Request for key word search in relation to any correspondence relating to Drug Consumption Rooms / facilities / centres (or Overdose Prevention Rooms / facilities / centres)
Reference: 19019
Date Added: Dydd Iau, 6 Chwefror 2020
Category:
Disclosure Details
Question
I write to request copies of the following under the Freedom of Information Act 2000:
Any correspondence relating to Drug Consumption Rooms / facilities / centres (or Overdose Prevention Rooms / facilities / centres). If it is possible to do keyword searches on “drug consumption” and “overdose prevention”, this would suffice.
For guidance, I am seeking correspondence sent or received by the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner between 1 January 2019 and today (13 January 2020).
Answer
Two duties are placed on public authorities under Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). Notwithstanding applicable exemptions, the first duty at, Section 1(1) (a), is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held. The second duty at, Section1 (1) (b), is to disclose information that has been confirmed as being held. Under the provisions of those sections of the FOIA, we can confirm that the information you seek is held by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent. Please find responses below.
I write to request copies of the following under the Freedom of Information Act 2000:
- Any correspondence relating to Drug Consumption Rooms / facilities / centres (or Overdose Prevention Rooms / facilities / centres). If it is possible to do keyword searches on “drug consumption” and “overdose prevention”, this would suffice.
For guidance, I am seeking correspondence sent or received by the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner between 1 January 2019 and today (13 January 2020).
Four emails were identified by undertaking the above keyword searches within the specified dates – a copy of these redacted emails are attached, two of which relate to articles that have been publicised. The emails have been redacted under section 40(2) and 40(3A)(a) of the FOIA. In this case, our view is that disclosure would breach the first data protection principle. This states that personal data should be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to individuals. It is the fairness aspect of this principle which, in our view, would be breached by disclosure We do not routinely publish names or direct contact details of staff members (other than those of the Executive Team consisting of the PCC/DPCC/Chief Executive and Chief Finance Officer) or of other people who have submitted a request to us for information and do not believe that they would expect this to be the case when contacting us. We have therefore removed the names and contact details of the relevant people but have provided you with the content of the email. For your information section 40(2) in these circumstances is an absolute exemption and there is no requirement for us to consider the public interest test.
A basic log is kept of all post received by the OPCC, however, post is not retained once it has been dealt with. Having checked the log there is no post on the log related to your search criteria.
The Freedom of Information Act is a public disclosure regime, not a private regime. Any information disclosed under the Act is thereafter deemed to be in the public domain, and therefore freely available to the general public and will be published on the OPCC website.
I hope this information is satisfactory to your request however, should you feel dissatisfied with this response or the way in which your request was handled, information on the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent FOI Appeals Procedure can be found on our website: www.gwent.pcc.police.uk/en/transparency/know-your-rights/your-information-rights/freedom-of-information/appeals-process/