FOI Training Budget (0239-2022/23)
Request
Q1. What is your total annual training budget?
Q2. How is your annual training budget allocated across the organisation?
Q3. What are your training priorities for 2022/2023?
Q4. Which public sector frameworks do you use for training, learning and development services?
Q5. Which external providers for learning, development and training do you use?
Q6. Please provide your organisation's learning and development strategy (or similarly titled document).
Response
Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information
To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police. I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police.
Decision
I have today decided to disclose some of the located information to you.
Q1. What is your total annual training budget?
£828,700
Q2. How is your annual training budget allocated across the organisation?
North Yorkshire Police annual training budget is split across mandatory and core training requirements alongside bids and requests from Departments based on individual requirements.
Q3. What are your training priorities for 2022/2023?
North Yorkshire Police training priorities for 2022/23 will be all mandatory training as well as specific Child Protection training arising out of the National Child Protection Inspection.
Q4. Which public sector frameworks do you use for training, learning and development services?
North Yorkshire Police use “YPO – Training for the Emergency Services Framework 000532” and the Bluelight Procurement Database.
Q5. Which external providers for learning, development and training do you use?
I am exempting providing a complete response to this request citing sections 23(5) and 31 of the Freedom Of Information Act. Please see the exemption explanations at the end of this letter for a complete rationale behind the application of these sections.
Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a Refusal Notice in response to part of Q5 of your request.
Other External Training Providers to North Yorkshire Police
TALK SUICIDE
ACCURACY INTERNATIONAL LTD
AI TRAINING SERVICES LTD
AP TRAINING & CONSULTANCY
BADGER SOFTWARE LTD
BLAUER TACTICAL SYSTEMS TRAINING
BYWATER
CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY
CAST SOLUTIONS
CHILD RESCUE COALITION EU
CITY OF YORK COUNCIL
CLAY PIGEON SHOOTING ASSOCIATION
CLEVELAND CONSTABULARY
COLLEGE OF POLICING
DATATAG ID LTD
DGSA TECH LTD
DPM TRAINING LTD
DRONEFLIGHT LTD
DURHAM CONSTABULARY
EMERGENCY PLANNING COLLEGE
ENRICO SMOG PRACTITIONERS
FOCUS TRAINING
GRASS ROOTS SUICIDE PREVENTION
GREATER MANCHESTER POLICE
HAMPSHIRE CONSTABULARY
HC-UK CONFERENCES LTD
HEIGHTEC
HELSTON GUNSMITHS LTD
HIGH LIMITED
HORIZON PLATFORMS
HUMBER AND NORTH YORKSHIRE HEALTHCARE PARTNERSHIP
HUMBERSIDE POLICE
I2I MCA LTD
INDEPENDENT DOMESTIC ABUSE SERVICES
INSTITUTE OF LICENSING
IVECO UK (TECHNICAL TRAINING)
JOHN GAUNT & PARTNERS
LANCASHIRE CONSTABULARY
LEICESTERSHIRE CONSTABULARY
LION LABORATORIES LTD
LIVINGWORKS EDUCATION
MAXAM TRAINING LTD
MCCANN TRAINING
MENTAL HEALTH LEARNING
MERSEYSIDE POLICE
METROPOLITAN POLICE SERVICE
MHFA ENGLAND
MICHELIN TYRES
NORFOLK CONSTABULARY
NORTH YORKS FIRE & RESCUE TRG SCHOOL
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE POLICE
NORTHERN SAFETY LTD
NPS INFINITY
NSAF LIMITED
NYCC
OPEN TEXT
OPTO TRAINING
PEARLCATCHERS
PLANT AND SAFETY TRAINING YORKSHIRE LTD
POLICE CRIME PREVENTION INITIATIVES LTD
POLICE SCOTLAND
PORTABLE APPLIANCE SAFETY SERVICES (PASS)
PRIMETAKE LTD
PUBLIC HEALTH ENGLAND
QUALSAFE LTD
REALITY MARTIAL ARTS LIMITED
RIFLECRAFT LTD
RSS LIMITED
SANCUS SOLUTIONS LTD
SHAUN HURD
SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY
SHORTEST PATH TRAINING LTD
SOUTH WALES POLICE
SOUTH YORKSHIRE POLICE
SURREY POLICE
THATCHAM
TRIMTRAINING
TURNKEY INSTRUMENTS
UKAS
UNIPAR
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN
VIKING ARMS
WEST MIDLANDS POLICE
WEST YORKSHIRE POLICE
WISE GLOBAL TRAINING LTD
YORKSHIRE AMBULANCE SERVICE NHS TRUST
ZERO SUICIDE ALLIANCE
Q6. Please provide yourorganisation's learning and development strategy (or similarly titled document)
Please see below North Yorkshire Police’ Learning and Development Principles.
“Our view is that there are opportunities for development everywhere. Learning is not just about attending courses, it is about how we improve what we do, based on all that we experience.
- Development is everywhere – it is not just about attending courses
- Development is my responsibility – As an individual, you need to be proactive about the development that you need
- Thinking is the beginning – the first stage of your development is giving some thought to the development that you need.
North Yorkshire Police is evolving and in order to meet these needs, learning and development enabling services are changing to support this. Our main priority is to find solutions to meet organisational and individual development needs, providing resources that are available 24/7. We are looking to embrace technological advances and provide innovative solutions which meet the organisational needs whilst supporting a learning culture.
