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| Freedom of Information - Request Information |
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Any information not available from the Publication Scheme can be requested from Tayside Police.
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 is fully retrospective and covers all information held in a recorded format. Under the Act, Tayside Police must consider all requests for recorded information it receives and must:
The deadline for a public authority to respond to Freedom of Information requests is 20 working days. Section 73 of the Act defines a "working day" as any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday, Christmas Day or a day which, under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971, is a bank holiday in Scotland. A list of Scottish Bank holidays is available on the Scottish Government's website. Where clarification of a request is required, the process is suspended until clarification is received. On receipt of clarification from the applicant, the process resumes and the Force has 20 working days thereafter to provide a response. If no clarification is received within 40 working days, Tayside Police will consider the request withdrawn. HOW TO OBTAIN INFORMATION To make a valid request under the Freedom of Information Act, the following criteria must be met :
Requests made to Tayside Police under the Freedom of Information Act should be sent to : Freedom of Information Officer Tayside Police Headquarters PO Box 59 West Bell Street Dundee DD1 9JU Telephone 01382 596169 / 596644 Fax 01382 596048 Email information@tayside.pnn.police.uk It must be understood that email is not always reliable and Tayside Police cannot be held responsible for non-delivery of your email to our network. In addition, should your email be infected with a computer virus it will be deleted and, in line with best security practice, receipt will not be acknowledged. It is recommended that if you do not receive a response to your email that you use an alternative means of communication. WHY MIGHT MY REQUEST BE REFUSED? The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 provides individuals with a general right of access to information held by Scottish Public Authorities. There are times, however, when it will not be appropriate for certain types of information to be released into the public domain. As such, the Act allows authorities to withhold information in certain, limited, circumstances. The following list is not exhaustive but details some of the more common reasons why Tayside Police may refuse to provide you with the information you have requested. The information is not held by Tayside Police In terms of Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, Tayside Police can only deal with requests for information that is recorded and held. It may be the case that the information sought has never been held by Tayside Police or even that the information was once held but has since been destroyed in accordance with the ACPOS Retention Policy. The information is otherwise available In terms of Section 25 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, Tayside Police will refuse to provide information already available in the public domain. In these circumstances, every effort will be made to direct the applicant to the relevant source of the information. Retrieval of the information sought would exceed the Statutory Cost Limit In terms of Section 12 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, the cost limit for responding to FOI requests is £600 which equates to 40 hours worth of work. Where it is estimated that the request for information is likely to exceed the statutory cost limit, the request will be refused by Tayside Police on the grounds of cost. The applicant has requested information about themselves In terms of Section 38(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, Tayside Police will refuse to provide information which constitutes personal data of which the person is the subject. This is covered by a separate process known as a subject access request and falls under the remit of the Data Protection Act 1998. The applicant has requested information about a third party In terms of Section 38(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, Tayside Police will refuse to provide information which constitutes personal data of a third party where it's release would breach any of the Data Protection Principles set out in part one, schedule one of the Data Protection Act 1998. Information concerning police investigations In terms of Section 34 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, Tayside Police will refuse to provide information which has been gathered for the purposes of an investigation unless there are compelling issues of public interest that require the disclosure of information. This public interest must be significantly more than mere curiosity or interest in a particular investigation in order to negate issues of personal privacy and possible harm to individuals involved in the investigation. In order to ensure that these public interest issues are fully considered, all applications for information concerning investigations will be considered on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the requirements of the Act. Police investigations are conducted with due regard to the confidentiality and privacy of victims, witnesses and suspects. It is further recognised that the release of information concerning current investigations may compromise any subsequent court proceedings. For these reasons Tayside Police will, in most cases, seek to apply an exemption to prevent the release of information concerning investigations when requested under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. For further details on any of the exemptions referred to above or for details of the other exemptions set out in the Act, please refer to the website of the Scottish Information Commissioner. |
