of the letter/s and any emails sent by the commissioner to Durham Police relating to the Dominic Cummings case.
Yours sincerely,
Dear
I write in connection with your request for information dated 8th June 2020 which was received by the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner on that date. I note you seek access to the following information:
* Please provide a copy/copies of the letter/s and any emails sent by the commissioner to Durham Police relating to the Dominic Cummings case.
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 obliges us to respond to requests promptly and in any case no later than 20 working days after receiving your request. We must firstly consider whether we can comply with Section 1(1)(a) of the Act, which is our duty to confirm whether or not the information requested is held and secondly, we must comply with Section 1(1)(b) which is the provision of such information. However when a qualified exemption applies either to the confirmation or denial or the information provision and the public interest test is engaged, the Act allows the time for response to be longer than 20 working days.
Please note that the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner will require longer than the estimated 20 days in order to respond to your request. Public interest factors in responding to your request are still being reviewed and considered.
The key exemption being considered is:
In these circumstances we consider that we are unable to complete this within the 20 working day period and in accordance with Section 10(3) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 hereby give you notice of an extended response date. We now estimate that our date of response will be no later than 15th July 2020. I can assure you that every effort will be made to ensure an appropriate response within this new timescale.
Please note if you are not satisfied with this interim decision or any actions taken in dealing with your request you have the right to request that we review your case under our review procedure. If you decide to request that such a review is undertaken and following this process you are still dissatisfied you then have the right to direct your complaint to the Information Commissioner for consideration.
Your attention is drawn to the below links which details your right to complain:
https://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Information-Hub/Compliments-and-complaints.aspx
https://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Information-Hub/Transparency/Freedom-of-Information-FOI.aspx
Yours sincerely
The Office of the Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner
Freedom of Information Request to the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner
Please see below response in relation to your FOIA request to the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner.
Your Request:
I write with a request for information under the FOIA as follows:
* Please provide a copy/copies of the letter/s and any emails sent by the commissioner to Durham Police relating to the Dominic Cummings case.
Response:
This information is held by the Office of the Durham, Police Crime and Victims’ Commissioner and is attached (PDF from Acting PCVC to Chief Constable 25.05.20).
The Acting PCVC received a response from the Chief Constable on 28.05.20 we are unable to provide you with this information as it is relevant to FOIA Section 31 in protecting information provided in confidence to a regulator.
If you have any further queries in relation to this matter then please contact us.
I hope this is of assistance to you.
Kind Regards
FOI Decision Maker
Please also provide a current organisational chart detailing exactly who is working within your offices and their contact telephone numbers and their stated role / role profile along with the current salary packages
Dear XXXXX,
Please see below in relation to your request under the Freedom of Information Act.
Freedom of Information Request
Received by The Office of the Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner : 8th July 2020
Your Request
Please also provide a current organisational chart detailing exactly who is working within your offices and their contact telephone numbers and their stated role / role profile along with the current salary packages
FOI Response
Please see below link to the appropriate page on the website for the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner. This webpage includes an organisational chart, office brochure, role profiles and current salary packages as requested. The office telephone number is 0191 3752001 or you can contact us by emailing general.enquiries@durham.pcc.pnn.gov.uk.
1. On 25th May 2020 Acting PCVC Steve White issued a statement regarding Dominic Cummings. It included the following;
''I have today written to the Chief Constable, asking her to establish the facts concerning any potential breach of the law or regulations in this matter at any juncture''.
Please provide a copy of this correspondence to the Chief Constable.
2. Please provide a full copy of the Chief Constable's reply/replies to the above. This may consist of an initial reply and a further more substantive reply.
3. Please can you tell me if there are any information sharing arrangements in place between the Acting PCVC and Durham Constabulary. If yes, please can you provide the relevant contracts/agreements. I understand these could be in the form of data processing contracts, MoU's, SLA's or possibly other documents.
Thank you
Dear XXXXX,
Please see below in relation to your request under the Freedom of Information Act.
Freedom of Information Request
Received by The Office of the Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner : 8th July 2020
A full copy of the email sent from Mr S White, PCVC to Chief Constable J Farrell is attached
There are no information sharing arrangements in place between the Acting PCVC and Durham Constabulary
Hopefully this information satisfies your request, if you need any further information then please do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind Regards
FOI Team
The Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner.
Dear Durham Police and Crime Commissioner,
In respect of grants made by the Home Office from the Safer Streets Fund please provide the following information:
1. Did your office apply?
2. Provide a copy of your application(s)
3 Provide a copy of any grant letter(s) received together with any conditions attached to the grant(s) 4. Any information held with regards to ongoing revenue costs not covered by the Home Office grant.
Dear XXX,
Request for Information under the Freedom of Information Act
Please see below response to your Freedom of Information request in relation to the Safer Streets fund.
1. The Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims Commissioner did apply to the Safer Streets fund and the bid was successful. We were awarded the following:
Darlington: £298,918
Durham: £485,360
2. We are unable to give you a copy of the application or grant letter received as they were part of the online bid process and contain commercially sensitive information and contains personal details.
However, we have attached the link to our press release on the award below:
3. Provide a copy of any grant letter(s) received together with any conditions attached to the grant(s)
This has not been received.
4. Any information held with regards to ongoing revenue costs not covered by the Home Office grant
N/A
Dear Durham Police and Crime Commissioner,
Please could you provide a breakdown of which mechanisms you procure consultancy services from, specifically:
1. Do you use national procurement frameworks to procure consultancy?
2. Do you use third party neutral vendors/procurement solution providers to procure consultancy?
3. Do you use internal frameworks to procure consultancy?
4. Have you procured consultancy services through your own unique, project specific tender processes?
5. Have you procured consultancy services through any other mechanisms in the last 12 months? (for example direct awards).
6. Which consultancy firms have received payments in excess of £500 in the last 12 months?
Response to request under the Freedom of Information Act
1. Do you use national procurement frameworks to procure consultancy?
Yes, if one exists for a specific activity with which we are interested.
2. Do you use third party neutral vendors/procurement solution providers to procure consultancy?
No
3. Do you use internal frameworks to procure consultancy?
No
4. Have you procured consultancy services through your own unique, project specific tender processes?
Yes
5. Have you procured consultancy services through any other mechanisms in the last 12 months? (for example direct awards).
No
6. Which consultancy firms have received payments in excess of £500 in the last 12 months?
This information is publicly available on our website £500 Spend Analysis.
https://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Information-Hub/Transparency/Expenditure-exceeding-500.aspx
We hope that this information satisfies your request. If you require any further information then please do not hesitate to contact us at general.enquiries@durham.pcc.pnn.gov.uk
Kind Regards
Dear Durham Police and Crime Commissioner,
I write to you under the Freedom of Information act 2000 to request three pieces of evidence.
1. FOUNDATION EVIDENCE for the claim that all genus of cannabis meet the currently accepted criteria for a schedule 1 substance in its raw form.
2. FOUNDATION EVIDENCE for the claim that cannabinoid preparations meet the currently accepted criteria for a schedule 2 substance.
3. FOUNDATION EVIDENCE for claim that cannabis is a 'controlled' substance in the UK and who is making that claim of control.
4. FOUNDATION EVIDENCE for what is considered misuse of raw cannabis and its various preparations.
Dear XXX
Thank you for your email.
I can confirm that the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims Commissioner does not hold such information and therefore will be unable to provide you with any further response.
Kind Regards,
I have read through your consultation document regarding the pressures on police funding for next year.
Before I respond, I wonder if you could answer a couple of queries.
Firstly in the section on Durham Constabulary staffing, you make no mention of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s office.
I feel that it is important to know how many staff, besides yourself, are employed in the office. I note, for example, you recently took on a chief executive.
If my reading of the statement of accounts for 2017/18 is correct it cost £623,000 to run your office in 2017/18.
How much did it cost to run your office when the post of Police and Crime Commissioner was introduced in 2012?
How much are you budgeting for your office in 2019/20 (I can’t see any figure in your consultation document).
You are correct in the reading of the 2018 PCC Accounts, in that £623,000 was the cost to run the PCC Office in 2017/18. That figure included the costs of the PCC support team of 15 staff. The overall cost of the PCC Office was artificially low in the financial year 2017/18 because of a large one off income figure.
In the financial year 2011/12, police governance was the responsibility of the Police Authority and the cost of supporting the Police Authority was
£1.2million. The PCC took up office in November 2012, two thirds of the way through the financial year 2012/13 and in that transitional year the overall support costs to both the Police Authority and the PCC Office were
£1.2million.
Unfortunately, we are not in a position to share with you details of the PCC Office costs in 2019/20 because the overall funding position has not been finalised. When the precept has been confirmed, we will be in a position to share that information.
To the FoI officer,
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act relating to test purchasing.
In the financial years 2013/14 - 2018/19, how many test purchases of controlled materials/products/substances were authorised and/or carried out.
Please provide details of:
· What the test purchase related to (e.g. alcohol, knives, tobacco)
· Whether it was successful
· When and where it was carried out
· Whether it was carried out in conjunction with a partner organisation (e.g. local authority)
Please include copies of material which you hold in the form of paper and electronic records, including emails.
I would be grateful if you would supply as much of this information as possible electronically.
If I can help to clarify this request please contact me by the details below.
I look forward to hearing from you promptly, as required by legislation, and in any case within 20 working days.
Thank you for your previous email however unfortunately the Office of the Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner does not hold this data it is held by Durham Constabulary.
To gather this information you will need to contact the Constabulary’s Freedom of Information Department; their email address is FOI@durham.pnn.police.uk.
Dear Durham Police and Crime Commissioner ("PCC"),
It was announced, publicly, in November, 2016 that the PCC had agreed a five year contract with the incumbent chief constable (please see below weblink).
https://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Document-Library/Police-Crime-and-Victims- Plan/Police-Crime-and-Vicitms-Plan-2016-2021-FINAL.pdf
On Monday 11th March, 2019 the chief constable announced his retirement from the police service. Less than half way through that contract.
https://durham.police.uk/news-and-events/Pages/News Articles/Chief- Constable-Mike-Barton-announces-retirement-.aspx
In an article recently published, and which has received wide attention, particularly within policing circles, the truth behind the sudden, unexpected announcement is sought. The reason advanced: 'to spend more time in my greenhouse and with my grandchildren' is, on any independent view, scarcely credible.
http://neilwilby.com/2019/03/15/barton-beats-an-unexpected-retreat Accordingly, please disclose the following information:
1. The date (in 2019) upon which the chief constable first discussed his retirement with the PCC and/or his chief executive.
2. All correspondence, meeting notes, briefing notes between the PCC, and/or his chief executive, and/or his personal assistant that relates either to Mr Barton's contract renewal in 2016, or his retirement in 2019.
3. A copy of the contract agreed between the PCC and the chief constable in 2016.
4. The date upon which the new chief executive to the PCC was appointed.
5. A copy of the advertisement for the post.
6. The number of candidates who applied for the post.
7. The number of candidates interviewed.
Please see below information that you have requested from the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
1. The date (in 2019) upon which the chief constable first discussed his retirement with the PCC and/or his chief executive.
A. This was discussed informally at the end of 2018, then formally on 4th March 2019 and the Chief’s retirement letter was given for publication on 11th March 2019.
2. All correspondence, meeting notes, briefing notes between the PCC, and/or his chief executive, and/or his personal assistant that relates either to Mr Barton's contract renewal in 2016, or his retirement in 2019.
A. N/A – No correspondence of this nature exists
3. A copy of the contract agreed between the PCC and the chief constable in 2016.
A. The contract agreement is available to view on the Durham PCVC website, please see below link:
https://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Document- Library/Decisions/2016/2016-036-Extension-of-Chief-Constables-Contract.pdf
4. The date upon which the new chief executive to the PCC was appointed.
A. The appointment of the Chief Executive was confirmed by the Police and Crime Panel on 22nd October 2018.
5. A copy of the advertisement for the post
A. Please see attached recruitment pack.
6. The number of candidates who applied for the post.
A. Recruitment was carried out by an external recruitment company therefore the PCVC does not hold this information.
7. The number of candidates interviewed.
A. There were 4 candidates interviewed for the post of Chief Executive.
I would like to request some data in accordance with the Freedom Of Information Act. Please could you provide:
The salary, or if that is unavailable, the pay band, for each of the offices in 1.
Please see below link to the Durham PCVC website which displays each post and pay band for the PCVC Team.
There is not a Deputy Commissioner employed within the office.
https://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Your-PCC/The-PCCs-Team.aspx
Kind Regards,
The Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner
There was only an email address provided and no other means of communication
I would be most grateful if you would provide me, under the Freedom of Information Act, details in respect to the contract below, details of which can be found on the second page of this document;
Freedom of Information Request – Catering Services, Security Services, Cleaning Services, Hard and Soft Maintenance Services, Mechanical and Electrical Services.
– From the past two years.
The details we require are:
· Suppliers who applied for inclusion and were successful & not successful at the PQQ & ITT stages*
· Copy of the successful suppliers ITT submission
· Contract values of each contract year to date
· Start date & duration of contract
· Scope of services provided under current contract
· Is there an extension clause in the contract(s) and, if so, the duration of the extension?
· Has a decision been made yet on whether the contract(s) are being either extended or renewed?
· Who is the senior officer (outside of procurement) responsible for this contract?
We have attached a Reply Form, which may assist you in providing this data.
Dear Mr Smith
I write to acknowledge receipt of your below Freedom of Information request.
The information you have requested is not held by the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner and is held by Durham Constabulary.
To gather this information you will need to contact the Constabulary’s Freedom of Information Department; their email address is
Dear Durham Police and Crime Commissioner,
I am conducting research on a national basis into uninsured / non-stop collisions and am surveying forces across the country to ascertain the scale of the issue.
I am aware of Stats 19 data but much of the below data is not available from DfT via stats 19 on a force by force basis hence the request in this format.
Can you please provide the following data relating to non-stop Road Traffic Collisions in your force area.
1) Number of RTC’s reported year by year in your force area for the period 2014 – 2019
2) Breakdown of those RTC’s into Fatal, Injury, Damage only year by year
3) Number of RTC’s classified as non-stop in your force area for the period 2014 – 2019 Broken down into Fatal Injury, Damage Only year by year
4) Number of RTC’s classified as non-stop where an offender was traced and subsequently prosecuted for offences of failing to stop, / failing to report a collision for the period 2010 – 2019 broken down to Fatal, Injury and Damage Only
5) Number of Fatal RTC’s where a vehicle failed to stop for the period 2014 – 2019 and total number of deceased from those fatal RTC’s
6) Number of non-stop fatal RTC’s 2014-2019 whereby no driver was ever prosecuted for FTS
7) Number of RTC’s where at least 1 driver / vehicle was shown as uninsured for period 2014 – 2019 and number prosecuted year by year
8) Number of Fatal RTC’s whereby at least 1 driver / vehicle was uninsured and total number of fatalities from these RTC’s for the period 2014 – 2019
Response - To gather this information you will need to contact the Constabulary’s Freedom of Information Department; their email address is FOI@durham.pnn.police.uk.
Information Requested -
Dear Durham Police and Crime Commissioner,
As a public body what is your policy regarding social media and under what circumstances would you block a social media account from viewing your social media account from a member of the public ? I believe this is a human rights violation- what are your thoughts?
I would like you to publish a copy of this policy for public viewing.
In response to your Freedom of Information request dated 9th June 2019 please see below:
I would like you to publish a copy of this policy for public viewing.
A. The Office of the Police, Crime and Victims' Commissioner does not have a policy regarding social media.
To whom it may concern,
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide full answers to each of the following questions:
In cases where the certificate was not granted, please provide details ie sentence not seemed serious enough Please respond within 20 working days.
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide full answers to each of the following questions:
1. In each of the past three financial years (2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19), how many times has your PCC applied for a certificate of forfeiture for an officer's pension after they were convicted of a criminal offence?
A: None
2. On how many of these occasions was the certificate a) granted by the Home Secretary and b) rejected by the Home Secretary
A: N/A
3. In cases where the certificate was not granted, please provide details ie sentence not seemed serious enough
A: N/A
I am conducting research into the implications for communities of the College of Policing policy to ensure all entrants into Police Forces as Constables have obtained or will obtain a degree. I understand that the Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Police has submitted a Judicial Review claiming it will cost his Force the equivalent of 40 Officers.
Therefore it seems reasonable to assume that all Police Forces/PCCs have undertaken the same research.
Can you please confirm :
1: There is a written record that your Force has considered the implications of this Policy.
Kind Regards
Information not held by PCVC office - Re-directed to Durham Constabulary FOI Team
Dear Durham Police and Crime Commissioner,
Can you please forward me the most recent statistics for the financial costs relative to those associated with acquisitive crime and the use of Class A drugs; such as heroin and crack cocaine. I am a PhD student at Teeside University and would like data for my exploration of 'heroin using' populations in the Durham and Teeside area. I am particularly interested in prevalence of Class A drug use in Cleveland and Durham, as well as the monetary costs that are associated with this.
I write to acknowledge receipt of your email. The information you are requesting is held by Durham Constabulary. You will need to make a request with them by emailing FOI@durham.pnn.police.uk
Please see below the information we are requesting under the ‘Freedom of Information Act 2000’:
1) Did your Police and Crime Commissioner’s office submit evidence to the consultation ‘Powers for dealing with unauthorised development and encampments’ in 2018?
The link to this full consultation can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/att achment_data/file/697354/Consultation_-_unauthorised_encampments.pdf
2) If your Police and Crime Commissioner’s office submitted evidence to this consultation, could you please provide us with your full responses to questions 6, 7, and 8, as they are stated within the consultation?
PCVC office responded to this in June 2019 and a full copy of the consultation submission was sent via email on 18/07/19 - (Copy of full letter not available)
The date PVCC Ron Hogg made the following oath (if this is a FOI request please advise):
Full Name of Place do solemnly and sincerely promise that I will serve all the people of Police Force Area in the office of police and crime commissioner without fear or favour.
I will act with integrity and diligence in my role and, to the best of my ability, will execute the duties of my office to ensure that the police are able to cut crime and protect the public.
I will give a voice to the public, especially victims of crime and work with other services to ensure the safety of the community and effective criminal justice.
I will take all steps within my power to ensure transparency of my decisions, so that I may be properly held to account by the public.
I will not seek to influence or prevent any lawful and reasonable investigation or arrest, nor encourage any police action save that which is lawful and justified within the bounds of this office.
Please see below response in relation to the FOI request (attached) which has been forwarded to the PCVC Office from Durham Constabulary.
This is confirmation that following his 2nd election, Mr Ron Hogg made and signed the Oath of Office on 16th May 2016.
1. Can you please tell me the total spent on branded PCC merchandise by the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner since November 2012?
In summary the total spends are as follows – 2017 - £5169.55
2018 - £4434.15 (plus £2010.00 on products for the community peer mentors, highlighted in yellow on the spreadsheet)
2019 - £4641.60
2. Can you please tell me the total spent on branded PCC merchandise by the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner since November 2012?
3. Could you furthermore tell me how many branded items have been purchased, the type of items purchased and the amount spent per year?
Please find attached a spreadsheet for the merchandise purchased during the above period and a brief description of what items were purchased. Hopefully this will answer both questions 2 & 3. In summary most items were branded except from police helmets, purse alarm bells, zip folders & booster pens.
Response - Spreadsheet sent - not available
Dear Durham Police and Crime Commissioner,
I am writing to respectfully make a request in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000. My request is as follows:-
This can be provided in any format, however, a spreadsheet detailing each role and a mark as to whether the role requires the role holder to sign a declaration as to their recognition of being bound thus required to comply with the Act(s).
If I am able to provide any further information in order to assist your search for information in order to successfully respond to this request, please do not hesitate to contact me.
I look forward to hearing from you soon. Yours faithfully,
Good morning,
Please find below requested information in relation to your Freedom of Information request:
Please find below list of employee roles employed within the PCVC Office, all whom have signed the Official Secrets Act:
Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner (PCVC) Acting Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner Acting Chief Executive
Acting Head of Policy Joint Chief Finance Officer
Head of Governance and Commissioning Principal Private Secretary
Engagement and Media Officer Criminal Justice Programme Officer Victim Support Officer
Governance Manager Office Manager Policy Officer
Criminal Justice Performance Analyst Personal Assistant
Policy and Accountability Officer (Intern) Communications and Engagement Assistant Digital Media Assistant (Intern)
Temporary Admin Assistant
All employees within the PCVC Office sign the Official Secrets Act and Confidentiality Declaration on the day of Induction. A blank copy of this document is attached.
