27th February 2014 – FOI Response: 976.2013-14 – Freedom of information request
Request
I note the decision by the Police and Crime Commissioner to deny the public sight of the legal advice pertaining to the now illegal payments made to Chief Police Officers in North Yorkshire.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/081_cpo_review_pcc_decision_noti
I would like to ask some questions regarding the specific types of payments and who originated the idea regarding those particular payment types. The payment types I refer to are the four listed on pages 27/28 of the 086-Documents-Final PDF document available on your website
Who originated the suggestion of the Chief Officer’s ‘Personal Car Allowance’?
Who originated the suggestion of the Chief Officer’s ‘Medical Allowance’?
Who originated the suggestion of the Chief Officer’s ‘Development Allowance’?
Who originated the suggestion of the Chief Officer’s ‘CC & DCC Business Allowance’?
Response
Extent and Result of Searches
Searches were carried out within the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) and I confirm that the information you have requested is held by the Commissioner.
Decision
I have interpreted your request as referring to the origination of the payments made to the Chief Officers reviewed in the report, rather than to the origination of the allowances generally. I hope this is satisfactory but please contact me if you wish to discuss this further.
The following link will take you to the Report of the Review of Chief Police Officer Remuneration Terms and Conditions commissioner by Chief Constable Dave Jones and Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan:
https://www.northyorkshire-pfcc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/CPO-Payments-Report.pdf
The following link will take you to the documents bundle that accompanies the report:
https://www.northyorkshire-pfcc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/086-Documents-Final.pdf
The primary document includes the Police Authority Management papers and other documents which deal with the introduction of the personal car, development and business allowances.
The medical allowance was already in place prior to the period under review but the papers available by the link above include a re-examination of all such payments during Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell and Deputy Chief Constable Adam Briggs’ time in office.
You can access this information via the above two links. I am not obliged to provide you with a separate copy of this information as it is already published. I have explained further about this below.
Exempt Information
Information that is already published: I have provided you with links to information that is already published. I have not provided you with a separate copy of this information as I am exempt from doing so under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act, as the information is reasonably accessible by other means. Section 21 is a class based absolute exemption which does not require consideration of the harm or public interest when applying this exemption.
Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) requires the Commissioner when refusing to provide information because the information is exempt, to provide the applicant with a notice which: (a) states the fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if it would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies. Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a Refusal Notice in relation to the exempted parts of your request.
Complaint Rights
Your attention is drawn to the attached sheet which details your right of complaint.