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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 630-2024
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 8th July 2024 as follows:
A full list of the Chief Constables to have led your force from 2005 to present. This should include:
(1) their names
(2) their tenure - the month and year they were appointed as Chief Constable and the month and year they left the Chief Constable role
(3) their gender
(4) their ethnicity (where available), and
(5) whether they were a substantive or acting chief constable.
To be clear, please do include any individuals who served as an acting or temporary chief constable in this period, noting that they were in an 'acting' role.
Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.
Response: Please find the response to points 1, 2 and 5 set out below:
Name |
Tenure |
Post |
John Burbeck |
Aug 2000 to Jul (partial) 2006 |
Substantive |
Keith Bristow |
Jul (partial) 2006 to Nov 2011 |
Substantive |
Andy Parker |
Dec 2011 to Mar 2015 |
Substantive |
Martin Jelley |
Apr 2015 to Jun 2021 |
Substantive |
Debbie Tedds |
Jul 2021 to present |
Substantive |
With regard to point 3 above, this information has been made available in the public domain via an article in relation to Chief Constable Debbie Tedds which is published on the PCC website and is therefore exempt from disclosure by virtue of Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act – Information Reasonably Accessible by Other Means’. This states that Chief Constable Debbie Tedds ‘was successful on the 1st July 2021 in becoming the first female Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police in its 164 year history’. Please see the relevant link set out below:
With regard to point 4 of your request, I can advise that this information is held in relation to four of the named individuals. With regard to information for John Burbeck, this information is not held on the current system but may be held in a paper file. This file would need to be ordered from archive to determine whether the requested information is held. However, with regard to the information held for the remaining individuals, and in the event that the information is held for John Burbeck, this information is exempt from disclosure.
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 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, providing the requested information would provide personal information in relation to specific named individuals. The GDPR refers to the processing of more sensitive types of data as ‘special categories of personal data’ and information about an individual’s race and ethnic origin falls into this category. Further, four of the five individuals are no longer in the employ of Warwickshire Police and it is likely that they would not expect such personal information to be disclosed in response to a Freedom of Information request. 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.
Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a refusal notice under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to this element of your request.
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