If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact me. Kind Regards
Dear Durham Police and Crime Commissioner,
breaches, for example double checking work
Yours faithfully
I acknowledge receipt of your below email dated 30th December 2019. I have
forwarded this onto our GDPR Lead. Kind Regards
Dear
Please find attached in response to your FOI. The responses are acknowledged in the attachment.
This is the Subject Access Acknowledgement Letter Wording.
“Thank you for your Subject Access Request received on {insert date received} requesting {insert what was requested}.
We have logged your request with the reference SAR.18. {Insert ref number for this request} and we will respond to you within one month. If we anticipate any undue delay we will make you aware immediately.
In the meantime if you have any questions please call {insert number}.”
The Subject responses vary based on the nature of the Subject Access Request.
There has been no business requirement to complete a DPIA as yet.
There was a briefing at a team meeting that equated to an awareness raising session. The fact sheets used in that awareness briefing are the guidance/instructions used by staff to reduce the risk and incidence of data security breaches.
The fact sheets mentioned in point 4 are included with this document.
There have been no new policies implemented in the last two years
The OPCVC use a 4 (Likelihood) x 4 (Impact) scoring method to evaluate GDPR risks.
Good afternoon,
I am requesting the following information under the Freedom of Information act.
For each question, please state the police ranks of each officer and use the date range January 2010-December 2017.
Kind regards, Jenna Hutber
Hi Jenna,
Thank you for your FOI request.
I have been advised by our Head of Communication and Engagement that the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner do not hold the information you have requested. This information will be held with the Professional Standards team within Durham Constabulary.
Kind regards,
I have not received a response and as such thought it prudent to email my FOI once more. Under the Freedom of Information Act I would like to request the following information: 1. Does your organisation have a Facebook Page(s)? If yes, what is/are the url(s) and when were they set up?
6. Does your organisation advertise or spend any money on Google? If yes, please can you outline what expenditure has occurred and break down
expenditure per calendar year (January to December) since the payments first began?
Hi Elena, I wish to acknowledge receipt of your Freedom of Information request. I have forwarded this to our Head of Communications to respond to you. Kind regards, Jo'Anne Connor 0191 375-2156 Responded as below 26/02/2018 @9:55
Dear Durham Police and Crime Commissioner,
An NPCC document, entitled "Chief Constables' Council; National Collaboration Agreement Re Property and Wireless Telegraphy Interference; 20 April 2016/Agenda item: 9," describes the development of a national agreement. Specifically, the 'purpose' section of the document reads: "This paper is submitted for consideration of developing a national collaboration agreement, under s22A of the Police Act 1996 (PA96) across police forces in England and Wales, in respect of authorisations for interference with property and wireless telegraphy."
My request concerns records around the development of this agreement.
In order to help to determine my status to assess fees, you should know that I am a journalist writing for Motherboard, VICE's technology and science site, and that this request is being made as part of news gathering.
Yours faithfully,
Joseph Cox
Dear Joseph,
This information is not held by the Office of the Police, Crime and Victims Commissioner. The agreement was sent to Chief Constables, therefore I would suggest that you make contact with the Freedom of Information Team at Durham Constabulary by emailing: FOI@durham.pnn.police.uk
Dear Mr Hogg,
As you will be aware, Council Tax Bills for the year 2018-19 have recently been distributed by County Hall. Although there has been a modest in increase of between 2 and 3% for most individual items for an 'average' Band D property, for example the Fire and Rescue Authority increase is 2.9%, the contribution to the Police and Crime Commissioner, for policing, has increased by a staggering 7.1% !
I would be very grateful if you would inform me of the number of staff you now employ, full time and part time, to run the office of the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner which, as you may agree, is very much a part of the 'administrative tail' rather than front line, operational policing in County Durham and Darlington.
Yours sincerely,
James A Cowan MBE
Dear Mr Cowan,
I am writing in response to your Freedom of Information request which was received by our office on 20th March 2018.
The information you specifically requested was:
'the number of staff you now employ, full time and part time, to run the office of the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner'
This information is available on the Office of the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner website and you can view it by clicking on the link below:
https://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Your-PCC/The-PCCs-Team.aspx
Many thanks for your swift reply. If my mathematics are correct then the total number, including Mr Hogg, is 16. Could you now inform me of the total amount paid in salaries per annum for the total number of staff working for Mr Hogg, including Mr Hogg himself?
Yours sincerely,
James A Cowan
Please see below figure for staff salaries and oncosts (including Mr Hogg):
£674,000
I write for AltNewsMedia.net as a reporter and contributor
I refer to the Report compiled under the Chief Constable’s name for Chief Constable Philip Gormley of Police Scotland which considered complaints into Police Scotland RIPA procedures, a file copy of which can be found at this link
Under Freedom of Information rules, I would like to be informed of the following queries:-
For reply purposes, e-mail replies are totally acceptable, thus reducing printing and postal costs.
My writing name at AltNewsMedia.net is GrandPa1940, and wish any formal publication of this application to go under this title;
but as I obviously cannot request Information anonymously.
I have looked into your request and this information is not held by the Office of the Police, Crime and Victims Commissioner. I would suggest that you make contact with the Freedom of Information Team at Durham Constabulary by emailing: FOI@durham.pnn.police.uk and hopefully they will be able to assist on this occasion.
Information Requested - Subject: Freedom of Information request - register of premises or land owned by, or occupied for the purposes of, the office of Police and Crime Commissioner
Dear Durham Police and Crime Commissioner,
Please provide the register of premises or land owned by, or occupied for the purposes of, the office of Police and Crime Commissioner, and the functions of their force, for the financial year 2017/18.
Entries listed should be broken down by local policing directorate (or borough), and indicate whether it is:
Police building
Other building/land
Neighbourhood office
Other
Yours faithfully,
Damian Chapman
In response to your Freedom of Information request please find detail below.
Please find attached a list of premises occupied, and land the Police and Crime Commissioner use /own. I am not clear exactly what broken down by directorate or borough means for us, apologies, but the locations are stated and address details provided.
The properties occupied are for police use so have sectioned into police owned buildings and then ones where we have a lease an occupy others buildings for neighbourhood use also. I have included whether we have the freehold i.e. it is a PCC owned premises or leasehold/licence arrangement whereby we occupy someone else's building/land.
I hope this helps with your request.
I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act (2000).
Regarding the Durham Police, Crime and Victims' Commissioner's Agreement and Durham Constabulary's with the Ministry of Interior in Bahrain to deliver training in forensics to the Bahraini Police Force signed on the 11th of July 2018, please disclose the following information:
1. Please state the date the Durham Police will begin its work in Bahrain.
2. Please state the total number of the Durham Police that will be deployed to Bahrain to provide the stated forensics training.
3. For each deployed employee in question 2, please state their job title and provide a summary of their duties in Bahrain.
4. Please state the job titles of the members of the Bahraini Police Force who would be direct recipients of this training.
5. Please provide a summary of the training exercises to be provided to the Bahraini Police Force.
6. Please state the costs of the forensics training programme to the Bahraini Government.
7. Please state how the agreement ensures that individuals are still guaranteed their basic human rights after being convicted based on objective forensic evidence.
8. Please state whether the agreement has been assessed under the Public Sector Equality Duty, taking into consideration the differential impact it may have on certain communities.
9. Please state the measures that will be taken to ensure that the objective forensic evidence collected does not assist in death penalty and politically motivate convictions that would otherwise violate international standards of human rights.
10. Please provide a copy of the UK Government’s Overseas and Security and Justice Assessment used to manage risk and ensure that the agreement between the Durham Police and the Bahraini Police force is supportive of British Foreign Policy.
11. Please provide a copy of the written approval provided by the International Policing Advisory Board of the agreement’s support of the promotion of human rights within Bahrain.
Thank you for your time. I look forward to your email.
Sincerely,
Sanjana Parashar
Response - Transferred to Constabulary FOI Team for response
I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act (2000), in relation to the recent Agreement that Durham Police, Crime and Victims' Commissioner's and the Durham Constabulary signed on 11 July 2018 with Bahrain's Ministry of Interior to deliver training to the Bahraini Police Force.
Please disclose information regarding the following:
1. The duration of the forensics training programme that will be delivered by the Durham Police, Crime and Victims' Commissioner and the Durham Constabulary to the Bahraini Police Force.
Kind regards,
Lucilla Berwick
Transferred to Constabulary FOI Team for response
I wish to request, under the Freedom of Information Act, that you supply me with:
· All costs associated with the Police and Crime Commissioners expenses.
· All costs associated with the Police and Crime Commissioners spending on Travel and meals.
· All costs associated with the employment of Political Advisers.
· All financial detail of spending reserves.
· All information, including spending and detail of training days for PCC staff.
· All information relating to the detail and cost of policing individual events.
· All costs related to PCC inauguration events.
· Full detail on the PCC’s calendar of meetings and events.
I believe there is a strong public interest in releasing this information since it will promote greater transparency in government and greater accountability in the conduct of those who hold public office.
The information requested is not reasonably accessible by other means to the best of my knowledge. If this data has already been published, I would request that you send me the release by return to comply with this request.
I do not believe that any of the information I have requested is exempt from disclosure as a result of the exemption provided by section 43 of the Act. However, should you judge that parts of the material requested would come under this exemption, I request that you redact the relevant sections and release the documents in their entirety.
For example, should you believe that the identification of suppliers that may result from disclosing the invoices received would prejudice that company's commercial interests, then I request that you redact the details of the supplier from the documents you release.
Exemptions on the 'information being provided in confidence' do not apply. The Information Commissioner advises, "Information which is protected from disclosure by an obligation of confidence must have the necessary 'quality of confidence'" (Freedom of Information Act Awareness Guidance No 2).
Where it is considered that under the FOI Act certain parts of documents requested breach confidentiality issues, I would request that these sections be redacted and the documents be released in their entirety.
Redacting personal information is a common practice - It is not acceptable to refuse to release a document simply because it contains elements of personal information that could be redacted.
I am not requesting personal information. Where necessary personal details may be redacted from any documents that you release.
Redacting personal information is a common practice - It is not acceptable to refuse to release a document simply because it contains elements of personal information that could be redacted.
I would like to receive this information by email, sent to: kieronbowyer@gmail.com
Further to section 16 of the FOI Act (duty to provide advice and assistance), if you have any queries relating to these requests or need clarification on any issue, I would be grateful if you could contact me at kieronbowyer@gmail.com
I would like to request that any refusal to any part of the above requests (including on cost grounds) be accompanied by a recommendation of how the request may be modified so as to be granted.
I would be grateful if you could confirm receipt of this email and provide me with FOI reference number(s) as soon as possible.
With thanks,
Kieron
Dear Kieron,
I write to follow up on my email below dated 31st July 2018. I would be grateful if you could clarify the points below in red. I will then progress your request.
Dear Kieron,
I write to acknowledge receipt of your below request on 30th July 2018.
In order for us to respond with the correct information, please could you provide some clarification on the below – marked in red:
All costs associated with the Police and Crime Commissioners expenses.
· All costs associated with the Police and Crime Commissioners spending on Travel and meals – is this for the Police and Crime Commissioner only?
· All costs associated with the employment of Political Advisers.
· All financial detail of spending reserves.
· All information, including spending and detail of training days for PCC staff.
· All information relating to the detail and cost of policing individual events – this information would be held by Durham Constabulary as this is an operational matter
· All costs related to PCC inauguration events.
· Full detail on the PCC’s calendar of meetings and events – please could you provide us with a specific time scale. Please note that we will need to redact names and addresses from the calendar to comply with GDPR data protection regulations
No response or clarification, therefore this request was not processed.
Good morning, I wondered if you could be of some help to me please? I am collating some information for the section 151 officer here at Ashfield District Council and I would be grateful if you could answer the following questions? Can you confirm the value of your investment properties for the year ending 2017/208? What is the funding basis for this expenditure? Are these properties within your boundary? Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions, I look forward to receiving your reply shortly.
We have made some enquiries with the Estates Team and they have confirmed that Durham Constabulary do not own any investment properties.
Dear Durham Police and Crime Commissioner, Every school day I witness cars exceeding the 20mph speed limit that in place outside of the schools in the area.
Please would you tell me how many motorists have received speeding tickets for speeding on the roads that are outside of schools in the areas
1 Darlington Borough.
Thank you
Yours faithfully,
Les Hume
I write to acknowledge receipt of your email. This particular information is held by Durham Constabulary and you would need to send your request directly to the Freedom of Information Team at FOI@durham.pnn.police.uk.
Freedom of Information Request: Women’s Aid Federation of England requests information regarding your commissioned services for survivors of domestic violence and abuse.
For each question apart from Question 7, please provide information broken down into the following categories:
a) Your commissioned services for women experiencing domestic violence and abuse
b) Your commissioned services for men experiencing domestic violence and abuse
c) Your commissioned services which are for either women or men experiencing domestic violence and abuse
d) Your commissioned services for groups with specific needs such as BME women, disabled women, and LGBTQ survivors experiencing domestic violence and abuse
1. What is the value of your commissioned services, and has this amount increased or decreased since it was last commissioned?
2. Which organisation or organisations currently hold the contract for your commissioned services? When are these services due to be recommissioned? Please include dates of then tender documents will be available.
3. When your services were commissioned, was an Equality Impact Assessment carried out? Has your procurement team or legal advisors ensured that your decisions were compliant with both the EU Procurement Directive and the EU Directive on Victim’s Rights?
4. How many expressions of interest did you receive and how many final bids did you receive?
5. How much did the commissioning process cost you?
6. Was the decision to commission your services made as part of a Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy?
7. Mapping of provision:
a. Did you undertake mapping of service provision as part of the commissioning protect for domestic violence and abuse?
b. If yes, please list details of the domestic violence service providers in your local authority that are NOT commissioned by the local authority following categories:
(i) services for women experiencing domestic violence and abuse
(ii) services for men experiencing domestic violence and abuse;
(iii) women or men experiencing domestic violence and abuse
(iv) BME women, disabled women, and LGBTQ survivors experiencing domestic violence and abuse.
Forwarded for response to 22/02/2017 14:50
We have not commissioned services for any of the items listed
a to d.
1. Not Applicable
2. No one
3. Not Applicable
4. Not Applicable
5. Not Applicable
6. Not Applicable
7. No
Under the ‘Freedom of Information’ legislation I would be grateful if you could supply me with the statistical data relating to Anti-Social Behaviour for County Durham for the periods 1st January 2015 to 31st December 2015 and again for 1stJanuary 2016 to 31st December 2016. I would be grateful if the data can be broken down into the three main areas, Personal, Nuisance and Environmental and also data about the ages of perpetrators.
I have been in contact with both Bishop Auckland and Spennymoor Police and they advised the information would be pertinent to the programmes we are producing.
I am presently compiling six radio programmes for the community radio station, Bishop FM relating to Anti-Social Behaviour. This work has been commissioned by the Police, Crime and Victims Commissioner Mr Ron Hogg.
Original response file not available
Dear Ron,
I hope you don’t mind me contacting you. I reported a formal complaint on 13th
Jan 2017 about
the lack of Police response to an incident, which occurred on the morning of 28th
Dec 2016, despite being informed a police officer would be in immediate
attendance, no one attended allowing the situation of escalate. Two Police officers
then attended my home unannounced on Friday 13th Jan at 20:30hrs.
I since spoke with Sgt XXXXXX at Barnard Castle Police on 17th Jan 2017 about this
unacceptable situation, where using the Police call and activity log he reviewed
and described the long list of communication failings by the Police and apologised
for the situation.
I have since asked him to drop me a note summarising all the points he referred to
in our discussion and action plans to prevent a repeat and a copy of the call log he
used to brief me. To date nothing has been received.
I now submit my Freedom of Information Request for
A.) An full & complete copy of this “call and activity log” & the version used by St
XXXXXXX to brief me.
B.) All other information held by the Police relating to this complaint & subject
matter
I look forward to receiving your acknowledgement of this request and
confirmation of when this information will be provided to me.
PCVC office does not hold this information. Replied on 30/3/2017 – referring to the force FOI team.
I write to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Can you please tell me:
-The total amount earmarked from the PCC’s budget (and force’s if applicable) for
2017/18 to pay for PFI and/or PF2 -projects/schemes/liabilities?
-Which individual schemes these are and how much each cost in 2017/18?
-The length of those initiative's contracts?
-The total amounts for 2016/17 and 2015/16?
Please find below the information you have requested from the Office of the
Durham Police and Crime Commissioner under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000.
Q: The total amount earmarked from the PCC’s budget (and force’s if applicable) for 2017/18 to pay for PFI and/or PF2 -projects/schemes/liabilities?
A: Budget for PFI Urlay Nook (Tactical Training Centre) for 2017/18 £408,000.
Q: Which individual schemes these are and how much each cost in 2017/18?
A: The only scheme we have is for the Tactical Training Centre, Urlay Nook – answer as above
Q: The length of those initiative's contracts?
A: The PFI contract term for the Tactical Training Centre at Urlay Nook runs from 1st April 2001 to the 31st March 2026.
Q: The total amounts for 2016/17 and 2015/16?
A: Actual spend for 2015/16 is £384,028 and for 2016/17 £386,505.
Dear sir/madam,
I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information.
I would like to know the number of incidents recorded for workplace bullying lodged against the Police and Crime Commissioner.
I would also like the total number made in the office.
I would like these figures from the incumbent's time in office to the most recent.
I would like this information provided electronically.
If it is not possible to provide the information requested due to the information exceeding the cost of compliance limits identified in Section 12, please provide advice and assistance, under your Section 16 obligations, as to how I can refine my request to be included in the scope of the Act.
I look forward to your response within 20 working days, as stipulated by the Act.
If you have any queries please don’t hesitate to contact me via email or phone and I will be happy to clarify what I am asking for, my details are outlined below.
I am writing to you with a reply to your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
I can confirm that there have been 0 incidents recorded for workplace bullying lodged against the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner or his office from 2012 (beginning of office) to date.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I wish to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for the following information. If the information requested is already published in another format, please point me in its direction.
1. For each of the past five years (including 2017 to date), please provide a list of the local groups to receive funding from the PCC/Mayor/Authority for the provision of support to victims of rape and sexual assault; together with the amount of money provided.
2. Has the PCC/Mayor/Authority given any consideration to any waiting lists for rape and sexual violence support, and how such waiting lists can be mitigated against. If so, please provide details.
Q1
Supplier 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18
Rape & Sexual Abuse Counselling Centre
£82,563
£52,265
£34,400
£21,600
Barnardo's
£40,000
£15,000
£3,500
Changing Lives
£19,527
£142,090 £52,265 £49,400 £25,100
Q2
Needs assessments are currently being undertaken on behalf of the Health and Justice Partnership Board. These will include a Health Needs Assessment (led by NHS England) and a broader assessment being undertaken by the Office of the Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner that will help to establish levels of need, demand and capacity and what current waiting times are and agree what, if any, mitigating action is required.
Under the Freedom of Information Act request disclosure of the following documents that may be in possession of the Police and Crime Commissioner;
IPCC terms of reference for appointment of XXXXXXX as SIO for the investigation.
IPCC terms of reference for appointment of Durham Constabulary to the investigation into allegations made against me.
1. College of Policing policy for the training and accreditation of SIO’s.
2. Unless subject to legal privilege, notes arising of all meetings/discussions held with Durham Constabulary Officers including CC Barton to discuss my complaints and or the investigation into allegations made against me. This to include the information supplied to the PCC’s office concerning the posts held and professional qualifications of Jane Spraggon.
3. Unless subject to legal privilege, copies of meetings/file notes of discussions held with the IPCC to discuss my complaints about CC Barton and XXXXXXXXXX.
Please let me know if there is a fee required for the supply of this information.
Would you kindly provide contact details for the chair of the Durham Crime Scrutiny panel.
I look forward to receiving an early response from you,
Thank you for your below email dated 7th July which you sent whilst I was on a period of Annual Leave, therefore, your specific requests have not been progressed in my absence. My out of office response was for all enquiries requiring urgent attention to be forwarded to General.EnquiriesPCVC@durham.pcc.pnn.gov.uk. I note that you did not re-send your below email to the PCVC general enquiries inbox and will assume by this that you were content for me to pick up your email upon my return to work.
I have now had an opportunity to consider your below email within the required 20 working days timescales.
Firstly, in respect of your complaint against Chief Constable Mike Barton, please find attached final response dated 2nd August 2017 from Alan Reiss-Chief of Staff. I would like to advise that a hard copy of this letter has also been sent to you in the post.
