Information

Request

I would like to request the following information be released under the Freedom of Information Act:

– Please tell me the name of the member of the public who made the initial complaint about Chief Constable Nick Adderley that is now being investigated by the IOPC.

To be clear, I am not asking for details of the investigation or the contents of the complaint, just the name of the complainer.

I appreciate that this is likely not information you would usually release but, given the exceptional circumstances of the complaint, I strongly believe it is in the public interest for it to be released and I would therefore urge you to do so.

Response

The Office of the Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (OPFCC) can neither confirm nor deny, that it holds the information you have requested. Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires the OPFCC when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt within the provisions of the Act) is required to provide you, the applicant, with a Notice which:

(a) States the fact,

(b) Specifies the exemption in question, and

(c) States (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.

The exemption applicable to your request are:

S40(5) Personal Information

Section 40 is a class based absolute exemption and there is no requirement to consider the public interest in this case.

Section 40(5) – Personal data

Consideration on applying this exemption is subject to whether the disclosure of any information would lead to identifying individuals and place information pertaining to them into the public domain. This constitutes personal data which would, if released, be in breach of the rights provided by the Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulations; namely the first data protection principle, which states that personal data will be processed lawfully, fairly and transparently. It is my view that the request runs counter to the three requirements prescribed by law and that there is no lawful basis to provide this information.

No inference can be taken from this refusal that information does or does not exist.

Furthermore, The OPFCC plays a central role in the recording and management of complaints against Northamptonshire Police and it is essential that individuals have the confidence that any complaints are treated seriously, efficiently and confidentially. The OPFCC will not divulge whether any information is or is not held if to do so would undermine the complaints process or any IOPC investigations. Whilst there is a public interest in the transparency and standards of policing, there is a very strong public interest in safeguarding the integrity the complaints process in this very sensitive area.

This is an absolute exemption and no public interest test is required.