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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 73-2023
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 17th January 2023 as follows:
Q1. Can I please ask how many payments and the combined total of payments have been made for compensation claims from your police force in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022? Can these be sent as separate annual totals?
Q2. Further, can I have the details - within the limits of privacy and protection - for any individual compensation payments over £50,000 within these years. If, for instance, a compensation has been granted for a death in custody, could the reason, gender and age of victim, prison and total compensation be cited? If any of these would violate the FOI and as such result in a rejection, please redact and proceed on the others.
I'd also like this separated into police officer compensation and civilian compensation please.
On 14th February 2023, a request for clarification was sent to you as follows:
Please can you clarify whether you are asking for information in relation to compensation paid out to police officers and compensation paid out to civilians (i.e., the public/third parties - NOT employees), or are you asking for compensation paid out to police officers and civilian staff and not to the public at all?
On 17th February 2023 you replied as follows:
My apologies, "civilians" in this sense would apply to members of the public, and police staff and officers would be a different category, if that makes sense.
On 17th February 2023, a further request for clarification was sent to you as follows:
Can I just clarify, in relation to your request, where you have stated 'police officer', do you also mean for us to include police staff in that category, or are you only interested in compensation paid to police officers and members of the public?
Please also note that, regarding compensation paid to officers and/or staff, we can only provide information in relation to where an individual has sued the force (such as an accident at work). Compensation issued to an officer or staff member, as a result of the criminal actions of others (such as when they have been assaulted by a suspect whilst on duty), is awarded by the courts.
On 17th February 2023 you replied as follows:
Yes please, I think it would be easier for the purposes of this request to have members of the public as one, and then police officers and civilian staff in one separate total.
Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in providing the response to your request and for any inconvenience this may have caused. Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.
Q1 response: I can advise that the requested information is held; however, not all is suitable for disclosure in the requested format.
Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Warwickshire 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.
The exemption applicable in this case is:
Section 40(2) Personal Information
Section 40 is an absolute class-based exemption, which does not require evidence of the harm disclosure would cause and does not require consideration of a public interest test. That being said, where Section 40(2) is engaged, in order to make the exemption absolute there needs to be evidence that a Data Protection Principle would be breached by disclosure.
This exemption is engaged where disclosure of information relates to personal data of a third party or could lead to the identification of an individual, either from that information alone or combined with any other information from within the Police Service or public domain. In this case, due to low numbers, providing compensation payments for officers and staff broken down by year is likely to lead to the identification of personal information in relation to an individual. Such a disclosure would breach individuals’ rights under the Data Protection Act 2018, in particular Article 5(1) of the GDPR which states that personal data shall be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject.
This letter serves as a refusal notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act, for the yearly breakdown. Instead, the information has been provided for the whole period. Please see below the information I am able to provide.
Q1 response: Please note that Warwickshire Police were in a strategic alliance with West Mercia Police between 2014 and April 2020. Due to this, information relating to compensation claims by members of the public, made prior to April 2020, is not held.
Year |
Number of payments |
Combined total of payments £ |
2020 |
10 |
7301.1 |
2021 |
24 |
25854.54 |
2022 |
8 |
11981 |
Grand Total |
42 |
45136.64 |
*The above table refers to compensation payments made to civilians/members of the public in years 2020-2022. Please note that a compensation payment may not have been issued within the same year that a claim was made.
Year |
Number of payments |
Combined total of payments £ |
2018 |
5 |
27200 |
2019 |
||
2020 |
||
2021 |
||
2022 |
||
Grand Total |
5 |
27200 |
*The above table refers to compensation payments made to officers and/or staff in years 2018-2022, located under payment code ‘damages’. Please note that payment may not have been issued the same year a claim was made.
Q2 response: Not applicable.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided is as accurate as possible.
Your attention is drawn to the below which details your right of complaint.
Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write or email the Freedom of Information Unit quoting the reference number above.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Officer
Freedom of Information Unit
Warwickshire Police
PO Box 4
Leek Wootton
Warwickshire
CV35 7QB