Secondly, I acknowledge the Freedom of Information request in your below email. This request has been recorded by the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner (PCVC) and our Ref is FOI/007.
Please note that this response to your request is unique and should not be used as a comparison with any other PCC offices response you receive.
The Durham PCVC office is required by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to handle all requests in a manner that is blind as to the identity and motives of the requestor. Any information released as a response to a request is regarded as being published and therefore in the public domain without caveat.
In respect of your requests for:
1/ IPCC terms of reference for appointment of XXXXXXX as SIO for the investigation.
2/ IPCC terms of reference for appointment of Durham Constabulary to the investigation into allegations made against me.
3/ College of Policing policy for the training and accreditation of SIOs.
The above three documents are not owned or held by the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner.
In respect of your requests for the below:
4/ Unless subject to legal privilege, notes arising of all meetings/discussions held with Durham Constabulary Officers including CC Barton to discuss my complaints and or the investigation into allegations made against me. This to include the information supplied to the PCC’s office concerning the posts held and professional qualifications of XXXXXXXX.
5/ Unless subject to legal privilege, copies of meetings/file notes of discussions held with the IPCC to discuss my complaints about CC Barton and XXXXXXX.
Your request has now been considered and the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner is not obliged to supply the information you have requested under Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Such information, if it were held, is exempt under Section 40 (Personal Information) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This exemption applies because the right given under the Act to request official information held by public authorities does not apply to data subject and/or third party personal data. Any such requests become Subject Access Requests under Section 7 of the Data Protection Act 1998.
Please note that the Office of the Durham PCVC can neither confirm nor deny that it holds information by virtue of Section 40(5) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Any release under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is a disclosure to the world, not just to the individual making the request.
In accordance with the Act, this response to you represents a Refusal Notice under Section 17(4) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for this particular request.
No inference should be taken from this refusal that the information does or does not exist.
Under the Data Protection Act 1998 you have the right to a copy of the information that is held about you and/or any third party information supplied by you. This is known as a Subject Access Request (SAR).
To make a Subject Access Request, please write to us at:
Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner, Police Headquarters, Aykley Heads, Durham DH1 5TT.
For us to be able to process your request, we will need two forms of identification which between them detail your full name, date of birth and current address and also payment of the statutory £10 subject access fee. Cheques can be made payable to the Office of the Durham Police & Crime Commissioner. Alternately please send an email to General.EnquiriesPCVC@durham.pcc.pnn.gov.uk marked Subject Access Request.
Clearly it is critical that the Office of the Durham PCVC protects personal information and the confidentiality of data subject and/or third party information held on any file. Disclosing personal information without the necessary proof of identity checks may compromise a person’s privacy in his/her personal, professional or business life and/or adversely affect the reputation of an individual and this disclosure would infringe the data protection principles contained in the Data Protection Act 1998 and also Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998.
I do hope that this clarifies the position with regard to requests for personal information.
Finally, please can you clarify what you mean about the ‘Durham Crime Scrutiny Panel’ as I am not clear what panel you are referring to.
Good afternoon,
Please find below (in red) a Freedom of Information request, received on 5th October. This request has only been submitted to Durham Constabulary.
There are 3 questions and question 2 is now excluded and the requestor will be advised to send that particular question to Mr Hogg’s office, as Mr Hogg’s office is a separate public authority.
Please note we have forwarded this request to the Central NPCC Freedom of Information team for advice. They have received this and have indicated verbally that they will liaise with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and subsequently provide national advice, which will have to be considered along with the force’s local viewpoint on the questions asked.
Please also see attachment 1 above, which contains information that we have located on the Bahrainian government website regarding Mr Barton and Mr Ridley’s recent visit to Bahrain. The information within this attachment was not submitted by the FOI requestor.
Can you please provide data to enable a statutory response to be made in respect of the request below. If you are not able to do so please suggest who might hold this requested information.
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST: 904/17
DEADLINE FOR RESPONSE: 17/10/2017
The information request below has been made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). Please note a reply is required by the date shown above, and also that release to the requester is also release to the ‘the world at large’.
If you do not hold the information, please inform the Freedom of Information team by return e-mail.
CONTEXT AND HARM: In answering the question(s), you are required to consider if the release of the requested information to the ‘the world at large’ requires extra information to put the information into context or would cause harm i.e. damage to the Force’s ability to prevent and detect crime i.e. to protect the community, individuals & the public interest etc. or would cause damage to commercial interests or in any other way, please include your detailed reasoning for this as part of your answer.
The Force is legally required to respond to this request if the estimated cost of identification and retrieval of the requested information DOES NOT EXCEED appropriate limit per request of 18 hours’ work.
If the extraction of this information would exceed 18 hours of work please advise us immediately, advising why the work will exceed 18 hours. This is a legal requirement of the Act. For example xxx number of records, will take xx time to examine = x time.
A Public Authority only needs to disclose information that we already hold. We do NOT have to create information for the requester that we do not currently hold.
Please note that it is NOT the responsibility of the Information Rights and Disclosure Unit to collate or extract information from raw data.
SENIOR MANAGER SIGN OFF: It is your responsibility to forward the extracted data to your Senior Manager for them to approve. It is the responsibility of your Senior Manager to ensure that the request has been answered correctly and that any context and harm in the release of the information has been correctly identified and is fully detailed.
Section 77 Personal Liability – NOTICE it is a criminal offence for any person to alter, deface, block, erase, destroy or conceal any record held with the intent of preventing disclosure.
Request:-
1) The number of overseas visits made by Michael Barton in his official capacity as Chief Constable of Durham Constabulary in the past 12 months. In each case, please include the visit dates, location and purpose of the visit.
2) The number of overseas visits made by Ron Hogg in his capacity as Police, Crime and Victims' Commissioner for County Durham and Darlington in the past 12 months. In each case, please include the visit dates, location and purpose of the visit.
3) What support is Durham Constabulary currently providing (or in negotiations to provide) either on its own or with others to:
a) the Bahrain Police force
b) other Bahraini law enforcement agencies
c) the Bahrain Ministry of Interior
either in Bahrain or in the United Kingdom.
Please include the specifics of the support, including the type of support given, relevant dates, income derived for the Constabulary, number of constabulary employees deployed or employed to provide the support.
This has been received for information from the Force FOI team – the PCVC will not respond until it has been received directly by the office.
To whom it may concern,
I write to request the following under the Freedom of Information Act 2000:
1) The number of overseas visits made by Ron Hogg in his capacity as Police, Crime and Victims' Commissioner for County Durham and Darlington in the past 12 months. In each case, please include the visit dates, location and purpose of the visit.
2) What support is Durham Constabulary currently providing (or in negotiations to provide) either on its own or with others to:
a) the Bahrain Police force
b) other Bahraini law enforcement agencies
c) the Bahrain Ministry of Interior
either in Bahrain or in the United Kingdom.
Please include the specifics of the support, including the type of support given, relevant dates, income derived for the Constabulary, number of constabulary employees deployed or employed to provide the support.
I would like to receive the information electronically. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any clarification regarding this request.
I look forward to hearing from you within 20 working days.
I am writing to you with a reply to your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
I would like to advise that this office is in a position to respond to Question 1 only. Question 2 should be directed to Durham Constabulary for a response.
Over the last 12 months, Mr Hogg visited Switzerland between Thursday 30th March 2017 to Saturday 1ST April 2017. Mr Hogg paid for this visit himself and received a 24 hour daily overseas allowance of £107.35 from the Home Office. The purpose of his visit was for Drugs Policy Research.
I am requesting the following information under the freedom of information act:
-What is the daily rate you pay your legally qualified chair for misconduct panels?
-Are there any other fees you pay your LQC for any work related to misconduct hearings, preparations and report writing? If so, please give details
-What is the daily rate you pay your supporting members of misconduct panels?
-Are there any other fees you pay to misconduct panel members for any relevant work? If so, please give details
-Are officers subject to misconduct proceedings able to claim expenses, e.g. for travel? If so please give details
-Please release full details of all expenses claimed in connection with misconduct hearings, investigation, preparation and reports, broken down by each hearing for the last twelve months
-How many misconduct hearings have you held in the last twelve months and how long did they last for?
Please find below response in relation to your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act.
I have been made aware that you have already received a response from Durham Constabulary on 3rd November 2017 in respect of your question-
‘How many misconduct hearings have you held in the last twelve months and how long did they last for?’
The remaining questions you have asked have been transferred with your permission across to the Office of the Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner for a response. Please note that there is a North East Region Collaboration arrangement for Legally Qualified Chairs with seven Offices of the Police and Crime Commissioners (OPCC) which include Northumbria, Durham, Cleveland, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Humberside.
1/ What is the daily rate you pay your legally qualified chair for misconduct panels?
Full day i.e sittings of more than 4 hours (excluding meal breaks) is £350
Half day i.e sittings of 4 hours or less (excluding meal breaks) £170.
2/ Are there any other fees you pay your LQC for any work related to misconduct hearings, preparations and report writing? If so, please give details
A fee may be claimed at the rate of £45 for each hour necessarily spent in preparatory work or report writing.
In exceptional circumstances only and if authorised by the Chief Executive of the OPCC, the maximum preparation and report writing fee that can be claimed is £600 for each misconduct hearing.
3/What is the daily rate you pay your supporting members of misconduct panels?
Full day i.e sittings of more than 4 hours (excluding meal breaks) £211.50
Half day i.e sittings of 4 hours or less (excluding meal breaks) £104.50
It is recognised that a sitting of less than 4 hours plus travel on the same day, may cause a member to give up a whole day for a half day's session. Wherever possible we will, therefore, seek to appoint those members closest to where the hearing will take place. Where this is not possible, members may claim for a full day's sitting where the sitting is less than 4 hours (excluding meal breaks) and where travel on the same day as the sitting together total over 7 hours.
Where the length of a tribunal sitting exceeds 7 hours (excluding meal breaks) a claim may be made for a long sitting. The allowance payable is 1/14 of the normal daily rate for each hour, or part thereof, in excess of 7 hours.
4/Are there any other fees you pay to misconduct panel members for any relevant work? If so, please give details
A fee may be claimed at the rate of £15 for each hour necessarily spent in preparatory work or report writing.
5/Are officers subject to misconduct proceedings able to claim expenses, eg for travel? If so please give details
Officers are entitled to claim travel expenses but this will be dependent on their conditions of service and whether hearings are being attended during their tour of duty
6/-Please release full details of all expenses claimed in connection with misconduct hearings, investigation, preparation and reports, broken down by each hearing for the last twelve months
Not Applicable. There have been no misconduct hearings over the last 12 months in Durham Constabulary.
I trust that this response answers your set questions.
Please note that this response to your request is unique and should not be used as a comparison with any other response you receive from other PCC offices.
We are making a request under the FOI for confirmation, denial or an answer of; don’t know, to the accuracy of our results listed below.
If you deny our findings, we request under the FOI act a full explanation and a submission of publicly accessed corroborative proof.
If your answer is that you don’t know or words to that effect, then we request under the FOI act a full explanation as to why you don’t.
Further to our telephone conversations, we are writing to you in order to facilitate a response to our questions to both the assistant Commissioner and the Commissioner on the discrepancies that have arisen within their promoted actions and the crime figures.
Below are results complied by open sourced FOI –
The highest number of murders in the last 5 years (December 2010 – December 2015) was committed by the white community in the UK. Yet the Black community are stopped and searched 5 to 17 times more often.
The highest number of murders in the last 5 years (December 2010 – December 2015) was committed by the white community in your area. Yet the Black community are stopped and searched 5 to 17 times more often.
The highest number of violent crime in the last 5 years (December 2010 – December 2015) was committed by the white community in your area. Yet the Black community are stopped and searched 5 to 17 times more often.
The highest number of violent crimes with a dangerous weapon in the last 5 years (December 2010 – December 2015) was committed by the white community in your area. Yet the Black community are stopped and searched 5 to 17 times more often
The highest number of violent crime involving grievous bodily Harm (GBH) in the last 5 years (December 2010 – December 2015) was committed by the white community in your area. Yet the Black community are stopped and searched 5 to 17 times more often.
The highest number of violent crime involving knifes in the last 5 years (December 2010 – December 2015) was committed by the white community in your area. Yet the Black community are stopped and searched 5 to 17 times more often.
The highest number of sexual crimes in the last 5 years (December 2010 – December 2015) was committed by the white community in your area. Yet the Black community are stopped and searched 5 to 17 times more often.
The highest number of sexual crimes against women in the last 5 years (December 2010 – December 2015) was committed by the white community in your area. Yet the Black community are stopped and searched 5 to 17 times more often.
The highest number of sexual crimes against children in the last 5 years (December 2010 – December 2015) was committed by the white community in your area.
Over 300,000 sexual crimes against children occurred in the last 5 years (December 2010 – December 2015), committed by the white community in the UK.
The highest amount of drug related crime in the last 5 years (December 2010 – December 2015)
was committed by the white community in your area. Yet the Black community are stopped and searched 5 to 17 times more often.
The highest number of people consuming illegal drugs in the last 5 years (December 2010 – December 2015) was committed by the white community in your area. Yet the Black community are stopped and searched 5 to 17 times more often.
The highest number of people consuming illegal drugs in the last 5 years (December 2010 – December 2015) was committed by the white community in the UK. Yet the Black community are stopped and searched 5 to 17 times more often.
The largest amount (in weight) of illegal drugs sold in the last 5 years (December 2010 – December 2015) was by the white community in your area. Yet the Black community are stopped and searched 5 to 17 times more often.
The largest amount of illegal drugs sold in the UK in the last 5 years (December 2010 – December 2015) was by the white community. Yet the Black community are stopped and searched 5 to 17 times more often.
The largest amount of illegal drugs imported into the UK in the last 5 years (December 2010 – December 2015) was by the white community. Yet the Black community are stopped and searched 5 to 17 times more often.
The largest amount of illegal drugs exported to the UK in the last 5 years (December 2010 – December 2015) was by the white/Indian continent community. Yet the Black community are stopped and searched 5 to 17 times more often.
Why then are Black British Christians more likely to be stopped than any other race in Britain. Even during a time of war against terror?
Could it be because the Black British Christian population does not have the same wealth, lucrative investment deals, or the robust political representation to affect the status quo?
Or is the British slave mentality of the 1800’s so ingrained within Political, judicial and media mind, that it is unwilling to acknowledge that the self-appointed superior racial grouping has a spiralling crime rate, out stripping any other race in the UK. The continued blinked, but tried and tested use of the “inferior” black population as the sacrificial woes of this country, is the man clinging to the belief that he will always be above the effects of the hang man’s noose, even as it begins to tighten?
Our greatest concern is the steadfast support for a body that is estimated to have 1/3 of its police force in England and Wales belonging to right wing/nationalist extreme parties or groups, but are able to perform their duties without bias regardless of their extreme views/beliefs; unlike other extreme groups that the force deem dangerous. Do the commissioners support the abilities of those police officers who belong to such groups, and should they be allowed to continue in such a roll considering the diverse society we now live in?
The massage that the police force in England and Wales is sending out to white criminals is – if you have a number of Black British people living in your area, you are up to 17 times more likely to get away with criminal acts due to the mind-set of the police force and the Commissioners who continue to endorse racial implicit/explicit basis profiling.
The sums no longer add up. We want a full explanation for this discrepancy and what real changes regarding stop and search of black British citizens and what immediate action are going to be taken tackling the higher number of crime committed within the white community?
Do not hold this information at the Office of the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner
I have a few questions to ask you about the unit that features in police interceptors: The Durham & Cleveland specialist operations unit
1. how does an officer join the Specialist operations unit?
2. Is the Road policing unit (which the interceptors are in) in the Specialist operations unit?
3. If it is, can they choose to join the road policing unit instead of another unit such as the collision investigation unit which is also in the specialist operations?
4. Does an officer who is applying for a roads policing role, automatically join the specialist operations unit if they are accepted into roads policing as I often see officers in 'police interceptors' often in vests embroidered with 'Durham and Cleveland Specialist operations unit'
(It does not have a Roads policing unit sub-heading on the specialist operations section on your website so I am just wondering).
5. What requirements are needed to become an interceptor? (E.g. Driving course) 6. What duties do officers in the road policing/specialist operations unit undertake?
7. Is an 'interceptor' the official title for the interceptor’s job?
8. Why does the traffic section take part in drug warrants and possession of weapons
warrants?
Acknowledged receipt request and forward to Durham Constabulary FOI team.
Please provide details of:
1a) data on funding the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has allocated to activities related to human trafficking and/or modern slavery (for example, but not limited to: a dedicated unit, staff training, prevention, investigation, prosecution, awareness campaigns) within its force area for the years 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17. If this is not possible or too broad please refer to 1b)
1b) data on any funding the PCC has allocated to activities related to human trafficking and/or modern slavery (for example, but not limited to: a dedicated unit, staff training, prevention, investigation, prosecution, awareness campaigns) within its force area since 2012. If this is not possible or too broad, please refer to 1c)
1c) data on any funding the PCC has allocated to activities related to human trafficking and/or modern slavery (for example, but not limited to: a dedicated unit, staff training, prevention, investigation, prosecution, awareness campaigns) within its force area in 2014-15.
2)If the PCC hasn’t allocated any funding specifically to activities related to human trafficking and/or modern slavery (for example, but not limited to staff training, prevention, investigation, prosecution, awareness campaigns) within its force area since 2012 please confirm that in writing.
3a) Please provide details of the time period covered by the latest Police and Crime Plan.
3b) Does the latest Police and Crime Plan include any reference to human trafficking and/or modern slavery? Please answer yes or no.
3c) If the answer at 3b) is no, please provide any other document that
may contain any plan specifically dedicated to human trafficking/modern slavery within the force area dating back to 2012.
4) If the force area hasn’t had/doesn’t a plan specifically dedicated to human trafficking and/or modern slavery since 2012, can you please confirm that in writing.
If you can’t provide the information requested above please explain why in writing.
If some parts of this request are more difficult to answer than others please release the answerable material as it is available rather than hold up the entire request for the contested data.
I would remind you that under your Section 16 duty to advise and assist I would expect you to contact me to discuss any practical difficulties that you may have in fulfilling this request so that I may narrow my request in a way that works for both of us.
If FOI requests of a similar nature have already been asked could you please include your responses to those requests.
I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request, and I look forward to hearing from you within the 20-working day statutory time period.
Acknowledged receipt request 12/01/2016 Sent onto the appropriate team to respond
I’d like to request the appointment diary of the Police & Crime Commissioner from 1st July 2015 to 31st December 2015.
Please provide the time and date of each appointment or event, and a summary of what it was about. The estimated duration of the appointment would be appreciated if it is easily accessible.
(‘Meeting with Chief Constable’ would, for instance, be fine as a summary – I’m not looking for a detailed agenda for each appointment.)
I’m not interested in appointments where someone deputised for the PCC. Please also indicate dates when the PCC was on leave.
Where entries need to be redacted, please still provide the time and date of the appointment, as part of my research is to establish how many meetings the PCC has had.
It would be immensely helpful if the information could, if possible, be provided as a spreadsheet.
Diary spreadsheet completed and sent off 20/01/2016
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide me with the following information -
What estimate has been made of any real-terms reductions in the income received by the force from the Home Office in the following years - (a) 2016/17 (b) 2017/18 (c) 2018/19 (d) 2019/20. Please include in your response any documents setting out forward financial projections (redacted or in full).
What estimate has been made of any real-terms reductions in spending by the force in the following years - (a) 2015/16 (b) 2016/17 (c) 2017/18 (d) 2018/19 (e) 2019/20
What projections have been made of the impact on the force of any proposed reductions in the police grant formula allocation and can you outline any planned workforce reductions. What estimate has been made of the cost to the force of (a) the apprenticeship levy and (b) the single tier pension? Has the force spent any money obtaining ACORN 5 data from CACI limited since 14 July 2015? If so, how much? What has been the total cost to the force to date of engaging in the Home Office consultation on reform of the police funding formula?
Please note I have also made this request direct to the force.
Acknowledged – we do not hold this data. As a request has already been made to the force we will have no further action.
Dear sir/madam
Please treat this as a request under the freedom of information act. 1. What (if any software) do you use to monitor/process FOI requests? 2. Is that software externally purchased, if so please can you provide the name of the company 3. Please provide the cost of purchasing it or the cost of the internal development 4. What software do you use to look after your orginsations assets? 5. Is that software externally purchased, if so please can you provide the name of the company 6. Please provide the cost of purchasing it or the cost of the internal development
Acknowledged receipt
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Victim support services
Dear Durham Police and Crime Commissioner,
Please provide contract information including contract values,
contract start and end dates and names of providers of your victim
support services.
