FOI Incorrect Vetting (0126-2022/23)

Request

In the calendar years 2016 to 2021 (inclusive), how many times did a police officer hold a sensitive post – such as child protection, major crime investigation, and informant handling – without being cleared to the level of security vetting needed.

Response
Extent of Searches to Locate Information

Following receipt of your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police to locate relevant information. 

Decision

I am not obliged to provide you with a response to your request pursuant to Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). Please note that when one part of your request falls under Section 12, we are not obliged to review the rest of the questions and the whole request is therefore exempt.

Section 12(1) applies to your request as the cost of complying with your request is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond i.e. the cost of identifying and retrieving any relevant information exceeds the ‘appropriate level’ as stated in the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.

Due to the nature of our recording systems the information requested, if held, is not in an easily retrievable format. In order to retrieve the requested information, it would be necessary to go through a list of all sensitive posts with detail as to who was in that role from 2016-2021 (these change as often as every 3 months) and then we’d need to go through the vetting database to check what vetting level was held at that time, which would exceed the time limit allowed under the Act. 

Please note that all officer moves should be notified to the vetting unit by People Services and any actions required (eg – a vetting uplift) are undertaken by the vetting unit.

Pursuant to Section 17(5) of the Freedom of Information Act this letter acts as a Refusal Notice.

Pursuant to Section 16 of the Act I am required to offer you advice and assistance with regarding to refining your request to within the ‘appropriate limit’ (time/cost limit). However, due to the information provided above I am unable to suggest how you may refine your request and still receive the information within the cost threshold.  If you wish to discuss this please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.