Learning Culture - A learning culture is a collection of organisational conventions, values, practices and processes. These conventions encourage employees and organizations develop knowledge and competence. An organization with a learning culture encourages continuous learning and believes that systems influence each other.
Aim - Is to enable and support every individual to realise the impact of working at their optimum performance on their own goals, their team and NYP.
70 : 20 : 10 Model
The 70 : 20 : 10 approach highlights that the majority of learning and development comes through experiential and social learning in the workplace (the '70' and the '20') rather than through formal courses and classes (the '10')
Your L&D Team design, deliver and provide training in the following categories:
- Professional Development – Police Constables, Special Constables, PCSOs and Transferees
- Skills Development – Digital, Personal Safety Training, Driving, Custody, Investigators
- Management Development – Mental Health awareness, Business Administration, Customer Service, Equality and Diversity, Leading Teams, Managing Attendance and Performance, Wellbeing and Mindfulness, Psychologically Safe and Responsible Manager, Negotiations Skills, Presentation Skills, Positive Action, Tutor and Assessor
- Career Development – National Police Promotion Framework (NPPF) stage II and IV, National Investigators' Examination (NIE), Strengths Based Development and Secondments
- Leadership Development – Core Modules – Intent based Leadership, Performance Coaching, Communications, Advanced modules for Senior Managers – Executive Coaching
- Personal / Self Development – Unconscious Bias, MBTI, 360 Feedback, Coaching, Mentoring, College of Policing Bursary, PNAC and Apprenticeships and Professional Membership
- Operational Development – PACE, Stop and Search, Missing from Home, JESIP and Crime”
Exemption Explanations
Section 17 of the Act requires North Yorkshire Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which: (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies. Please see the relevant exemption headers below for further information.
Partial NCND S23(5) Freedom Of Information Act.
North Yorkshire Police can neither confirm nor deny that it holds any other information with regard to an exempt body as the duty in Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not apply by virtue of the following exemption:
Section 23 – Information Supplied by, or Relating to, Bodies Dealing with Security Matters
Section 23 is an absolute class-based exemption therefore I am not required to articulate the harm or the public interest in the confirmation or denial of information being held.
Confirming or denying the existence of whether any other information is held would contravene the constrictions laid out within Section 23 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in that this stipulates a generic bar on disclosure of any information applied by, or concerning Security Bodies.
To give a statement of the reasons why neither confirming nor denying is appropriate in this case would itself involve the disclosure of exempt information, therefore under S.17(4), no explanation can be given. To the extent that S.23 applies, North Yorkshire Police have determined that in all circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exclusion of the duty to neither confirm nor deny outweighs the public interest in confirming whether or not the information is held.
Section 31(1)(a)(b) – Law Enforcement
Section 31(1)(a)(b) is a prejudice based qualified exemption and there is a requirement to articulate the harm that would be caused in the disclosure of any information, as well as carrying out a public interest test.
Evidence of Harm
Modern day policing is intelligence led and law enforcement depends upon the development of intelligence and the gathering and security of evidence in order to disrupt criminal behaviour and bring offenders to justice. As criminals adapt and exploit new technology, the police need to respond by overcoming these barriers in order to meet their responsibilities.
In Q5 the information requested relates to disclosing external providers of learning, development and training to the force.
Revealing information regarding training for operationally sensitive areas of policing, including the use of covert tactics, would give perpetrators the opportunity to further explore police training delivery organisations used and thus determine the focus of police training and investigation. This would enable criminals to determine what tactics are currently being utilised and how, giving them invaluable information on current policing practices which they could then use to instigate countermeasures in order to avoid detection.
This would undermine the process of preventing or detecting crime and the apprehension of prosecution of offenders.
Public Interest Considerations:
Factors favouring Disclosure
Disclosure of the information would raise the general public’s awareness that the police are effectively training officers and staff and appropriately investigating crime enhancing North Yorkshire Police’s ability to deliver effective operational law enforcement.
Factors favouring Non-Disclosure
The current and future law enforcement role of the force may be compromised by the release of this information having a negative impact on the effectiveness of the force.
In this case, for the reasons outlined in the evidenced harm, the effectiveness of current and future strategies when carrying out investigations and gathering evidence may be compromised.
The personal safety of individuals and the general public is of paramount importance to the Police Service and must be considered in response of every release. A disclosure under Freedom of Information is a release to the world and, in this case, disclosing any information relating to sensitive areas of operational policing, including covert policing, would undermine the process of any investigative inquiry relating to specific offences.
Balancing Test
As always the Freedom of Information Act has a presumption of disclosure, unless when balancing the competing public interest factors prejudice to the community outweighs the benefits. In this case, there is an argument for disclosure, inasmuch as the public have a right to know that every effort is made to protect the public through effective and adequate training in all areas of policing, but this must be balanced against the negative impact these disclosures can make.
Law Enforcement is reliant on community engagement, intelligence and evidence gathering and when it is appropriate, information is given to the public. What has been established in this case is the fact that disclosure of information relating to certain external training providers would have an adverse effect on the investigative process and on the prevention or detection of crime and the apprehension or prosecution of offenders. This places the victims of such offending at a greater risk, which is not is not an action the Police Service would be willing to take. These negatives outweigh any tangible community benefit and therefore the balance does not favour disclosure at this time.
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.