Victim support services may include but are not limited to:
- Victim engagement and support services
- Victim assessment and referral services
- Victims triage services
- Vulnerable victims services
- Victims of CSE services
- Victims of domestic abuse services
- Restorative justice services
Please also highlight whether these services are delivered in house
by the PCC or local police force; and specify what the PCC’s
commissioning intentions are for future victim support services.
Many thanks in advance
Acknowledged receipt
A procurement exercise was jointly undertaken by the Offices of the Cleveland and Durham Police and Crime Commissioners to award a “victim needs assessment and referral service” to Safe in Tees Valley. This service will commence on 1st April 2016. This service is currently provided by Victim Support (a national organisation) and will cease on 31st March 2016.
The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner has not commissioned services for CSE or domestic abuse services.
Dear Sir or Madam, Under the Freedom of Information Act, please could you provide us with the following information? 1. In the financial years 2013-2014, 2014-15 and 2015 - present, how many grants were awarded in which at least one of the outputs/outcomes was to provide services to victims of stalking? This could be any service to help victims e.g. counselling, information and advice, casework however the outcome must have specifically referred to working with victims of stalking. 1a. How many of these grants were towards work which was open to victims of stalking who were not being targeted by an ex-partner? 2. What was the total monetary value of these grants? 3. Which organisations were they awarded? I would prefer to receive this information electronically to the email address provided below. Thank you for your assistance.
Acknowledged receipt and forwarded onto appropriate team
Sent: 12 February 2016 08:53 Subject: FW: FOI Request
Dear Sir,
1) In response to Question 1 we do not hold that specific information. We have not awarded grants specified for victims of stalking – this has never been the output or outcome in any of the contracts we have awarded.
2) N/A
3) N/A
Kind regards,
Office Manager
Office of the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide me with the following information - 1) How many people have been taken to hospital by police cars in the force area in the last year? 2) What is the total time spent by police officers and PCSOs in A&E in the last year?
3) How many people with known mental health problems have been detained in custody overnight in the last year? 4) How many hours of police time were used on matters relating to the floods of December 2015 and January 2016 Please note I have also made this request direct to the force. I understand that under the Act I am entitled to a response within 20 working days of your receipt of this request. Some parts of the request may be easier to answer than others. Should this be the case, I request that you release information as soon as possible. If my request is denied in whole or in part, I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act. I will also expect you to release all non-exempt material. I reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to charge excessive fees. I would prefer to receive the information electronically to this email address If you require any clarification, I expect you to contact me under your section 16 duty to provide advice and assistance if you find any aspect of this FOI request problematic. I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request, and I look forward to receiving the information in the near future.
Acknowledged response, - request sent to Chief Finance Office
Do you hold information of the following description and would you be so kind as to communicate it (preferably electronically) to me pursuant to s.1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000?:-
1. Over each of the last 5 years (that is, calendar, or if you prefer, financial, years) to which 5 sets of barristers’ chambers (“the Top 5 Chambers”) have you sent the most sets of instructions to members of those sets of chambers for that year, whether directly through ‘in house’ lawyers or indirectly through external solicitors;
2. In relation to each of the last 5 years, of each of the Top 5 Chambers, the total number of sets of individual instructions sent to their members, whether directly through ‘in house’ lawyers or indirectly through external solicitors;
3. In relation to each of the last 5 years, of each of the Top 5 Chambers, the total amount of money excluding value added tax that you have paid to their members during the above period, whether directly or indirectly through external solicitors;
4. In relation to each of the last 5 years, of each of the Top 5 Chambers, the smallest and largest hourly rate charged by junior counsel (excluding value added tax) in each of those sets of chambers and the smallest and largest hourly rate charged by leading counsel (excluding value added tax) in each of those sets of chambers;
5. In relation to instruction of counsel (whether directly through ‘in house’ lawyers or indirectly through external solicitors), any written policy you have in relation thereto;
We do not hold this information the PCCs office.
How many of the police officer in your force area work on the operational frontline on January 1st 2012? How many police stations have closed in your area since you took office? Could you provide details of how often Home Office ministers have made an official visit to you in your capacity as Police and Crime Commissioner? Specifically, I would like to know the date of the visit, who the minister was, and what was the official purpose of that visit. I would prefer to receive this information electronically. If my request is denied in whole or in part, I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the Act. I will also expect you to release all non-exempt material. I reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to charge excessive fees.
We do not hold the information of how many police officers in the force area work on the operational frontline or how may they were on 01/01/2012.
We do not hold the information to how may police stations have closed since the PCC has been in office.
Please provide information on the financial position, for 2014/15 and 2015/16 for your police force and whether it is in surplus or deficit and the level thereof. Please set out the gross assets and liabilities of the force.
The information requested is already published on Durham PCC website under “finance” (PCC and Chief Constable Statement of Accounts, with 2014-2015 being published and 2015-16 due to be published soon 5/5/16
Please see the attached response regarding FOI request.
I have visited the website and can find no information on there in relation to my requests.
Can you inform me if this information is included on the website ?
If yes where can it be found ?
If not can you send me the detailed information requested - also the information requested on pension - bonus payments and any other financial package paid to anyone connected to the office of the PCC.
I look forward to your response by return e mail.
Thank you
Can we safely print that the cost of the PCC alone comes to £88690.00 and is that including pension or excluding pension payments?
Thank you
Email sent advising that this information is available on PCC website.
Advice sought from Force FOI Team and NPCC regarding disclosure of salaries.
Awaiting clarity on further information which has been requested. This will then be recorded as a separate FOI.
Final Reply sent 25/8
Please see below information requested:
Period 1st April 2015-31st March 2016
Salaries for Staff Employed by the Police and Crime Commissioner (not including the PCC) - £296,580 Salary on costs (Employer NI and Pension Payments) - £55,414
Employee - travel - provision of cars - taxi and associated expenses (incl. food/drink) - £4191.00
If we include costs for the PCC (incl. salary - expenses) then the total cost will be £444,902.
£88717.00 and this includes pension (for the PCC) – Final Reply on 5/9/2016
1. Please could you tell how much money the PCC has spent on crime and disorder reduction grants.
2. Could you break this down by financial year, for this year and the past 3 calendar years, and what organizations the money went to.
3. Please could you tell how much money the PCC has spent on crime his crime prevention funding?
4. Could you break this down by financial year, for this year and the past 3 calendar years, and what organizations the money went to.
Clarification requested on 16/8
Please could you clarify whether you are referring to spending via our Community Safety Fund or Community Safety Partnerships? The PCC has funded various organisations through this scheme but we cannot say that these are specific to crime prevention.
If this is the information you specifically require then we can provide this information. Please see link to our website for further information: http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Finance/Community-Safety-Fund.aspx
In terms of the freedom of information Act I hereby request the following information:
· Does the Chief Constable (and other Chief Police Officers in your force / constabulary ) have a contract with the Police and Crime Commissioner / Police Authority or equivalent?
· If yes – what specific contractual matters are detailed therein (for each chief officer)?
· If unwilling to identify the specific contractual terms therein, please provide details of the broad terms and conditions detailed therein for each chief officer (for example does the contract provide for private medical insurance / “golden hello” payments or other inducements)
· Details of any payments, reimbursements or allowances paid or made to each of your chief officers, other than those explicitly permitted in police regulations.
In addition I would be obliged if you could provide details of any statutory authority that permits the Police and Crime Commissioner / Police Authority or equivalent to enter into any contracts as detailed in this request, with chief officers.
Please provide all details for the past 5 years.
If providing this information is likely to exceed acceptable costs, please treat each request for each chief officer as separate.
The Chief Constable does not have a contract of employment but receives a letter which outlines specific terms and conditions of employment (detail below)
Chief Officers do not have a direct contract of employment with the Police and Crime Commissioner, any information of this nature will be held by Durham Constabulary and can be obtained by submitting a separate request.
1. The appointment is for a fixed term of XX years to commence on XXXXXXXX
2. The appointment will be subject to the Police Regulations 1995 and the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011.
3. The salary will be £133,068 per annum, with a contributory pension as prescribed by the Police Act 1996.
4. The period of notice in relation to this post will be three calendar months in writing on either side.
5. Allowances in addition to salary will be payable as provided by the Police Regulations. Uniform will be provided and a car will be provided in accordance with the ACPO car scheme.
6. The majority of work will be carried out from Durham Constabulary Headquarters, Aykley Heads, Durham City. However you may also be required to travel throughout the region and nationally. This may, on occasions, include periods of time spent working at other locations.
7. You will be contracted to work 37 hours per week and paid on a monthly basis. However you will have responsibility for representing the service and as such you will be required to be contactable 24 hours per day when you are the designated Chief Police Officer point of contact. You will also be required to attend major incidents and other operational events at short notice.
8. You will be required to: -
(a) Devote the whole of your time and attention to the duties of the office and not to accept any other appointment except with my consent.
(b) Reside within a reasonable travelling distance of Police Headquarters.
Q3: If unwilling to identify the specific contractual terms therein, please provide details of the broad terms and conditions detailed therein for each chief officer (for example does the contract provide for private medical insurance / "golden hello" payments or other inducements)
N/A
Q4: Details of any payments, reimbursements or allowances paid or made to each of your chief officers, other than those explicitly permitted in police regulations.
N/A
However, if you wish to view financial details for the PCC/Durham Constabulary they can be viewed by clicking the following links: http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Information-Hub/Openness/What-We-Spend--How-We-Spend-It.aspx or https://www.durham.police.uk/About-Us/Freedom-of-information/spending/Pages/default.aspx
**Please note that the accounts for March 2016 are still in draft and are unaudited.
In addition I would be obliged if you could provide details of any statutory authority that permits the Police and Crime Commissioner / Police Authority or equivalent to enter into any contracts as detailed in this request, with chief officers.
N/A
Dear Sir, Please advise what, if any, transparency requirements you require of the police in your area or that you are planning to require. Please include any transparency requirements for the pay, expenses and allowances for the chief constable and other senior officers. Best wishes,
Please see our response to your Freedom of Information request, as detailed below:
Q. Please advise what, if any, transparency requirements you require of the police in your area or that you are planning to require. Please include any transparency requirements for the pay, expenses and allowances for the chief constable and other senior officers.
The Police and Crime Commissioner recognises the importance of transparency and holding the Constabulary to account. At this stage no formal transparency policy exists however the pay, expenses and allowances for the Chief Constable and other senior officers are published on the Durham Constabulary website.
https://www.durham.police.uk/About-Us/Freedom-of-Information/spending/Pages/default.aspx
Dear Sir or Madam,
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide me with copies of the
following:
- Information on how to obtain a licence for growing cannabis.
- What department issues licence's for the cultivation of cannabis.
- How many licence have been issued from 2000 - 2016.
- Who was said licences issued too.
- Was the licence for medical or research purposes.
I understand that under the Act I am entitled to a response within 20 working days of your receipt of this request. Some parts of the request may be easier to answer than others. Should this be the case, I request that you release information as soon as possible.
If my request is denied in whole or in part, I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act. I will also expect you to release all non-exempt material. I reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to charge excessive fees.
I would prefer to receive the information electronically.
If you require any clarification, I expect you to contact me under your section 16 duty to provide advice and assistance if you find any aspect of this FOI request problematic.
Please acknowledge receipt of this request, and I look forward to receiving the information in the near future.
Reply sent on 1/9/2016 stating that we do not hold this information but it can be obtained via Durham Constabulary.
Good morning, I am emailing to make a request for answers to my following questions under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. 1. What was the latest price paid per ream (500 sheets) of standard white copier paper (80 gsm or equivalent)? 2. If the answer to question 1. is not representative of a usual price paid, what is the average price paid per ream of copier paper during financial year 2015/16? 3. How many reams of copy paper were purchased during the 2015/16 financial year? Many thanks for your assistance. Kind regards,
1. What was the latest price paid per ream (500 sheets) of standard white copier paper (80 gsm or equivalent)? The cost in 2015/16 was £13.09 and for 2017/17 the cost will be £9.99 (this price changed in April 2016-and the information was supplied to us by Durham County Council who we have a service level agreement with.) 2. If the answer to question 1. is not representative of a usual price paid, what is the average price paid per ream of copier paper during financial year 2015/16? n/a 3. How many reams of copy paper were purchased during the 2015/16 financial year? Unfortunately we cannot give you a specific number of reams of copy paper purchased for the PCC’s office, this is because we have office space in a County Council building and have a shared services agreement which includes the use of MFD photocopiers, paper is supplied by the County Council and then printing costs are re-charged to the PCC’s office.
Dear Durham Police and Crime Commissioner,
Please provide information on your victim needs and assessment service contract held by Victim Support - including contract values, start and end dates.
We not currently hold a victims needs and assessment service with Victim Support.
Dear Durham Police and Crime Commissioner,
Please can you provide the dates of any meetings the Police and Crime Commissioner Mr Hogg had with the HMIC Inspector Mike Cunningham QPM in 2015 and 2016 and the location and purpose of any such meetings.
Many thanks
Dates Mr Hogg met with HMIC Inspector Mike Cunningham QPM are confirmed as 28.4.15 they met at Police Headquarters – Feedback of Efficiency Inspection. They also met on 07.4.16 at Police Headquarters where Mr Cunningham met with Ron, the Chief Constable, the Executive Team, Supt. Association, Federation and Unison on a Force Visit.
I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information from your:
1) Please provide details of expenditure on software for the years 2014/15 and 2015/16 broken down by software supplier.
If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email and I will be happy to clarify what I am asking for.
2) Please provide details of software contracts due to expire before 31st December 2017, broken down by supplier and date.
If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email and I will be happy to clarify what I am asking for.
3) Please provide details of expenditure on perpetual software licences for the years 2014/15 and 2015/16 broken down by software supplier.
If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email and I will be happy to clarify what I am asking for.
Spreadsheet’s containing the information was sent.
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 I wish to ask the following questions in
relation to the calculation process of Police Injury On Duty Pension banding calculations.
I ask this as there appears to be different ways of calculating this throughout the UK.
a) Is a theoretical/notional earning figure (sometimes referred to as a Police Earnings
Assessment Matrix **PEAM**) used in the calculation of Police Injury On Duty Pensions
in Durham?
b) Is this figure which is normally a monetary value utilised in a formula by the Selected
Medical Practioner to calculate a banding of the injury pension.
c) If this PEAM figure is used, at what part of the process is it used? Is it used in the
initial (first) part of the injury on duty pension assessment to use as one of the multipliers
or is this used when a review of an IOD pension is taking place?
I ask this as I am aware some Police Services throughout the UK use this theoretical
earning figure at differing parts of the process of calculating IOD pension bandings,
some use it during the very first part of the process at the very first IOD pension
assessment and some only use it at the point of a review instigated by the IOD
pensioner or by the Police Pension administrator.
It is clear that not using this theoretical earning figure at the very first assessment will
possibly result in a higher banding with solely the SMP disablement percentage used for
the banding i.e. 25% (band 1), 44% (band 2), 75% (band 3) & 90% (band 4).
I ask, at which point do Durham Police IOD pension administrator use this theoretical
earning figure and could an example of the formula or examples of the formulas be
given. Is the theoretical figure used during the very first part of the IOD calculation or is it
only used during a review process?
Is the use of this theoretical earning figure in such calculations lawful and what law/
legistlation/ guidance is used. If it is lawful what law/legistlation/guidance is followed?
E mail response sent 4.3.15 explaining that ODPCC is not data holder of the
information and suggesting contact be made with Durham Constabulary
Waste Management Tender Contract
For the avoidance of doubt, could you please:
1) see the attachment above and specifically confirm that this particular
conviction was self-declared by the awardee (Obrien’s) themselves in their
tender submission.
2) specifically confirm that the Trans Frontier Shipment (TFS) of waste breaches
of permit, as recorded and held by the Environment Agency, were also selfdeclared
by the awardee (Obrien’s) themselves in their tender submission.
The questions posed above are highly specific and therefore require specific answers,
as depending on what the awardee (Obrien’s) officially declared on the tender
submission (and not what intelligence the police may or may not have considered) goes
to the actual validity of the award itself.
E mail response sent 17.3.15 explaining that ODPCC is not data holder of the
information and suggesting contact be made with Durham Constabulary.
1. How many staff are employed in the Police and Crime Commissioner's office?
2. What are their respective job titles?
3. What are their individual salaries including that of the commissioner?
The job titles and salary costs for permanent members of staff in the
ODPCC are as follows:
a. Police and Crime Commissioner £70,000
b. Chief of Staff £70,000
c. Chief Finance Officer - services via a service level agreement
with the Chief Constable
d. Business Manager £42,069
e. Office Manager £23,799-£26,394
f. Strategic Priorities and Accountability £30,633-£33,033
g. Media and Communications Officer £30,633-£33,033
Secondees, Interns and Apprentices
2 Secondees
2 Modern Apprentices (NMW) – 1 year contracts
2 Graduate Interns – 1 year contracts
Dear Freedom of Information Officer,
The issue of police budget cuts is a concern to many people, and I'm trying to gather
information on this issue.
As part of this, I am writing to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act for
copies of correspondence (including letters, emails, faxes and similar) between the
Police and Crime Commissioner's office and the Home Office in the last six months (from
October 1, 2014 onwards) that make reference to concerns about police budget cuts.
If my request is denied in whole or in part, I ask that you justify all deletions by reference
to specific exemptions of the act.
Please let me know you have received this. If there are any problems, or you need more
information, please get in touch.
Responded to on 14.03.15
Dear Sir,
Please see attached correspondence which was sent from the Police and
Crime Commissioner to the Home Office on 6 October 2014.
This is the only letter that was sent from this office.
Dear Sir Or Madam,
I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following
information:
A list of FOIA Requests considered “Vexatious” that resulted in you not providing
information.
Vexatious includes requests that;
clearly does not have any serious purpose or value
is designed to cause disruption or annoyance
has the effect of harassing the public authority
can otherwise fairly be characterised as obsessive or manifestly
unreasonable.
Example;
“Please provide a list of all cars owned that are blue”
If it is not possible to provide the information requested due to the information exceeding
the cost of compliance limits identified in Section 12, please provide advice and assistance, under your Section 16 obligations, as to how I can refine my request to be included in the scope of the Act.
In any case, if you can identify ways that my request could be refined please provide further advice and assistance to indicate this.
Responded to on 22.4.15
Dear Sir,
I can confirm that the ODPCC have no “vexatious” requests in the last year.
Dear FoI officer, I am writing to seek information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Regarding foreign trips undertaken by the PCC for business purposes, please can you tell me: 1. How many such trips the PCC has undertaken since being elected in 2012 2. The countries visited 3. For each country visited, a brief description of the purpose of the visit (e.g. to attend a conference) 4. A figure for the total amount claimed in expenses (e.g. airline tickets, accommodation, subsistence, other transport etc) for all foreign business trips undertaken since November 2012. Please confirm receipt of this request and provide this information in electronic form within the required 20 working day maximum deadline for FoI responses.
Many thanks!
I can confirm that the Police and Crime Commissioner for Durham has not undertaken any trips for business travel since his election.
Regards,
Dear FoI officer, I am writing to seek information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Please can you tell me whether the PCC, or any employee of the PCC’s office, has been charged with any criminal offence since 1 January 2014, and if so: 1. The name of the individual concerned. 2. The date set for their first appearance in court. 3. What they were charged with. Please confirm receipt of this request and provide this information in electronic form within the required 20 working day maximum deadline for FoI responses.
Email response sent on 27.05.15 (following advice from force)
I am required by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to handle all requests in a manner that is blind as to the identity and motives of the requestor. Any information released as a response to a request is regarded as being published and therefore in the public domain without caveat.
Any release under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is a disclosure to the world, not just to the individual making the request.
Your request has now been considered and I am not obliged to supply the information you have requested under Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Such information, if it were held, is exempt under Section 40 (Personal Information) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This exemption applies because the right given under the Act to request official information held by public authorities does not apply to personal data.
Section 40 is a class based absolute exemption and there is no requirement to consider the public interest in this case.
Please note that the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner can neither confirm nor deny that it holds information by virtue of Section 40(5) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
In accordance with the Act, this letter represents a Refusal Notice under
Section 17(4) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for this particular
request.
No inference should be taken from this refusal that the information does or
does not exist.
1) Do you require contractors to pay the living wage* whenever a
new contract or contract renewal is signed?
