Your commissioner Zoë Metcalfe

Your Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe

Your Commissioner - Your Voice

Commissioner Zoë can ask questions on your behalf in her Online Public Meeting with the Chief Constable or Chief Fire Officer. Ask your question and find out more.

Home - 4 May 2018 – 0840.2017-18 – Attendance at the Conservative party conference

4 May 2018 – 0840.2017-18 – Attendance at the Conservative party conference

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 0840.2017-18  

I write in connection with your request for information which was received by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire on 06 November 2017. Please accept our apologies for the delay in providing you with a response.  I note you seek access to the following information:

Request

  1. Did your PCC, their deputy or any OPCC staff attend the Conservative party conference in October this year? If not, you may disregard the below questions
  2. If so, how many people attended, for how long and did they take annual leave?
  3. How much public money was spent on:
  4. Accommodation – please name the hotel where they stayed
  5. Travel – please state what type of transport and class of travel (ie first class etc)
  6. Entertainment and subsistence – please name any restaurants where meals eaten
  7. Sundry expenses
  8. Was there any correspondence between the PCC and anyone within the OPCC regarding any aspect of the trip including the cost? If so please provide copies

Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information

To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire (OPCC).

I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by the OPCC.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you.

1) I can confirm that the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire (NYPCC) attended the Conservative party conference in October 2017.

2) The NYPCC attended for 4 days and leave was taken by the NYPCC for the attendance.

3) No public money was spent on; Accommodation, Travel, Entertainment and Subsistence or Sundry Expenses.

4) Please find enclosed email correspondence between the NYPCC and OPCC staff relating to the Conservative party conference in October 2017.

Redactions have been made to exempt material under section 40(2) – Personal Information

Section 17 of the Act requires North Yorkshire Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which: (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies. Please see the relevant exemption headers below for further information.

Exemptions Explained

Section 40 – Personal Information

Section 40(2) is an absolute class based exemption, which does not require a public interest test, but requires the balancing of the legitimate interests of the public against the interests of the individual under the first Data Protection Principle (that of ‘fairness’.) 

This exemption applies because the right given under the Act to request official information held by public authorities does not apply to the personal data of third parties where disclosure of that information would not be fair to the individual, and where there is no legitimate public interest in disclosure.

In all the circumstances of the case it has been determined that the duty to the individual under the Data Protection Act 1998, and the public interest in maintaining the exemption from disclosure of personal information held by the force in such instances, outweighs the public interest in disclosure.  In this instance, personal information can only be disclosed to the individual concerned.

Releasing personal details to a person other than the data subject would not only breach the data subject’s Data Protection rights it may also breach the obligations placed on an authority under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.

Complaint Rights

Your attention is drawn to the attached sheet which details your right of complaint.

If you have any queries concerning this request, please contact me quoting the reference number above.

Yours sincerely