FOI 357-24 Protests

Enquiry Reference:  357 - 24                                                                                            

 

I write in connection with regards to your Freedom of Information request.  Below is your request and our response.

 

What is the general response to planned and unplanned protests ?

 

Do you consider some protests more dangerous than others ?

 

What are your thoughts on counter protest ?

 

Do you think the topic of the protest affects the nature of the protest ? 

 

Do you think there is an unfair expectation on police when dealing with protest ? 

 

In regard to your request for information, this is not a valid request under Section 8 of the Freedom of information act. The act only extents to request for recorded information and not opinions or explanations, please see below on how to access information.

 

https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/official-information/ .

 

In accordance with section 84 of FOIA, responses relate to recorded information held by a public authority and do not extend to providing explanations unless the answers are already held in a recorded form.  Section 84 of the Act states: "Information is defined in section 84 of the Act as 'information recorded in any form'. The Act therefore only extends to requests for recorded information. It does not require public authorities to answer questions generally; only if they already hold the answers in recorded form. The Act does not extend to requests for information about policies or their implementation, or the merits or demerits of any proposal or action - unless, of course, the answer to any such request is already held in recorded form." This is explained within ICO Decision Notice FS50191203, which states at paragraph 18: ‘Set out at Section 84, the right of access under the Act is defined as the right to access recorded information held by a public authority. A public authority is under no obligation to create new information, provide general explanations or opinions.

 

Outside of the Act, please find the below two links that might help answer your questions.

 

Our involvement in events and processions | Cleveland Police

Protest-Operational-Advice-2022.pdf (college.police.uk)

 

The Cleveland Police response to your request is unique and it should be noted that Police Forces do not use generic systems or identical procedures to capture and record data therefore responses from Cleveland Police should not be used as a comparison with any other force response you receive.

 

If you are not satisfied with this response or any actions taken in dealing with your request, you have the right to request an independent internal review of your case under our review procedure. The APP College of Policing guidance states that a request for internal review should be made within 20 working days of the date on this response or 40 working days if extenuating circumstances to account for the delay can be evidenced.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Information Rights Decision Maker