Yes / No
2) If you do not require contractors to pay the living wage at the
current time, do you have an aspiration to establish such
arrangements in the near future (within the next two years)?
Yes / No / Not Applicable
3) Please state the name of the employer below:
4) If you have any further comments on answers to these living
wage questions, please state below:
Do you require contractors to pay the living wage*
whenever a new contract or contract renewal is
signed?
Yes. We are currently updating our procurement
documents and they will include the below, this is only part
of the wording we currently have
It is also a requirement that all Contractors that supply services to
the organisation that they shall adopt the same measures in
respect of those employees who will work on any contract for the
ODPCC/CCDC.
Questions for tender documents:
1. Bidders are required to confirm they are compliant with this
request
2. Please confirm that although you provide external services
to others, all types of staff that maintain your core business
e.g. your head office are also paid the living wage as part
of this agreement
3. Please confirm that you commit to submitting a living wage
quote alongside a market rate quote as part of your
proposal for this tender
As part of this tender exercise and in support of the Living Wage
and to further best practice in the industry we stress that at this
point the bidding organisation has the choice to implement the
Living Wage at the point of tender.
Dear Durham Police and Crime Commissioner, I would be grateful if you could supply
the statistics regarding speeding, driving without care & attention, reckless driving &
dangerous driving for offenses committed in 2014 on the A1086 between Peterlee &
Hartlepool.
Acknowledgement sent – request to send to Durham
Constabulary FOI Team (16.7.15)
Document no longer available
Acknowledgement sent – request to send to Durham
Constabulary FOI Team (16.7.15)
Under the FOI Act can you please provide the following information:
1. How many Special Constables were registered with your Force as at 01.06.15 ?
2. What was the attrition rate for your Special Constabulary for the last reported 12 months (please define if any left to join the regulars) ?
3. What was the total number of hours worked by your Special Constables for the last reported 12 month period ?
4. How many of your Special Constabulary currently have Independent Patrol Status (as defined by the Home Office)?
5. Please list each different role description of your Special Constabulary officers and the Department that they work in?
6. Please describe any plans to increase the number of Special Constables and/or roles to be undertaken in the future?
Can you please provide me with a reference number for this FOI request ?
If your PCC office does not hold this information can you please provide a negative response ?
Responded as we do not hold this information.
I appreciate you will have been asked similar questions before but I am looking for specific figures on seconded officers.
1. How many members of OPCC staff are there of March 2015, and what is the current annual salary cost?
2. How many people working in your office are seconded from the local police force, rather than being on the OPCC’s books, and what is the cost of their salaries?
3. Please state the rank of these workers and what their seconded role is, ie sergeant working as staff officer.
1. There were 9 FTE members of staff in post as of march 2015, excluding vacancies at that time.
Please be more specific about what you mean by current annual salary cost.
2. There is one person on secondment from the police force. They are paid at the rate of a police inspector.
The salary range for police inspector is
oa
480201
1
49566
2
50925
3
52290
4
52590
3. The person holds the rank of Inspector and is seconded as a Policy & Development Staff Officer.
Can you please tell me how many complaints were made to your police force about crimes committed onboard a cruise ship so far this year?
I appreciate those complaints might not have been investigated by your force, but I am keen to get an idea of how many complaints you received.
Is it possible to break down how many related to -
Assault
Theft
Sexual crime
Other.
Response: This is not something the PCC office have records of.
Do you want me to forward this to the Professional Standards team at Police HQ or have you got a separate request for this?
For the period 2013-15, could you please provide a breakdown of the total number of hours per annum, police officers spend supporting investigations and prosecutions under the Animal Welfare Act?
Specifically:
1. Attending RSPCA interviews
2. Attending premises with RSPCA personnel prior to animal seizure 3. Attending premises with RSPCA personnel to effect seizure 4. Writing statements for use in Magistrates' Court 5. Attending Magistrates' Court 6. Attending Crown or High Court in cases of Appeal
Acknowledged and response : I do not hold this information may I forward this request to the team at Durham Police?
18/11/2015
Dear Durham Police and Crime Commissioner,
Please could you provide the following information regarding your
ERP / Finance system:
1. What ERP (Enterprise Resource Management) or Finance system is
currently used at the police force?
2. When does your contract expire?
3. Do you have any planned upgrades of the software? If so, when?
4. Are you planning to go to market for a different ERP/ Finance
system? If so, when?
5. How many users / licenses of the system do you have at the
police force?
6. Who is the person responsible for your ERP / Finance system?
Please provide full name, title and contact information if
possible.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
request-303283-f25dfb85@whatdotheyknow.com
Acknowledged and response: We do not hold the information you have requested.
Will you contact the force FOI Team to get the data?
I am a journalist writing a story for sr-news.com on missing sex offenders. Having sent Freedom of Information requests to Cleveland, Northumbria and Durham police forces, Durham was the only police force to give the full details and last known location of a missing sex offender.
The other police forces would not release the information due to Section 31(1)(a)(b) Law Enforcement and Section 40 (2).
Could you please provide an explanation as to why Durham police believed this information should be released? Do you believe it is in the public interest to release this information
Acknowledgement sent and informed that we do not hold this information. Do you want this request forwarding to Durham Constabulary?
Request re: Chief Constable – Complete verifiable listing of the total remuneration package to include “everything” that the contract of employment mentions as well as all/any other perks not mentioned in said contract, pension credits etc. shall also be stated in full naturally, housing, vehicles etc. are to be included. Copy of ACPO car scheme
Request today (2/12/2015) and can confirm that we do not hold that information here in the Office of the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner
This request appears to have gone to the PCC's but they are unlikely to hold the information, therefore it can be transferred to the Police forces, with the consent of the applicant
Log Number:1829/15
1. Are you aware that the practice of breast ironing is occuring in your jurisdiction?
2. Do you have a record of incidents of breast ironing that have come to your attention?
3. If so, how many incidents have you recorded in each of the years between 2010 and 2015?
4. How many convictions for abuse have you had in your area where breast ironing has been part of or been the root of the abuse in each year between 2010 and 2015?
1. Do you feel you have the righ guidance to equip your team to be able to identify the warning signs that breast ironing is occurring?
2. Would you wlecome more guidance?
3. If you have any other feedback or information omn this topic, I would be really grateful to recive it. Feel free to detial overleaf.
Acknowledged receipt of this request and permission granted to pass onto the FOI team
I'm doing some research on Police Crime Commissioners. Could you please answer the following questions as soon as you can? All of the information required is public. 1. Do you have a deputy/deputies PCC? NO 2. If you do have a deputy/deputies, do they have any other paid work? If so what work? N/A 3. What is the PCC's salary? £70,000 4. What is the total office annual wage bill? £497,00 5. How many FTE staff?
6. How many deputy PCCs? None 7. How many FTE (Full Time Equivalent) staff working on communications/PR? 1 8. How much has the office spent on external consultants since it was established? 0 9. What proportion of office staff from BAME backgrounds? 2 10.Has the PCC confirmed their intention to run again in next year's 2016 election? Confirmed
Acknowledged receipt of this request and answered where possible – Annual wage bill for 2016/17 is an estimate based on current staffing and includes national insurance and pension on costs.
Under the Freedom of Information Act please can you release the Police and Crime Commissioner’s itemised list of expenses claims for under £500 made between November 2012 and November 2013.
E mail sent 15.1.14 advising that expenses all published on website and providing link for page http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Transparency/What-We-Spend--How-We-Spend-It.aspx
1. How many police support volunteers* were registered with your force as at 1 January 2014?
2. What was the total number of hours worked by all police support volunteers in your force for the last recorded 12 month period?
3. Please list each different role description for your police support volunteers and the department in which each role is deployed?
4. What was the total cost to your force of deploying police support volunteers over the last recorded 12 month period?
5. Please describe any plans to increase the number of, or change/add to the role descriptions for, police support volunteers in your force?
Letter dated 18.2.14 sent stating that OPCC is not the data holder for this request and suggesting contact be made with Durham Constabulary.
1. Does your force have a protocol in place for officers dealing with victims of strangulation who have been strangled by an alleged offender? If yes please attach a copy of this protocol.
2. Does your force have in place a protocol for officers dealing with a suspect who they have had to use control and restraint techniques against? If yes please attach a copy of this protocol.
3. Does your force have in place a training programme for police officers to help them to identify and prosecute strangulation? If yes please supply a copy of the training programme and its objectives and how long this training lasts.
4. The number of MARAC’s held in your force area?
5. For each the name of the MARAC, area it covers, and the MARAC Coordinator’s name and email contact details.
6. Do you use the nationally accredited ACPO/DASH risk assessment tool for referrals to MARAC ? If not which risk assessment do you use – please attach a copy.
7. The total number of referrals to each of the Domestic Violence MARACs in your force area from 1st August 2013 to 31st January 2014.
8. Of these referrals the total number of victims referred by the police?
9. Of these referrals the total number referred by health agencies?
10. Of these referrals the total number referred by victim support agencies? (By victim support we mean those agencies whose work is to support victims e.g. Women’s agencies, refuges etc)
11. The total number of children recorded in all of these referrals?
12. The total number of referrals to MARAC where the victim was a woman?
13. Total number of referrals, to the MARAC, in this time period, where the victim was reported in the referring MARAC risk document to have been subjected to strangulation?
14. In how many of these cases were the victims referred to the MARAC, who experienced strangulation women?
15. Do any of the MARAC agencies have in place a protocol for staff to use when dealing with victim’s of strangulation? If yes then please attach copies.
16. Have representatives at your MARAC received specific training on the risks and health impacts of strangulation? If so how many and which agencies do these members represent?
17. Do any of your MARAC agencies have in place a specific tool for recording victims’ experiences of strangulation? If so please list which agencies? Please attach the tool/s used.
18. Do any of your MARAC agencies have in place a specific tool for victims to help them understand the impact of strangulation on their level of risk and/or health? If so which agencies have a specific tool for victims in place and please attach copies of each tool.
19. Where strangulation was recorded in the MARAC risk tool as a feature of risk how many of these cases resulted in a specific charge being made, by the CJS, in relation to the strangulation experienced by the victim?
Response by email on 18.2.14 advising that request transferred to Durham Constabulary as the ODPCC does not hold the information requested.
1. How many adult homicides (aged 16 plus) have occurred in each of your force command areas annually from 2009-2013?
2. Of these homicides how many of the victims have been female?
3. Of the homicides where the victim was a male in how many was the cause of death recorded as an act of strangulation (including asphyxiation or suffocation)?
4. Of the female homicides in how many was the cause of death recorded as an act of strangulation (including asphyxiation; suffocation)?
5. Of the female homicides how many were killed by a male perpetrator who was known to them?
6. Of the female homicides how many of the male perpetrators were partners or ex partners?
7. Please tell us how any domestic violence MARACs take place in your force area, the area each MARAC covers, and when it became operational?
8. Of the female homicides where the victim was killed by a male perpetrator known to them how many of these cases were referred to a domestic violence MARAC?
9. In how many of the homicide cases that were referred to a domestic violence MARAC, prior to homicide, was strangulation a feature in the risk assessment process? i.e. how many of the victims had disclosed they had been strangled to the agency professional conducting the risk assessment?
Response by email on 24.2.14 advising that request transferred to Durham Constabulary as the ODPCC does not hold the information requested.
Please would you let me know in writing if you hold information of the following description:
Information concerning crimes committed against Polish nationals where the crime is classified as a hate crime. In other words, where an assault on a Polish national, for example, was aggravated by anti-Polish sentiment.
Please could supply me with the following information:
The numbers of assaults, murders and public order offences on Polish nationals by non-Polish nationals year-on-year from 2004 to the latest figures available. Where possible, please provide the date of the crime committed, the type of crime committed, the approximate location of the offence and, if available, whether the perpetrators were charged (and under what act).
For example: “On 21 December 2010, a 52-year-old Polish man was assaulted by three men (ages 21, 22, 23) at X
Road. The assault was recorded as being aggravated by anti-Polish sentiment.”
Or
“On 1 August 2013, a 34-year-old woman was arrested on a number 26 bus at approximately 10.30pm. She was arrested under the section 5 of the public order act after shouting abusive phrases about Polish people.”
Please let me know as soon as possible if only statistics are available rather than the statistics and details.
I would like a copy of the information and would prefer for it to be sent by email if possible.
If any part of the information requested is covered by one or more of the absolute exemptions in the Act please treat this request as a request for that part of the information which is not covered by the absolute exemption.
If you need further details in order to identify the information requested or a fee is payable please let me know as soon as possible.
If you are of the view that there may be further information of the kind requested but it is held by another public authority please let me know as soon as possible. Please continue with this application as quickly as possible. I believe that the information requested is required in the public interest for the following reasons: 1. To uphold public confidence that the police force has thorough policies on the type of information it is obliged to record
Response by email on 24.2.14 advising that request transferred to Durham Constabulary as the ODPCC does not hold the information requested.
How much cash has your force seized under POCA in the last financial year?
E mail sent 24.3.14 confirming that ODPCC does not hold the information requested but that Durham Constabulary are to respond to the same request made to them.
In January 2014 it was announced that a contract had been awarded to Capita for the provision of a Case & Custody system.
http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:5375-2014:TEXT:EN:HTML
Could you confirm the final value, the term of the contract, 3rd party costs (Operating system, database software etc), and hardware costs for the project.
Email sent 20 march 2014 confirming that ODPCC was not the data holder of the information and advising the enquirer to contact Durham Constabulary
I request a breakdown of the expenditure raised by the Precept issued to Durham County Council. Specifically, I want to know how the £107 approx. added to Council Tax bills is broken down, salary, expenses etc.
Following clarification the request was clarified as follows, response to be prepared on this basis:
I would like to know exactly how much of the Council Tax precept allocated to the Police, is spent on the Commissioner. Salary, staffing levels and additional expenses?
E mail response received dated 22 March 2014 as follows:
I would like to know exactly how much of the Council Tax precept allocated to the Police, is spent on the Commissioner. Salary, staffing levels and additional expenses? Force asked to prepare a response based on this question.
E mail sent on 14.3.14 seeking information as to where the figure of £107 quoted was obtained or confirm the document in which the figure was quoted as this figure does not directly correspond to any of the council tax bands issued by the Police and Crime Commissioner for 2014/15.
Response sent 23.4.14
Further to your FOI enquiry relating to the Council Tax Precept for the year 2013/14 the spend in relation to the Office of the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner (ODPCC) was £1,103,000 or 0.92% of the total police and crime budget, in 2014/15 the ODPCC total spend is expected to be £998,000 or 0.86% of the police and crime budget (a reduction of £105,000 when compared to 2013/14). In 2014/15 0.86% of the precept would be allocated towards the ODPCC costs. The precept provides 22% of the funding for policing services, the balance of 78% comes from central government. The total funding is pooled and contributes towards the overall police and crime services provision.
In your response to my clarification email you referred to the salary of the Commissioner, staffing levels and additional expenses. The salary for the Commissioner is £70,000 which was set by the Home Secretary on the introduction of Police and Crime Commissioners on the recommendation of the Review Body on Senior Salaries. Details of the staffing structure are given on the website http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Your-PCC/The-PCCs-Team.aspx details of any allowances and expenses claimed by the Commissioner are also given on the website http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Transparency/Allowances-Scheme.aspx
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide me with full answers to each of the following questions. I know you will have been asked some of them before, but I am looking for updated figures.
1. How many members of staff did your office have when it was inherited from the Police Authority in November 2012, and what was the annual salary cost at that time?
2. How many members of staff did your office have at March 31st, 2013, and what was the annual salary cost at that time?
3. How many members of staff does your office have as of now, March 2014, and what is the current annual salary cost?
4. Please state the job title and salary of each current member of staff, and state if their role was advertised or not?
5. How many people does your office currently have working on a freelance / consultant / adviser basis and what is the cost of their contracts?
6. How many people has your office seconded from local authorities / the police force and what is the cost of their salaries?
Follow up question received: Please can you explain what the seconded post is and who the employer is?
4.4.14 Response sent
1. 8 staff, total annual salary cost ( including employer on costs) was £338k
2. 8 staff, total annual salary cost ( including employer on costs) was £338k
3. 5 staff , total annual salary cost ( including employer on costs) is £ 217k
4. The job titles and salary costs ( including employer on costs) are as follows:
a. Chief Executive £77k
b. Partnerships and Community Engagement officer £ 31k
c. Media and Communications Officer £38k
d. Communications and Engagement Assistant £28k
e. Office Manager £ 43k
No jobs were advertised as all staff were already in post.
5. Nil
6. 1, secondee, £70k, inclusive of employer on costs
14.4.14 response sent
The scondee acts as a Staff Officer to the Police and Crime Commissioner and is a member of Durham Constabulary
Letter addressed to PCCs and Chief Constables seeking information as to whether the Force has at any time entered into an agreement similar to that between Virgin and the Metropolitan Police whereby compensation recovered following private prosecutions in which the Force provided evidence or were otherwise involved was to be shared.
Letter sent informing that the ODPCC does not hold the information
I am writing to obtain information about the costs incurred by the Police and Crime Commissioner’s office.
To outline my query as clearly as possible, I am requesting:
1. The total cost of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s office for the financial years 2012-13 and 2013-14.
2. The total cost of the Police Authority body replaced by the Police and Crime Commissioner in the financial years 2010-11 and 2011-12.
3. The total remuneration bill for the financial years 2012-13 and 2013-14 (remuneration should be taken to mean pay, pension contributions, bonuses and any other benefits in kind).
4. The total remuneration bill for the Police Authority body replaced by the Police and Crime Commissioner in the financial years 2010-11 and 2011-12 (remuneration should be taken to mean pay, pension contributions, bonuses and any other benefits in kind).
5. A full list of job titles at the Police and Crime Commissioner’s office as at 04/04/2014.
Response sent 29.4.14
1. The total cost of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s office for the financial years 2012-13 was £1,203,000 and 2013-14 was £1,103,000.
2. The total cost of the Police Authority body replaced by the Police and Crime Commissioner in the financial years 2010-11 was £1,215,000 and 2011-12 was £1,215,000.
3. The total remuneration bill for the financial years 2012-13 was £338,000 and 2013-14 was £217,000.
4. The total remuneration bill for the Police Authority body replaced by the Police and Crime Commissioner in the financial years 2010-11 was employee remuneration of £632,000 (this included recharge for the provision of financial and members support services by a third party organisation under a service level agreement) plus members remuneration of £253,000 and 2011-12 was employee remuneration of £556,000 (again including the recharge referred to) plus members remuneration of £239,000.
5. The posts within the Police and Crime Commissioner’s office as at 04/04/2014 were:
Chief Executive
Partnerships and Community Engagement Officer
Media and Communications Officer
1. Does the Force’s Police and Crime Panel include representatives of local health bodies (in particular Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) or Health and well-Being Boards (HAWB))? Where your force area contains multiple HAWBs/CCGs how many of these are represented on the Panel?
2. Does the Force’s Police and Crime Panel include members selected for their expertise in (a) drug/substance abuse, (b) alcohol abuse or (c) both?
3. How much did the Force spend on drug intervention projects (or equivalent schemes) in 2012/13 and 2013/14?
4. How much funding has been allocated for drug intervention projects (or equivalent schemes) in 2014/15?
E mail response sent 17.4.14
1. The membership of Police and Crime Panels are not the responsibility of either the Police and Crime Commissioner or the Force. The arrangements for the establishment of Panels are contained within Schedule 6 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. Responsibility for the establishment of the Panel within the Durham Police Area rests with Durham County Council as lead authority therefore any enquiries should be referred to this body.
2. As explained in the answer above the Police and Crime Commissioner has no involvement in the make-up of the Police and Crime Panel
3 The Police and Crime Commissioner allocated spending on services for drugs in 2013/14 amounting to £258,687, the Commissioner did not specifically allocate spending in 2012/13 as he only took up office in November 2012. The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner does not hold information relating to detailed expenditure by Durham Constabulary for drug intervention projects. A request for this should be made to the Constabulary using the contact details below
The Information Rights and Disclosure Unit Peterlee Police Station
St Aidens Way
Peterlee
Co Durham County Council
SR8 1QR
Email freedomofinformation@durham.pnn.police.u
Tel: 0191 3752582
4 To date for 2014/15 the Police and Crime Commissioner has allocated £242590 (applications for the Community Safety Fund have still to be determined and will take place in two stages during the financial year). As explained above the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner does not hold the information relating to Durham Constabulary a request for this should be made to the Constabulary using the contact details given above.
