Provision of information held by Northumbria Police made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the 'Act')
As you may be aware the purpose of the Act is to allow a general right of access to information held at the time of a request, by a Public Authority (including the Police), subject to certain limitations and exemptions.
You asked:
1. Between the 1st Jan 2018 and 10th May 2021 how many misconduct and Special Case Hearings hearings has your force held in total? please break down by calendar year and month
2. Between the 1st Jan 2018 and 10th May 2021 how many misconduct hearings has your force held in private which could have been held in public but a decision had been taken by the LQC that it would be held in private
3. How many times between the above 2 dates have you invited representations from media and other interested parties before deciding that a hearing should be held in private and what form has that invitation taken? eg email, letter or public notification.? Please provide details of all media outlets that have been advised and how many times the IOPC have been invited to make representations, as to whether a hearing, should be held in private
Your attention is drawn to section 11.80 pages 134 of the Home Office Guidance Conduct, Efficiency and Effectiveness:
Statutory Guidance on Professional Standards, Performance and Integrity in Policing:
Which states
11.80 At the pre-hearing, the chair will have discussed with participants the reporting restrictions or exclusions from the hearing proposed by the appropriate authority or the officer concerned. This will not be a final determination but an initial position from which, following public notification, the chair will be able to take representations (see Regulation 36(3) and (5) of the Conduct Regulations) from: a) the officer concerned, b) the appropriate authority, c) the complainant, d) any interested person, e) witnesses, f) the Director-General, g) representatives of the media
Guidance
Your attention is drawn to page 131-132 of the Home Office Guidance Conduct, Efficiency and Effectiveness: Statutory Guidance on Professional Standards, Performance and Integrity in Policing Version 1 published on February 5th 2020
I am seeking to find out the numerical difference between the number of public misconduct hearings that had been scheduled and the number that had been held in private during a 3 year period eg 10 public misconduct hearings have been scheduled but it had been decided that 4 of those were to be held in private
I further seek information on the number of times that the media and the IOPC has been advised in advance of pre-hearing to decide if a public misconduct hearing should be held in private and have been invited to make representations before that decision was made
In Response:
Following receipt of your request, searches were conducted with the Professional Standards Department of Northumbria Police. I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by Northumbria Police.
I am able to disclose the located information to you as follows, with the following caveats noted:
• The information below has been sourced from records held within PSD.
• All police staff hearings are conducted in private, unlike police officers where the decision to hold a hearing in private or public is decided by the legally Qualified Chair for each hearing. All hearings are advertised on the Northumbria Police website including ones which are being held in private.
• Please note that there have been no Public hearings since March 2020 due to COVID-19.
|
Years |
Date of Meeting / Hearing |
Public Or Private Hearing |
Hearing |
Special Case Hearing |
|
2018 |
Jan |
Private ( Police Staff) |
1 |
|
|
Feb |
Private ( Police Staff) |
1 |
||
|
Apr |
Private ( Police Staff) |
2 |
||
|
Jun |
Public |
1 |
||
|
Sep |
Public |
2 |
||
|
Oct |
Public |
2 |
||
|
Private ( Police Staff) |
2 |
|||
|
Nov |
Private ( Police Staff) |
3 |
||
|
Dec |
Public |
1 |
||
|
2019 |
Feb |
Public |
1 |
|
|
May |
Public |
2 |
||
|
Private ( Police Staff) |
1 |
|||
|
Jun |
Public |
2 |
||
|
Jul |
Public |
1 |
||
|
Sep |
Public |
1 |
||
|
Private ( Police Staff) |
1 |
|||
|
Oct |
Public |
1 |
||
|
Private ( Police Staff) |
2 |
|||
|
Nov |
Public |
1 |
||
|
Dec |
Private |
1 |
||
|
2020 |
Feb |
Public |
1 |
|
|
Mar |
Private |
1 |
||
|
Jun |
Private |
1 |
2 |
|
|
Private ( Police Staff) |
1 |
|||
|
Jul |
Private |
1 |
||
|
Aug |
Private |
2 |
||
|
Private ( Police Staff) |
1 |
|||
|
Sep |
Private |
1 |
||
|
Private ( Police Staff) |
1 |
|||
|
Oct |
Private ( Police Staff) |
1 |
||
|
Nov |
Private ( Police Staff) |
3 |
||
|
Dec |
Private ( Police Staff) |
2 |
||
|
2021 |
Jan |
Private ( Police Staff) |
1 |
|
|
Apr |
Private ( Police Staff) |
1 |
||
|
May |
Private ( Police Staff) |
1 |
||
|
Jun |
Hearing yet to take place |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Private ( Police Staff) |
1 |
|||
|
Total |
47 |
6 |