Since the formation of the office of Police & Crime Commissioner for your region how much has been spent annually to provide transport for both the Commissioner & any deputies they have in post.
Further to the above, how much has been claimed or awarded to provide support for housing or hotel costs of the commissioner and any deputies?
E mail response sent 28.4.14:
I refer to your Freedom of information Request relating to transport and housing/hotel costs for the Police and Crime Commissioner
Please note that the Police and Crime Commissioner has not appointed a Deputy.
The Office of the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner (ODPCC) does not provide transport in respect of the Commissioner, the Commissioner uses his own vehicle for official business engagements and is paid an allowance in accordance with the expenses scheme determined by the Secretary of State (a copy of the scheme can be found on the PCC website http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Document-Library/SI-requirements/Police-and-Crime-Commissioner-Allowances-Scheme.pdf)
Monthly expenses claims are published on the website ( Allowances & Expenses) To date the Commissioner has claimed mileage totalling 7919 miles at a total cost of £3563.55.
Again no support for housing is paid to the Commissioner, hotel costs paid for by the ODPCC in respect of the Commissioners attendance at national meetings and conferences amount to £2084.80 to date
Please can you give me the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000:-
How many individual cases have been referred to your police force from Action Fraud for possible investigation since
April 2013?
How many of those individual cases have been investigated by your force since April 2013?
How many of those investigations resulted in an individual or individuals being charged?
How many of the above have resulted in a conviction?
Email sent 12 May 2014 confirming that ODPCC was not the data holder of the information and
advising the enquirer to contact Durham Constabulary
Please take this letter as a written request under the freedom of information act for:
- Total number of complaints against your force or constabulary received in 2013
- Total number of complaints upheld during 2013
- Total number of officers formally disciplined as a result of the upheld complaints
- The number of officers prosecuted for committing a criminal offence as a result of a complaint in 2013.
- The total number of officers dismissed as a result of an upheld complaint during 2013.
- The total number of serving officers dismissed for committing a criminal offence during 2013
E mail sent on 9.6.14 advising that the request had been transferred to Durham constabulary as they
hold the information requested.
I am writing to request information relating to your organisations use of Telephone Conference Call services and use
of online Web Meeting tools, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
The reason for the request is that I am carrying out research to understand the usage of these tools and technologies
in your type of Organisation across the UK.
Email response provided on 12.06.2014. Response provided in attached document below:
I am writing to you to request some information under the Freedom of Information Act:
1) What was the cost of the Office of Police and Crime Commissioner in your police force area for the financial years
12/13 and 13/14?
E mail response sent 23.6.14
With reference to your request detailed below the costs of the OPCC in the years 12/13 and 13/14
were as follows:
2012/13 £1.215m (please note that as this was a transitional year this includes costs for the former
Police Authority April-November 2012)
2013/14 £1.103m
Under the Freedom of Information Act, I would like to know how many surveys were issued, how many returned and
what the results were. Relates to specific survey undertaken by Durham Constabulary which the requestor
completed.
E mail sent 18.6.14 confirming that request transferred to Durham Constabulary as ODPCC do not
hold the information requested
I am writing to you to request some information under the Freedom of Information Act:
How much has the office of Police and Crime Commissioner spent on:
a. Social media;
b. Consultancy;
c. Company cars;
in each financial year since being elected Police and Crime Commissioner?
Response sent 29.7.14
a. Social media; - Nil
b. Consultancy; £7054
c. Company cars; Nil
I write to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
-Could you please tell me how much the PCC spent on PR, marketing and promotional materials in the financial year 2012/13?
-Could you please tell me how much the PCC spent on PR, marketing and promotional materials in the financial year 2013/14?
-How much is the PCC budgeting to spend on PR, marketing and promotional materials in the current financial year?
-Could you please list the type, number and cost of physical marketing materials with PCC branding created by the office in the 2013/14 that have been produced - e.g. leaflets, pens, erasers, lollipops etc.
If you do hold information of the above description, please supply it to me by providing electronic copies of the material to this email address, or hard copies to postal address above.
If you require any further details in order to comply with this request, please contact me straightaway.
Response sent 14.8.14
2012/13 Leaflets £171
2013/14 Promotional Stands and Pop Up Banners £913
2014/15 Community Safety Fund Publicity -Large Promotional Cheque £167.94
Merchandise
**no promotional merchandise has been purchased to date, however if the office was to purchase such materials for use at event it would include the following:
Pens/Pencils
Highlighters
Bugs
Fridge Magnets
**£1000.00
** please note that this is an estimated cost
We would like to ask a question of County Durham Police under the Freedom of Information Act.
Over the recent August Bank holiday period DCC accommodated an illegal horse fair on land between Sedgefield and Fishburn and allowed use of the surrounding road network for trotting/racing.
There was a considerable police presence throughout the event, which was much welcomed by the local community. However, we would like to know the full cost for policing this event, a breakdown of the costs and where officers were drawn from to cover would be much appreciated.
We do not want this event to be repeated in our area and ask the Durham Police to work with DCC to make sure it does not happen again.
E mail sent 3.9.14 confirming that request transferred to Durham Constabulary as ODPCC do not hold the information requested.
I am writing to obtain information about the amount your organisation pays to the Confederation of British Industry and its subsidiaries. Please provide the amount paid to the CBI (and its regional subsidiaries)
(a) in membership fees
(b) fees for one off conferences or other events and
(c) fees paid to the CBI for any other services.
Please make clear if the response includes payments from any Non-Departmental Public Bodies, Executive Agencies etc which fall under the department and please provide a breakdown of what payments came from which agency/body.
Please provide this information for the period 2009-2014 set out by calendar or financial year.
If you are unable to provide all of this information within the time/cost limit please work up to the limit focusing on membership fees
E mail sent 4.9.14 confirming that request transferred to Durham Constabulary as ODPCC do not hold the information requested.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to obtain information about the number of your employees who received remuneration of more than £100,000 in 2013-14.
Remuneration includes, but is not limited to: salary, fees, allowances, bonuses, benefits in kind, compensation for loss of office and employers’ pension contributions.
Please not that whilst some of the information may be in the public domain in accounts and on your website, the information requested is not fully available from your annual reports, websites etc.
Many public sector organisations publish senior management salaries online or a produce a table showing employees in remuneration bands of £5,000 in their annual accounts.
It is not possible to answer the questions below with that information alone. Employer pension contributions are excluded from these bands and there can be employees who are not senior managers who received more than £100,000.
Please make it clear if you are responding on behalf of more than one organisation.
To outline my query as clearly as possible, I am requesting:
1. The total number of employees who received remuneration equal to, or in excess of £100,000 in 2013-14.
2. For those who received remuneration in excess of £150,000:
i. The employee’s name
ii. The employee’s job title
iii. The remuneration received by the employee
iv. An itemised list of expenses claims made by the employee. If an itemised list is not available, please provide the amount the employee claimed in expenses in 2013-14
My preferred format to receive this information is electronically, but if that is not possible I will gladly accept letters at the address below
E mail sent 18.9.14 providing a link to Statement of Accounts on website which details the information requested
http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Document-Library/Finance/PCC-Statement-of-Accounts-2013-14.pdf
I am currently writing to you as a student who is about to enter into his third year of studying Forensic Science and Criminal Investigation, during this year I shall be compiling a dissertation that focuses around the use of Tasers against the use of firearms, their effectiveness in dealing with high risk scenarios and the financial advantages and disadvantages to their upkeep
For the reason stated above l would like to place a polite request for the following information:
• On how many occasions a Taser has been drawn, and how many times the Taser has been discharged by a police officer.
• On how many occasions a firearm has been drawn, and how many times a firearm has been discharged by a police officer
• The amount of training that a police officer receives before being authorised to
use a Taser whilst on duty, if any annual refresher trai ning is undertaken by police officers and the cost of both forms of training.
• The amount of training that a firearms officer receives before being authorised to use a firearm whilst on duty, and the cost of training and refresher training for a firearms officer.
• The annual cost of upkeep for both firearms and Taser equipment
I understand that some of the information I have requested may not be available for public viewing but any response will be greatly appreciated
E mail sent 16.9.14 confirming that request transferred to Durham Constabulary as ODPCC do not hold the information requested.
The number of enquiries, by post, telephone, email or in person, received by the former Police
Authority for your force area from members of the public of your police area between 1 December
2011 and 31 January 2012.
Response provided 28/01/2013:
Unfortunately we do not have a list of recorded enquiries by members of the public between the timescales
specified in your request, either from the former Police Authority or currently within the PCC’s office.
We are currently looking to put in place a Case Management System which will assist us in logging all telephone
calls, emails, enquiries by social media, face to face etc. therefore hope to be able to supply information that you
require in the future. As we understand it, there are quite a few Police & Crime Commissioner offices which are
also aiming to implement similar systems in the coming future.
Request for personal data held by Durham Constabulary.
Received by PCC office in error – acknowledged and re-directed to force on 11/01/2013.
Request for personal data held by Durham Constabulary.
Received by PCC office in error – acknowledged and re-directed to force on 11/01/2013.
I would like to request a copy of all information about me help by Durham Police by way of a Subject
Access Request under the terms of the Data Protection Act
Thank you in advance for your help in this matter.
Received by PCC office in error – acknowledged and re-directed to force on 11/01/2013.
We are looking for some information on dogs attacking livestock, namely sheep. I am writing to ask
if, under the Freedom of Information Act, you could make available the following information.
From January 1 2012 to December 31 2012, how many incidents were reported involving the
following:
Dogs chasing/worrying sheep
Dogs attacking/injuring sheep
Dogs killing sheep
Received by PCC office in error – acknowledged and re-directed to force on 06/02/2013.
Request to see copies of investigations carried out by the force regarding personal information.
Copy of letter received – acknowledged and re-directed to force on 05/02/2013, as PCC’s office does not hold this
information.
Following the recent statement made by the Home Secretary Theresa May MP I would like to ask
when the register of Officers who have a secondary employment in your area will be available to
view, and how may I access it? I am given to understand that declaration is obligatory and that the
register will be made available to members of the general public to view?
Acknowledged and re-directed to the force on 07/03/2013.
Force responded on 08/03/2013 and supplied a link to the most recent published Business Interests information.
I understand you and your office is likely to be dealing with the fallout from the crass decision made
by a police officer and colleagues in 2006 and 2008 but I would appreciate a response to two
connected questions.
1) why (specific reasons) did the Durham Constabulary not supply the information requested by the
BBC after a FOI request regarding non-urgent phone calls; and
2) would you, please, supply me with the info within the next 14 days.
I really am appalled that the Durham Constabulary failed to give this request the importance that I
believe it deserved and that it feels it can just ignore FOI requests if it so chooses. It gives me no
confidence that the management is being adequately organised and prioritised and I do wonder
whether your views concur with mine.
Acknowledged and queried with Force on 08/03/2013.
PCC responded on 15/03/2013, also enclosing Force’s original response which was provided within the correct
timescales.
Under the Freedom of Information Act, please state the new appointments to paid roles made by the
force’s Police and Crime Commissioner – listing name, job title, remuneration and contracted hours for the role.
Please state, for each employee, any previous professional or personal relationship between the
employee and the elected commissioner. Please state whether the relationship was personal (for
example, acquaintance or friendship) or professional, indicating the details of the prior working
relationship (i.e. members of the same political party, election assistant, colleague in private industry
etc).
For each post, please state the number of people interviewed for the role and, where possible, any
prior relationships (professional and personal) between the candidates and the police commissioner.
Please state the recruitment process – including whether the position was advertised and those
involved in selecting the successful candidate. If the police and crime panel has either publicly or
privately endorsed or rejected an appointment, please declare this and provide any available details.
Finally, where possible, state the total estimated annual cost of the office of the police commissioner
(including salaries and allowances for the associated police and crime panel) and the total cost of the
police authority and its administrative staff in its final year of operation.
Response to query received by Applicant on 28/03/2013.
Final response provided by email on 15/04/2013:
The Durham Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has not made any appointments since beginning his post in
November 2012. He is currently undertaking a staffing review which will involve a new staff structure which he
hopes to put in place by 1st October 2013.
The PCC is currently negotiating a temporary secondment with another public body but the terms have not yet
been agreed. There is also a secondment currently being discussed with Durham Constabulary to cover a
maternity leave situation.
With regards to your Police and Crime Panel enquiry, this was sent to Durham County Council following your
request on 26th March 2013, which you were copied in to.
I am a master’s candidate at the University of Oxford. I am using this Freedom of Information request
to gather relevant information for the research project component of my degree. I am looking for
information on the number of content removal requests and user data requests made by the Durham
Police Authority to (1) Google, (2) Twitter, (3) Facebook, and (4) Microsoft each month over a twoyear
period (from January 2011 to December 2012).
Here, content removal requests refer to requests by the Durham Police Authority for information to be
removed from Google, Twitter, Facebook or Microsoft due to:
(1) Defamation
(2) Hate Speech
(3) Religious Offence
(4) Adult Content
(5) Violence
(6) Privacy and Security
(7) National Security
(8) Government Criticism
(9) Impersonation
(10) Copyright
(11) Trademark
(12) Electoral Law
(13) Other
User data requests refer to requests by the Durham Police Authority for information on users or
accounts.
For content removal requests made by the Durham Police Authority to Google, Twitter, Facebook,
and Microsoft, I would like information on:
(1) The total number of requests made each month from January 2011 to December 2012 to Google,
Twitter, Facebook, and Microsoft.
(2) The total number of items requested to be removed each month during this time period (I ask for
this because often a request consists of more than one item of content).
(3) For each item, which product category it fell under, if applicable (i.e. in the case of Google
YouTube, Blogger, Google Web Search, AdWords; in the case of Microsoft: Bing Web Search).
(4) The reason why each item was requested to be removed (please see categories listed in above
paragraph), if this is recorded. Please specify if it is not recorded.
(5) Whether the company (Google, Twitter, or Facebook) complied with the request for the item to be
removed, if this is recorded. Please specify if it is not recorded.
For user data requests made by the Durham Police Authority to Google, Twitter, Facebook, and
Microsoft, I would like information on:
(1) The total number of user data requests made each month from January 2011 to December 2012
to Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Microsoft.
(2) The total number of users/accounts data requested on from January 2011 to December 2012 (I
ask for this because often a request consists of more than one user or account).
(3) Whether the company (Google, Twitter, Facebook, or Microsoft) complied with the request for
data on each user or account, if this is recorded. Please specify if this is not recorded.
Response provided by email on 18/04/2013:
Durham Police Authority (DPA) made the following content removal requests to Facebook during the timescales
given:
Due to spam adverts on DPA’s site: less than 20 requests in total
Due to swearing/vexatious remarks/other inappropriate language: less than 10 requests in total
Figures are approximate as individual logs were not made as the figures were so low. No further information is
held and requests were not made to any other sites (including Google, twitter and Microsoft). For information,
Durham Police Authority was abolished on 21st November 2012, as were all police authorities nationally.
I am writing to ask if, under the Freedom of Information Act, you could make available a log of
incidents/crimes reported in the force area from October 1 to March 31 2012/2013.
How many sheep have been stolen between October 1 to March 31 2012/2013?
How many other forms of livestock were stolen between October 1 to March 31 2012/2013?
How many tractors were stolen between October 1 to March 31 2012/2013?
How many All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) i.e quad bikes were stolen between October 1 to March 31
2012/2013?
How much other farm equipment was stolen since October 1 to March 31 2012/2013?
How many thefts of red diesel or fuel in general were there between October 1 to March 31
2012/2013?
Received by PCC office in error – acknowledged and re-directed to force on 04/04/2013.
A list of all staff appointments made by the Police and Crime Commissioner and the following specific
information on each post
a) The name of the staff member appointed
b) The date s/he began / will begin his/her role
c) The salary attached to the post
d) A job description of the post
e) A description of the process through which the appointment was made
f) The number of applicants who applied for the appointment
Response provided on 15/04/2013:
The Durham Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has not made any appointments since beginning his post in
November 2012. He is currently undertaking a staffing review which will involve a new staff structure which he
hopes to put in place by 1st October 2013.
The PCC is currently negotiating a temporary secondment with another public body but the terms have not yet
been agreed. There is also a secondment currently being discussed with Durham Constabulary to cover a
maternity leave situation.
Please can I find out how much your police commissioner has claimed in expenses over the last 12
months (between dates 01.03.2012 - 01.03.2013).
Can I also find out how much has been spent on taxis in that time period, how much on flights in that
time period and how much on restaurants.
Please include the police commissioners salary per annum.
Please send back in format:
Police commissioner name:
Salary per annum:
Total expenses amount:
Taxis:
Flights:
Restaurants:
Response provided by email on 26/04/2013:
Police and Crime Commissioners only took up their posts on 22 November 2012; they were not in office from 1
March 2012 therefore the figures quoted are for the period 22.11.2012 to 1.3.2013:
PCC Name: Ron Hogg
Annual salary: £70,000
Total expenses for the period 22.11.2012 to 1.3.2013: £659.65
Taxis (included in total): £34.20
Flights: £0.00
Restaurants (included in total): £16.50
1. I request a break-down of every expense incurred by the police and crime commissioner since
they took the post.
2. I request a break-down of every expense over the value of £50 incurred by the police and crime
commissioner’s office since its creation.
For each entry, I would like the total amount claimed and full details of the nature of and reasons for
the claim
Response provided with link to PCC website: http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Transparency/Allowances-
Scheme.aspx
I would like to know how many public sex or cruising sites you are aware of in your policing area –
and where exactly they are.
I would like to know how many arrests, spot-fines, and convictions, have been made on these sites in
your policing areas in the past 10 years – encompassing 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009,
2010, 2011, 2012 and so far in 2013.
I would also like to know if you have given out food and drink at public sex sites as part of your
strategy of policing these sites.
Received by PCC office in error – acknowledged and re-directed to force on 10/05/2013. Advised delayed
response due to blocked email content.
Can I ask what expenses claims have been made so far (whether successful or not) have been made
by the Police and Crime Commissioner to date?
Also, what expenses claims have all members of the police authority made?
Query sent back to Applicant on 10/05/2013 asking for clarification regarding timescales.
Response received from Applicant on 10/05/2013 confirming previous 12 months.
Final response provided on 21/05/2013:
The information you require is available publicly on our website in regards to the PCC’s expenses as well as
Durham Police Authority’s expenses. This is the link you need to access the ‘Allowances & Expenses’ page on our
website:
http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Transparency/Allowances-Scheme.aspx
As discussed previously, the PCC has been in office for only 6 months, therefore a true 12 months comparison
cannot yet be made - this could be achieved from December 2013 when a full 12 months figures will available for
the PCC.
For the years 2007/2008; 2008/2009; 2009/2010; 2010/2011; 2011/2012; 2012/2013:
1) How much was spent (in pounds and man-hours) by your Force in operations/activities to
disrupt the sale, distribution, and/or purchase of controlled substances sold via the internet?
2) How many arrests were made in connection with efforts to disrupt the sale, distribution,
and/or purchase of controlled substances sold via the internet?
If answering these questions places too much of a financial burden, please prioritise Question 1.
Received by PCC office in error – acknowledged and re-directed to force on 30/04/2013.
How many Post Office robberies/attempted robberies were reported in, 2009/2010, 2010/2011,
2011/2012, 2012/2013.
Did Post Office Ltd consult with you about the removal of security screens from Post Office counters?
Received by PCC office in error – acknowledged and re-directed to force on 30/04/2013.
1. Please send me details of all gifts and hospitalities accepted and declined by the Police & Crime
Commissioner since 15th November 2012 to-date. Please include a) Type of Gift/Hospitality b) Donors name (individual and/or company) c) value or estimation and d) date gift/hospitality
accepted or declined.
Please send me this information by e-mail. Please provide the information in an excel spreadsheet or
csv format.
In regards to your FOI request, please find the information required from the Durham PCC’s Office attached.
Please note, we hold this information in a Word version format, not Excel or csv format as requested, which is why
the attachment is in Word.
We also have a copy of this same information publicly available on our website (Adobe pdf format) – for
information, the link is provided below:
http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Transparency/Gifts--Hospitality.aspx
Can you please provide details of how many days off have been taken by officers as a result of
stress-related problems since 2010, up to and including the most recent data you have.
If possible, could the data be broken down into categories for 2010, 11, and 12?
In the event it is not possible to provide simply a break down of absence due to stress, could you
provide a full list of absence for the time period?
Acknowledged and query sent back on 10/05/2013 to applicant to confirm if ‘officers’ meant ‘police officers’.
Response received from Applicant on 10/05/2013 confirming this did mean ‘police officers’.
Forwarded to force on 10/05/2013 and copied Applicant in to the email.
These questions apply from 2001 until present and applies to your/this police force’s jurisdiction.
Preferred format would be a breakdown down by school and year if possible
1) Please advise how many schools had computer hardware and software stolen.
2) Please advise if any of the computer hardware and software stolen had children’s or teacher's
biometric data on.
3) In relation to question 2 please could you advise if any of the computer hardware and software that
has been stolen has ever been recovered?
4) Apart from theft, is this police force aware of any biometric systems in schools being
compromised?
5) Does your force report any biometric data stolen to any government department? If so please
advise which one.
6) Has this police force ever requested or had access to a school biometric database and please
advise whether requests were successfully granted or not.
7) With regards to question 6, from the school biometric databases accessed please advise if:
i) Any biometric data was added to the police database
ii) Was the schools biometric data system easily inter-operable with the police database?
8) Was any conviction successful as a result of data obtained from a school biometric database?
If you need further clarification, please contact me by email. My preferred format to receive the
information is electronically, but I can accept hard copies.
Some parts of this request may be easier to answer than others and in such case please could you
release available data as soon as possible rather than delay the entire request.
If the costs of processing this request exceed the limit in the Act, please advise on what information
you are able to supply within the cost limit.
I look forward to your response within 20 working days, as outlined by the statute.
Received by PCC office in error – acknowledged and re-directed to force on 22/05/2013.
Please provide specific details (names, rank, amounts and reasons) of all payments including
payments in kind, gifts, bonuses, retention payments, recruitment payments, allowances, payment of
fees, health insurance etc made to chief police officers (assistant chief constable and above) for each
of the past five years ( 2008-9 to 2012/13) which were outside the national PNB agreements, the
Police Regulations or other determinations or approvals of the Secretary of State.
If you need to clarify any of the above, please contact me on 07801 195794 or by return email.
In response to your Freedom of Information Request, there have been no payments made to chief police officers
during 2008/09 to 2012/13 outside of the national PNB agreements, the Police Regulations or other
determinations or approvals of the Secretary of State.
Can you please send me PCC decisions for march, April and May 2013
Response provided on 28/06/2013: In response to your FOI request, I can confirm all decisions made by the PCC
are available on his website. I have provided the link below which will take you directly to the correct web page to
view this information:
http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Transparency/Decision-Register.aspx
1. An up-to-date version of your estates/facilities/capital projects organisational structures including
names, email addresses, telephone numbers and reporting lines where possible.
2. Any current vacancies in the estates/facilities/projects department (may be included in the
Organisation Structures if easier).
Total spend on both agency (temporary) workers and permanent recruitment fees by the
estates/facilities/projects departments over the last 2 years
Confirmation sought from requester on 07.06.2013 for clarity whether relating to PCC or Force - awaiting
response.
I would like a detailed breakdown of the expenses of the office of Durham's Police and Crime
Commissioner from when they took office to the present day, or as recently as records allow.
Please send confirmation that this request has been received.
I look forward to hearing back, and receiving the requested information within 20 working days from
now.
Request for clarification of information on 14/06/2013
Update response received from requester on 23/06/2013.
Final response provided on 01/07/2013:
Please find a response to your FOI request below:
Q: Please could I be provided with details of any purchases or payments made by the PCC's office? Eg, set-up
costs such as furniture, computers stc.
A: All of Durham Police Authority’s staff and all other assets (such as office equipment and so on) were transferred
to the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner in November 2012. As a result, there were no set up costs
incurred by the PCC.
Q: Please could I also be supplied with the PCC's expenses such as travel and subsistence, as you mention?
A: The latest expenses information currently available is published on our website. The link you need to access
this web page is: http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Transparency/Allowances-Scheme.aspx. The latest information is
added to this page throughout the year as soon as it is available.
I would like a detailed breakdown of the expenses of the office of Durham's Police and Crime
Commissioner from when they took office to the present day, or as recently as records allow.
Please send confirmation that this request has been received.
I look forward to hearing back, and receiving the requested information within 20 working days from
now.
Response provided on 26/06/2013:
Thank you for your email sent on 18/06 which I have brought to the attention of Mr Hogg- Durham Police and
Crime Commissioner.
Improving Road Safety is one of Mr Hogg’s Policing Priorities which is mentioned in his Police and Crime Plan (
01/04/13 to 31/03/17) and I would like to assure you that the necessary action will be taken to tackle illegal or
inconsiderate parking.
Please note link to the website: http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Your-PCC/Police-and-Crime-Plan/Police-and-
Crime-Plan.aspx
Your concerns have also been passed to Inspector Martin Peace who is the Neighbourhood Inspector covering
the Shildon area.
Inspector Peace has been asked to look at the issues you have highlighted to assess the extent of the problem and identify if there is a requirement for any enforcement action or education in the areas you have identified.
Additional email enquiry received by requester on 26/06/2013, regarding the ‘Equality Act legislation’ – further
response provided on 27/06/2013:
Mr Hogg has consulted with the public to gather the views of local people in what policing issues are important to
them, throughout County Durham and Darlington. My colleague has confirmed to you that improving road safety is
one of these policing priorities. I’m sure you are aware that road safety is encompasses a lot of areas, such as
mobile phone use, dangerous driving and speeding as well as inconsiderate and/or illegal parking.
Regarding Equality Act 2010 legislation, Police and Crime Commissioners comply with the General Duty of the
Public Sector Equality Duty. For information, this means to:
• have due regard to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
• advance equality of opportunity
• foster good relations between different groups
Mr Hogg takes equality, diversity and human rights matters seriously and will soon be publishing his Equality
Action Plan. This Plan underpins all of Mr Hogg’s policing priorities (including road safety related issues) and is
currently working with partner organisations (including the police, councils and so on) to tackle these issues across
the force area. Ensuring the safety of using pavements for pedestrians, including those for the elderly, disables,
parents with children and so on, is important and is being addressed as part of this ongoing work.
Finally, if you take a look at Mr Hogg’s Police and Crime Plan (using the link which my colleague sent to you by
email) pages 6 and 7 of the details Plan provide further details about how equality matters are linked directly to Mr
Hogg’s policing outcomes for 2013-17.
Please provide all details of force credit card spending by the Police and Crime Commissioner since
their appointment last year.
Please provide details of all expenses claimed by the PCC during the same period.
Response provided o 18/06/2013:
Please find below the response to your Freedom of Information request (which Durham Constabulary forwarded to
us on your behalf):
Q: Please provide all details of force credit card spending by the Police and Crime Commissioner since their
appointment last year.
A: The PCC for Durham does not hold a credit card.
Q: Please provide details of all expenses claimed by the PCC during the same period.
A: The latest expenses information currently available is published on our website. The link you need to access
this web page is: http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Transparency/Allowances-Scheme.aspx. The latest information is
added to this page throughout the year as soon as it is available.
I would like to add to the FOI I submitted based on 'Top 30 sexual offedners' (or resubmit it if your
constabulary was unable to respond to it).
Instead I would like the total number of arrests made in the constabulary catchment area since 2009
for the following offences:
Rape
Sexual assault
Administering a substance (drinks spiking)
Trepass with intent to commit a sexual offence
Sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 16
Abuse of trust through a sexual activity
Sexual activity by a care worker
Engaging in a sexual activity in the presence of a child
Sexual grooming
Sexual activity with a family member
Abudction
Indecent conduct towards a child
Taking an indecent photograph of a child
Causing or inciting child prostitution
Procuring a woman by threats or false pretences
Trafficking a person into the UK for sexual exploitation
Exposure
Voyeurism
If it is possible to know who the most prolific offender for each of these offences (based on the
number of arrests/charges/convictions then I would like to add that too my request.
Finally, I would like to add one more request:
I would like the postcode (street address) that has experienced the most arrests based on prostitution
since 2009.
If you require any further clarifications, then please do not hesitate to contact me.
Received by PCC office in error – acknowledged and re-directed to force on 27/06/2013.
I am undertaking a study into construction projects for my PhD. Please can you let me have the
following information for each construction contract over £200k that has been completed in the last
five years:
• The contract’s description
• Contractor
• Contract form ie NEC 3 , GC works, PFI etc
• The sub form – ie Design Build, Option A, Minor Works
• Works specification – ie traditional (client designs), Design and build (contractor designs)
• How price is agreed –ie lump sum/target price/ cost reimbursable
• If BIM or ECI has been used
• Framework Name if Applicable
• type of work - ie refurbishment/ new build/ fit out/
• Area or length of work undertaken if known
• Contract price for construction
• Final price for construction
• Contract start date
• Initial construction completion date- ie at contract signature (or Construction period)
• Actual construction completion date
I would also like this request to be considered under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004
and with Transparency and open data policies in mind. I include a spread sheet that you may want to
use, but of course I am happy to accept information in which ever format is best for you
Received by PCC office in error – acknowledged and re-directed to force on 01/07/2013.
Thank you for your response Mr Hogg.
I have had a quick look at the 2011/12 accounts which identify 'benefits in kind' and an 'allowance'
paid to chief officers.
Can you clarify what these are specifically and if similar has been paid in the years covered by the
request?
Response sent by email on 09/07/2013:
Further to your latest email, I have asked for the records specifically as required. The detail of this response is
provided below for your information.
FOI details:
This relates to the provision of a car (which is fitted with the usual police requirements such as a siren, police radio
etc.). This treatment has full agreement with the Inland Revenue; the following amounts relate to private use of the
vehicle and are reported yearly to ensure the relevant tax and National Insurance are paid on the benefit.
For the years queried the benefits paid per rank are:
2008/9
Chief Constable £7,358
Deputy Chief Constable £6,405
Assistant Chief Constable £4,198
2009/10
Chief Constable £7,164
Deputy Chief Constable £6,321
Assistant Chief Constable £4,549
2010/11
Chief Constable £7,164
Deputy Chief Constable £5,058
Assistant Chief Constable £4,549
2011/12
Chief Constable £7,164
Deputy Chief Constable £5,058
Assistant Chief Constable £4,549
2012/13
Chief Constable £6,130
Deputy Chief Constable £5,365
Assistant Chief Constable £5,126
Request 1:
I would like to ask the following questions regarding your budget for 2013/2014
1) How much money is specifically allocated to the prevention of gangs and youth violence?
2) Are any voluntary sector organisations being utilised to provide these services?
3) If so, please provide a list of organisations and details of the funding they have been awarded
(including the value, type (contract/grant etc) and duration of funding)
Request 2:
I would like to request information relating to money paid out under the Riot Damages Act 1886 for
claims made between August 6th 2011 and September 22nd 2011.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/compensation-scheme-for-damaged-property-announced
As the Police and Crime Commissioners were not in office at this point I am seeking information
relating to claims made to the now defunct Police Authority or Authorities which you have now taken
over from. Therefore, please read “your authority” as referring to either the aforementioned Police
Authority or Authorities for which you have subsumed, or yourself if you are still involved with
processing these cases.
If you are now responsible for the records of multiple police authorities, please separate all answers
to the questions below by those police authorities, rather than combining the totals.
If these records have not been transferred to your control, then as I stated above, please forward my
request to the relevant records department and inform me that you have done so.
a) How many claims were made to your authority under the Riot Damages Act 1886 between August
6th 2011 and September 22nd 2011?
b) What was the total amount paid out by your authority under the Riot Damages Act 1886 for claims
made between August 6th 2011 and September 22nd 2011?
c) How many claims made between August 6th and September 22nd 2011 were rejected by your
authority?
d) How many claims made between August 6th and September 22nd 2011 are still outstanding?
Responded by email on 29/07/2013:
In response to your Freedom of Information request, there is no 'money specifically allocated to the prevention of
gangs and youth violence' however, the PCC has anti social behaviour as one of his priorities and tackles this
collaboratively in various ways through his interactions with the Force and with his Community Safety partners.
For the second part of your request, we can confirm there have been no payments/claims made under the Riot
Damages Act 1886.
I would like a list of all the expenses claimed by the PCC or staff working for them since they were
voted into the position. This includes what expense was claimed, where it was claimed, when it was
claimed, how much was claimed and for what reason it was claimed.
. I would also like a list of transaction on credit cards made by the PCC or staff since the start of the
job. This includes what expense was claimed, where it was claimed, when it was claimed, how much
was claimed and for what reason it was claimed.
. I would also like to know if any accommodation has been provided for the PCC, whether this is
permanent or temporary. This includes where the accommodation is, how much it costs to
maintain/for the PCC to stay there, how long the PPC plans to stay there.
. Finally, I would like a list of people that have received payments from the PCC office. This includes
contracted staff, non-contracted staff, consultants and other payments to individuals or groups.
Response sent by email on 31/07/2013:
In response to your FOI request dated 3 July 2013 please find attached a document containing the following, this
information is correct as at today’s date:
1. Expenses claimed by/paid to the PCC and members of his staff
2. Credit Card Transactions. Please note that the PCC has not been issued with a credit card. Credit cards are
held by two members of staff for office related purposes only.
3. No accommodation has been provided to the PCC for his personal/private use. The Office of the PCC
maintains limited office accommodation within County Hall, Durham City, including an office for the PCC
which doubles up as a meeting room.
To whom it may concern,
Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide me with full answers to each
of the following questions:
1. How many former Police Authority staff have been made redundant or taken voluntary exit
since November 2012?
2. What is the total amount given to them in voluntary exit payments, redundancy pay,
severance payments, lump sums, payments in lieu of notice, compensation awards and pension
payments?
3. What is the single highest payment made to a former Police Authority employee?
4. How many of them signed confidentiality clauses as part of their departure?
5. Have any former Police Authority employees since been re-employed by the OPCC?
Please respond within 20 working days.
Thank you,
Responded by email on 24/07/2013:
No former Police Authority staff have been made redundant or taken voluntary exit since November 2012.
Thanks for this (ref: 30/2013).
Having looked again at the accounts there are two different areas that I am seeking clarification on -
these are benefits in kind and allowance.
For example, in 2011/12, the chief constable received £7,164 in 'benefits in kind', £5,980 in
'allowance' whereas other chief officers received different amounts under the same headings.
I think the figures you have provided relate to the car but I did ask for clarification on the allowance as
well.
The 'allowance' payments shown in the Annual Statements of Accounts are as follows:-
1. Payments to the Chief, Deputy and Assistant Chief Constable relate to rent allowance and compensatory
grant payments. I have attached as a Word document, a note providing some explanation in respect of
these payments
2. The payments to the Assistant Chief Officer are in respect of an annual flat rate allowance for the costs
associated with using his private motor vehicle for business purposes. You will have noted from earlier information
that the ACO is not provided with a vehicle and for that reason there is no 'benefit in kind' in his case.
As you will be aware the current Home Office Guidance July 2007 for the use of body-worn video
devices indicates that all such devices must meet a minimum standard specification, including but not
limited to:
• A recorder with a high resolution inbuilt display screen that will provide a replay facility and
clearly display the metadata overlay.
• A rechargeable battery that should provide power for at least 8 hours continual recording.
Batteries should be removed from the recording unit to be recharged so that the recorder does not
have to be withdrawn from service while recharging occurs.
• The recording device must be able to store a minimum of 24 hours of video or double that of
the 8 hour battery life.
The unit Durham has spent a great deal of public money on procuring does not meet the minimum
standards that the Home Office recommends as your cameras “ have a 4 gigabyte capacity and are
capable of recording up to two hours of footage before the BWV needs to be recharged”.
Why has Durham Constabulary ignored the Home Office Guidance?
Given that there remains expectation that the BWV system will become standard equipment for all
officers, is the widespread acceptance of equipment that does not meet the Home Office
recommended minimum standard indicative of a wider failing on the part of the procurement process
as a whole?
Where was the Public Tender to procure this amount and spend this amount of Public Money?
If they were purchased using Sprint 2 then is this not an illegal framework to procure Surveillance and
Security systems / cameras, as the correct CPV codes were not used in the OJEC Tender which
cover this equipment?
Under the Data Protection Act, the police have a duty to inform someone that their actions are being
recorded on body-worn video (BWV). But this can be assumed to have happened if the camera is
very obviously visible. In this case – it is not obvious as the purchased product is so small it makes it
very difficult to identify that video is being recorded as it is camouflaged amongst all the other items
an officer carries on their chest. Could this not be construed as Covert recording and thus breaching
ICO and DPA legislation?
What assurances can be given that members of the public will be notified whenever their actions or
conversations are recorded by BWV, as required by EU law?
CCTV must not be used to record conversations between members of the public as this is highly
intrusive and unlikely to be justified. In the limited circumstances where audio recording is justified,
signs must make it very clear that audio recording is being or may be carried out. What signage is
displayed where these are in use by Durham Constabulary?
Acknowledged late response on 02/09/2013 - request also sent to force as well as PCC office. Nothing further to
add to force response - advised of this by email on 10/09/2013.
Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 I request to be provided with full answers to
each of the following questions.
1. How much has your office, and the Police Authority before it, paid in general contributions to
the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) in each of the past three financial years, 2010-11,
2011-12 and 2012-13? If possible, please also state how much you expect to pay in the current
financial year.
2. How much has your office, and the Police Authority before it, paid to cover chief officers’
subscriptions to the Chief Police Officers’ Staff Association (CPOSA) or ACPO, in each of the past
three financial years?
3. How much has your office, and the Police Authority before it, paid to towards the ACPO
Criminal Records Office (ACRO), in each of the past three financial years?
4. How much has your office, and the Police Authority before it, paid to towards the Police
National Information Co-ordination Centre (PNICC), in each of the past three financial years? If
possible, please also state how much you expect to pay towards its successor organisation, the
National Police Co-ordination Centre, this year.
5. How much money has your office, and the Police Authority, received from the National Driver
Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS), in each of the past three financial years? Have you paid
NDORS and its related organisations, NDORS Ltd, RSS Ltd and R&SC Ltd, any money?
6. Please set out any other money you have paid to ACPO and related organisations in the past
three financial years. These may include ACPO Crime Prevention Initiatives Ltd, the National Ballistic
Intelligence Service, ACPO Terrorism and Allied Matters (TAM), the National Wildlife Crime Unit,
ACPO conferences etc.
Please respond within 20 working days. Do let me know if I should direct any of these queries to your
force instead.
Force confirmed on 09/09/2013 of the following:
The applicant has withdrawn his FOI request to Forces.
Our ACPO Central Referral Unit have spoken to him as some forces were struggling to retrieve the
information. He therefore agreed to withdraw his request to forces and has submitted a new request to
ACPO directly.
Under the Freedom of Information Act (2000) I would like to request the following information.
Copies of all correspondence from the last twelve months, sent to, or received from, the Gun Control
Network (including its members, supporters or representatives)
By
1. The Police & Crime Commissioner
2. Staff employed within the Police & Crime Commissioner's office or organisation
For the purposes of clarity, the scope of this request also includes:
1. Information sent to the Gun Control Network (including its members, supporters or
representatives) via any third party
2. Information received from the Gun Control Network (including its members, supporters or
representatives) via any third party.
I would also state the scope of this request includes communications sent via or received personal
email, Twitter accounts, Facebook and other social media outlets and sites where the PCC has been
contacted or replied in his public office capacity.
Response provided on 03/10/2013:
In response to your Freedom of Information request, I can confirm that there has not been any correspondence to,
or from, the Gun Control Network or related parties from the Police and Crime Commissioner or his staff.
I am writing to you to obtain information under the Freedom of Information Act.
I wish to know how much your Force has spent on artwork for its police stations and any offices
associated with your Force over the last five years. Please specify what the artwork is. For example is
it a painting or a sketch or a sculpture? Please include any water features and fish tanks too.
Where possible, please name the artist and specify how much was paid for the artwork and when it
was bought and where it is now kept.
Please specify any upkeep costs, for example, if your Force has purchased a fish tank then please
state the upkeep for the tank.
I look forward to a response within 20 working days.
Acknowledged and responded on 09/09/2013 advising not a PCC enquiry and to re-send the enquiry to the force
Request addressed to each Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) plus the Mayor's
Office for Police and Crime (MOPAC), to provide details of how your OPCC/MOPAC meets each of
the 25 transparency requirements specified within appropriate legislation.
In order to minimise workload on your OPCC (and on MOPAC), a Google Documents spreadsheet is
provided here for your office to complete. Please simply provide within this spreadsheet the pages on
your OPCC/MOPAC website that most closely provide the public with each of the 25 transparency
requirements. A list of the legislative requirements is provided below.
Completion of your office's element of this spreadsheet thus entails provision of the web addresses of
up to 25 pages on your OPCC/MOPAC website, and should therefore not represent any undue
workload, nor should require any extensive research on the part of your team. Should you prefer not
to complete the spreadsheet, please alternatively meet this FoI request by in some other way
providing a list of the 25 relevant webpages on your OPCC/MOPAC website that most closely meet
each of the 25 criteria listed below.
Please note that the responses to these 42 Freedom of Information requests (41 OPCCs plus
MOPAC) will be reflected within a CoPaCC paper to be published in November 2013, around the first
anniversary of PCCs' election.
a. Who they are and what they do (4 criteria)
a1. {U} The names and contact details of the PCC and Deputy PCC http://www.durhampcc.
gov.uk/Transparency/Who-We-Are--What-We-Do.aspx
a2. {U} Information about the internal structures of the office of the PCC, including: i) organograms (with names of
senior staff, if they agree); ii) salary bands; iii) demographics, including ethnicity, gender and disability (by
proportion) http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Transparency/Who-We-Are--What-We-Do.aspx
a3. {U} Information about any arrangements that the PCC has to make use of the staff of the chief officer of police
or a local authority http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Transparency/Who-We-Are--What-We-Do.aspx
a4. {U} The identity of any premises or land owned by, or occupied for the purpose of the work of the PCC
http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Document-Library/Durham-Force-Fixed-Asset-Register-31-March-2013.pdf
b. What they spend and how they spend it (8 criteria)
b1. {FY} The budget for the office of the PCC, http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Document-Library/Finance/2013-14-
Budget-BookDurham-PCC.pdf including: i) all planned expenditure; ii) all anticipated revenue sources; iii) the
planned precept levels; iv) the draft precept (which must go before the PCP for comment); v) the response to the
PCP’s report on the proposed precept http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Finance/Council-Tax/Council-Tax.aspx
b2. {M} Details of each grant (including crime and disorder reduction grant) made by the PCC, including: i) the
conditions (if any) attached to the grant; ii) the recipient of the grant; iii) the purpose of the grant; iv) the reasons
why the body considered that the grant would secure, or contribute to securing, crime and disorder reduction in the
body’s area, where appropriate http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Finance/Commissioning.aspx
b3. {M} Information as to any item of expenditure over £500 (other than crime and disorder reduction grants) by
the PCC or the Chief Officer, including: i) the recipient; ii) the purpose of the expenditure; iii) the reasons why the
PCC or Chief Officer considered that VfM would be achieved (except contracts over £10,000) http://www.durhampcc.
gov.uk/Document-Library/Finance/Spend-for-over-500-pounds-September-2013.pdf
b4. {Q} Allowances and Expenses – details of the allowances and expenses that have been claimed or incurred by
the PCC and Deputy PCC. Police and Crime Commissioners and their Deputies should publish a breakdown of
their expenses including: i) their name, force area, financial year, month, date, claim reference numbers, expense
type (eg travel, accommodation), short description, details amount claimed, amount reimbursed, amount not
reimbursed, and the reason why a claim was not reimbursed; ii) for travel and subsistence claims: date, place of
origin, place of destination, category of journey, class of travel, mileage, length of hotel stay, category of hotel stay
http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Transparency/Allowances-Scheme.aspx
b5. {Q}/{U} Contracts and Tenders: i) a list of contracts for £10,000 or less – to include the value of the contract,
the identity of all parties to the contract and its purpose; ii) full copies of contracts over £10,000; iii) copies of each
invitation to tender which is issued by the PCC or the Chief Officer where the contract is to exceed £10,000
http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Document-Library/Finance/PCC-Contract-Register.pdf
b6. {U} Senior salaries: the salary amounts above £58,200 including: i) names (with the option to refuse name
being published); ii) job description; iii) responsibilities in the office of PCC http://www.durhampcc.
gov.uk/Transparency/Who-We-Are--What-We-Do.aspx
b7. {FY} Audit: i) audited accounts (the specialist examination of the accounts of the office of the PCC);
http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Document-Library/Finance/Durham-PCC-Statement-of-Accounts-2012-13.pdf ii)
auditors opinions of the audited accounts of the http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Document-Library/Finance/Chief-
Constable/CC-2012-13-Annual-Audit-Letter.pdf and PCC, http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Document-Library/SI
requirements/Transparency/PCC-Audit-Completion-ReportYr-ended-March-2013.pdf covering any significant
issues and any comments; iii) the annual accounting statement showing how the budget has been spent;
contained within Accounts http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Document-Library/Finance/Durham-PCC-Statement-of-
Accounts-2012-13.pdf iv) Audit Reports on the accounts of the office of the PCC (see the Accounts and Audit
(England) Regulations 2011 and the Accounts and Audit (Wales) Regulations 2005). http://www.durhampcc.
gov.uk/Document-Library/SI-requirements/Transparency/Annual-Audit-Letter-2012-13.pdf
b8. {FY} Investment Strategy: the investment strategy of the PCC (see Local Government Act 2003 s15)
Contained within Treasury Management Statement within Budget (p37) http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Document-
Library/Finance/2013-14-Budget-BookDurham-PCC.pdf
c. What their priorities are and how they are doing (3 criteria)
c1. {A} Police and Crime Plan (see s5(10) of PRSRA2011) http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Your-PCC/Police-and-
Crime-Plan.aspx
c2. {A} Annual Report (see s12(6) of PRSA2011) http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Document-Library/Joint-Annual-
Report-2012-13.pdf
c3. {no deadline specified} A copy of each collaboration agreement, or the fact that an agreement has been made
and such other details about it as the PCC thinks appropriate (see s23E of the Police Act 1996)
http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Transparency/Who-We-Are--What-We-Do.aspx
d. How they make, record and publish their decisions (4 criteria)
d1. {U} The dates, times and places of all public meetings and public consultations held by the PCC
http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Get-Involved/Consultation.aspx
d2. {U} Agendas and discussion documents for the meetings http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Get-
Involved/Consultation.aspx
d3. {U} Copies of the agreed minutes (to ensure transparency and the decisions made by the elected officials) No
formal minutes were taken, newsletters were produced from seminars which can be found here
http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Get-Involved/Consultation.aspx
d4. {U} A record of every significant decision taken by or on behalf of the PCC as the result of a meeting or
otherwise http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Transparency/Decision-Register.aspx
e. What policies and procedures govern the office of PCC (3 criteria)
e1. {U} The following policies and procedures to which the PCC and Deputy must adhere to [sic] in the course of
their role: i) code of conduct (if any) no code of conduct; ii) decision making (policy on); iii) the procedure for the
handling of complaints http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Document-Library/Reports/Complaint-Handling-Policy.pdf
and the number of complaints against the PCC recorded by the Police and Crime Panel (as required by
regulations) http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Transparency/Complaint--Conduct-Matters.aspx; iv) information about
the operation of the ICV [Independent Custody Visitor] scheme including the process and policies of the scheme
http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Get-Involved/Independent-Custody-Visitors.aspx
e2. {U} Record management: i) record management information security policieshttp://www.durhampcc.
gov.uk/Document-Library/SI-requirements/Transparency/Records-Management-Policy.pdf, relating to records
retention and destruction/archive policies; ii) data sharing policies (minimum standards to responding for requests
for information). http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Document-Library/SI-requirements/Transparency/Data-Protection-
Policy.pdf
e3. {U} HR: i) numbers of staff employed by the office of the PCC; http://www.durhampcc.gov.uk/Transparency/Who-We-Are--What-We-Do.aspx ii) diversity data on staff employed by the office of the
PCC, including the number of women, ethnic minorities and those who are disabled; http://www.durhampcc.
gov.uk/Transparency/Who-We-Are--What-We-Do.aspx iii) whistle blowing – a clear guideline on what to do if
concerns over the conduct of PCC and/or staff are raised (see section 43B of Employment Rights Act 1996)
http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Document-Library/Whistle-Blowing-Confidential-Reporting-Policy.pdf
f. Public access to a register of interests (3 criteria)
f1. {U} Register of any interests which might conflict with the role of the PCC and Deputy PCC, including every
other pecuniary interest or other paid positions that they hold http://www.durhampcc.
gov.uk/Transparency/Register-of-Interests.aspx
f2. {Q} List of FoI requests received, and their responses (disclosure log) http://www.durhampcc.
gov.uk/Transparency/Freedom-of-Information-(FOI).aspx
f3. {U} List of all gifts/donations and hospitality offered to staff of the office of the PCC, and whether these were
accepted or declined http://www.durham-pcc.gov.uk/Transparency/Gifts--Hospitality.aspx
1. For 2013-14 please provide information about how much of your Community Safety Fund has been
allocated to services relating to drug or alcohol use
2. Are you able to give any indication of what the allocation is likely to br in 2014-15 and what the
decision making process for next year’s funding will be in your police area?
3. Please describe how you engage with Health and Wellbeing Boards within your police area, and
what level of involvement you have in joint Strategic Needs Assessments and Joint Health and
Wellbeing Strategies.
4. Please describe whether you currently commission or are considering commissioning within the
next twelve months services funded by a Payment by Results (PbR) Mechanism, and if so, what
form that mechanism takes.
Response provided 30.10.13
1. The PCC has provided the following direct community safety funding in 2013/14 aimed at Drug and Alcohol
services:
£
County Durham Partnership DIP £157,418
County Durham Partnership – 4Real service
(Children and Young People Substance Misuse
Service)
46,372
County Durham Partnership Positive Futures
*figure is total funding for the service, one of their
priorities is to prevent and reduce drug and
alcohol misuse by young people with specific
focus on the top 3 alcohol related offences)
100,000*
Darlington DAAT 54,897
Total 258,787
The PCC has not yet determined the funding allocation for 2014-15, this will be considered as part of the
application process by partners and other bodies which will commence late 2013/early 2014.
4. The PCC is fully engaged with the Darlington Health and Wellbeing Board and attends meetings. He has made
representations regarding the County Durham Board but has yet to be invited to attend.
5. The PCC in his transition year determined to adopt a business as usual approach to funding in that previously
ring-fenced funds were passported back to the original budget holders. The recipients of the grants are required
to provide regular monitoring reports to the PCC on achievements against priorities. Work is currently underway
to develop a Commissioning Strategy which is likely to be implemented for future funding but as yet no decision
has been taken as to whether this will incorporate a payment by results approach.
I’m putting together some research in advance of the one year anniversary of the Police and Crime
Commissioner’s election. One area I’m keen to look at is the level of public engagement. Given that
Police Commissioners are accountable to the public I’m interested to see how many public meetings
have taken place or indeed what other events have led to public/commissioner relations.
Response provided on 28/10/2013:
Further to your enquiry below I can inform you that the Commissioner has attended 73 events or meetings which
have given an opportunity for engagement with the public. These include consultation events, seminars and
community engagement walkabouts arranged by his office the rest include the following:
Town and Parish Council meetings
PACT (Durham Constabulary Police and Communities Together) consultation meetings
Residents Association Meetings
MP’s surgeries
Radio Phone in interviews
On line consultation events
Whilst the above constitute the majority of meetings he has also accepted Individual invitations to attend public
meetings not fitting within any of the above and he has also met with individual members of the public to discuss
specific issues they have raised on a further 10 occasions.
I would also add that the PCC is an active user of Twitter and this is a further means by which he encourages
engagement.
I am making this request under the Freedom of Information Act.
1. How many items have been stolen from the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner since it
was created?
2. How much as a whole, cost wise, do the items stolen roughly amount to?
3. Can you provide a list of the range of items stolen?
4. What was the cheapest item stolen and how much does it cost?
5. What was the most expensive item stolen and how much did it cost?
Please email me at this address if you require any clarification.
Acknowledged and responded on 05/11/2013 advising to our knowledge there has been no instances of theft from
the ODPCC.
Dangerous Dogs Act Section 1 & 4B
1) Regarding the 'leave at home policy' for prohibited breeds who have not shown any cause for
concern, is it your intention to reduce the number of dogs seized and kenneled when suspected and
ID'd as type and encourage the use of ' leave at home' whilst legal proceedings take place?
2) Do the facilities you use for seized dogs held under the Dangerous Dogs Act practice and follow
the guidance published by the RSPCA 'A Good Practical Guide For Enforcement Bodies - Meeting
The Welfare Needs Of Seized Dogs In A Kennel Environment'?
3) If you do not use the above RSPCA guidance, do you have your own specific written guidance or
rely on the AWA?
4)How often are the facilities you use for seized kenneled dogs inspected by yourselves or the
RSPCA?
5)What procedures do you have for owners to follow if their dogs are returned in a bad condition or
die whilst being held?
6)In the event that a dog is destroyed under the Dangerous Dogs Act, do you allow the body to be
returned to the family for private burial or cremation?
7)Is your Dangerous Dogs Act Policy freely available for downloading from your website?
Yours faithfully,
Acknowledged and responded on 05/11/2013 advising not PCC enquiry and to re-send the enquiry to the force.
I would like to know the following in relation to the existence of a memorandum of understanding
between the Police and Crime Commissioner and the prison service/local prison governor:
a. Does the Commissioner have a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the prison service or
your local prison governor, which defines
i. what an “assault on a prison officer” is and
ii. the types of incidents suitable for prosecution?
Please note, if this document is not known as a “memorandum of understanding”, please provide
details of whatever document you have which defines what an “assault on a prison officer” is and
the incidents deemed suitable for prosecution.
b. If a MOU or other similar document exists, please provide a copy of the actual document by email.
c. If a MOU is not held by the Police and Crime Commissioner’s office, I would be grateful if you
would advise me who is now responsible for these. I understand these agreements were
previously held by the Police Authorities.
E mail response sent 4.12.13 stating that no such MOU in place and advising that this may be considered as part
of the introduction of a new Regional Prison Intelligence Service effective from 1.1.14
I have been looking at various frameworks/ contracts/ agreements Tenders Electronic Daily and I was
wondering if you could tell me the start and end dates (and values if possible) of the below
framework/contract. The TED name is in brackets:-
QTLE - 97XK2B - Case and Custody System.
(169339-2013; UK-Durham: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support)
We need this information as we are supporting a client on some frameworks/ contracts/ agreements
but to understand them we need to complete our records
Follow up enquiry
Are you able to confirm he start date for the contract?
Response sent by email 19.11.13
With reference to your enquiry regarding the Case and Custody System I can inform you that the total value of the
contract was £497,150. The agreement is to run for 3 years with option to extend for a further 7 x annuals to
cease in 2023
Could you please provide me with information on how much the PCC claimed in expenses in the first
12 months of office – November 2012 to October 2013.
Could the list please be broken down to include details on how much was claimed on travel, food, and
accommodation? Could you also provide details on the PCC’s mileage allowance?
Could the list please be provided in an Excel spreadsheet too?
E mail response 16.12.13 attaching detail of expenses claims and ODPCC direct payment for travel and
accommodation (only pdf format is held):
..\..\Allowances and Subsistence\PCC Claim Forms\PCC 1st Year Expenses.pdf
I am hoping you can help me in locating some current data and statistics (in accordance with the
Freedom of Information Act, 2000) on reported incidents of domestic abuse in Durham South,
particularily Teesdale and surrounding areas.
I am one of a group of local residents/business owners in Barnard Castle and we are researching the
need for domestic abuse support in our area.
We are hoping the information will help to confirm or dispute whether there is a need for additional
support to what is currently being provided.
If you are unable to help with this request I would be most grateful if you could advise me where I
would be able to find the information we require
E mail response sent 27.11.13 explaining that ODPCC does not hold the information requested and suggesting
that contact be made with Durham Constabulary
I would like to request details under the Freedom of Information Act of any previous convictions of
your PCC and their staff.
More specifically, I would like to know the following:
1. Details of any previous convictions of the Police and Crime Commissioner including:
1. a) The number of people employed by the Police and Crime Commissioner, including the PCC him
or herself, (including those suspended, subject to caution, etc.) who have criminal records (for
example, but not limited to, convictions, out-of-court disposals, etc.)
1. b) Of these, the number known to be on the Sex Offenders Register or have convictions or out-ofcourt
disposals for sex offences (of any type, including child sex).
2. For each case, please provide:
a) A description of the offence committed
b) The punishment received
c) The date of the conviction and the date when the crime was committed
E mail sent 27.11.13 proposing to transfer request to Durham Constabulary as they employ the majority of staff
but explaining that relevant information relating to PCC and PCC Team will be provided to Constabulary for
response
Please can you tell me how many complaints have been made, through the Police and Crime Panel,
against the Police and Crime Commissioner since November 2012 to date?
Please can you tell me how many complaints have been made, through the Police and Crime Panel,
against the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner since November 2012 to date?
E mail response sent 28.11.13 confirming 2 complaints against Police and Crime Commissioner and confirming
that Durham does not have a Deputy Commissioner
Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide me with full answers to each
of the following questions:
1. How much money was paid in bonuses, allowances and severance payments of any sort to Police
Authority staff in each of 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13?
2. What was the maximum bonus, allowance and severance payment made to any sort of Police
Authority staff member in each of 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13?
For the avoidance of doubt, by Police Authority staff I mean the chief executive, chief financial officer
etc of the Police Authority itself, not the civilian workers of the police force.
In addition, please can you tell me:
3. How much money has been spent on relocation allowances, private healthcare and car schemes
for your force’s chief officers in each of 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13?
4. What is the car scheme for your civilian chief officers ie Director of Resources, Director of Finance
etc? Please state if they have access to force fleet vehicles and if so, do they have emergency
response equipment (ie ‘blues and twos’) fitted?
Response sent on 16/12/2013 providing the following response
1. No payments
2. No payments
3. No expenditure on relocation allowances or private healthcare. Total expenditure on car schemes:
2010/11 £16,770
2011/12 £16,770
2012/13 £14,391
4. Allowance of £4306.64 per annum paid to Assistant Chief Officer
Under the terms of the Freedom of Information act I would like to respectfully request answers to the
following questions.
Does Durham Police and Crime Commissioner make use of any non-relational / NoSQL database
technologies such as MongoDB, Cassandra, RIAK, Hadoop or any proprietary non-relational
technologies if so which ones?
For what purpose are Durham Police and Crime Commissioner using these technologies?
Is the use of these as part of an agreed IT Strategy to use NoSQL technologies in place of traditional
relational database solutions?
E mail response sent 16.12.13 explaining that the PCC does not use any of the technologies mentioned within the
email.
1. The names of your proposed deputy PCCs, how they were appointed and if they are to be confirmed by a panel.
2. Their salaries, expected number of working hours per week and any other benefits they will receive ie pension, chauffeur, office.
3. Is the PCC using the old Police Authority offices or are they moving into a new building?
4. Will the PCC be asking the Chief Constable tore-apply for their job?
Response provided by PCC, email sent to reporter with response on 28/11/2012.
The response:
1. I shall not be appointing a deputy.
2. I take it that this refers to benefits for the Deputy, but to highlight one point in particular I personally shall not be having a chauffeur.
3. I will be using the old Police Authority offices, albeit I have negotiated an office with Darlington Borough Council also.
4. The Chief Constable is presently a temporary appointment and thus a selection competition will be required.
If you cannot find the information you need on this website, or within the Publication Scheme when this is available, you can make a request for information. Email pcvcmedia@durham-pcc.gov.uk to submit a request.
Or by post:
Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner
Police Headquarters
Aykley Heads
Durham
DH1 5TT
Complaint rights
If an applicant is unhappy with how a request has been handled or think the decision is incorrect, they have the right to require the Durham Police and crime Commissioners Office to review their decision. Prior to lodging a formal complaint, an applicant is welcomed and encouraged to discuss the decision with the case officer who dealt with the request.
Ask to have the decision looked at again.
The quickest and easiest way to have the decision looked at again is to telephone the case officer that is nominated at the end of the decision letter.
That person will be able to discuss the decision, explain any issues and assist with any problems.
Complaint:
If an applicant is dissatisfied with the handling procedures or the decision of Durham Police and Crime Commissioners Office made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding access to information, they can lodge a complaint with Durham Police and Crime Commissioners Office to have the decision reviewed.
The Information Commissioner
If, after lodging a complaint with Durham Police and Crime Commissioners Office an applicant is still dissatisfied with the decision, they 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 Freedom of Information Act (2000).
For information on how to make application to the Information Commissioner, please visit their website.
Please note: The PCC's Office does not hold operational policing information. Requests of this nature should be sent directly to Durham Constabulary.
Email foi@durham.police.uk to submit a request.
Further information about Freedom of Information is available from the Information Commissioner’s (ICO) Office website.
