The NPCC appears to circulate 100’s of notifications to ‘all checif constables’ and ‘other agencies’ annually.
But who receives these notification – does anyone know?
I made a request of the MPS for information associated with an NPCC ‘All Chief Constables circular’, I requested ‘A copy of the communication issued by the NPCC (at or about the beginning of 11/2024)’
“The MPS have been unable to locate the information responding 01/FOI/24/041818/A:
You have asked [for] information which details contact between the NPCC and the MPS concerning weeding of PNC LoS records. This is a Met wide request for information as any such communication could have been directed to multiple areas within the MPS. Even if your request were limited to email communications, there is no automatic means of finding out where any such communications would be held. Additionally, communications could have been by letter, notes, MS Teams messaging etc, as well as by email. To determine what information is held relevant to your request would require extensive searching throughout the MPS.
We therefore estimate that the cost of complying with this request would exceed the appropriate limit. The appropriate limit has been specified in regulations and for agencies outside central Government; this is set at £450.00. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 hours [at a rate of £25 per hour] in determining whether the MPS holds the information, and locating, retrieving and extracting the information.
In an attempt to assist you to narrow your request within the cost threshold, I have made several enquiries at targeted areas within the MPS to ascertain if the information requested in question 2 is held. I have approached appropriate individuals in MPS PNC Specialist Enquiries, Frontline Policing Delivery Unit and Met Intelligence.
I have been unable to find an individual who is in receipt of the communication you have referred to. As a result, I am unable to offer a meaningful way of redefining your request so that it falls within the cost threshold.
However, you may wish to consider directing your request to the NPCC FOIA Team”
Sensible advice – go to the source, so I did:
“Your reference 14/2025
I refer to my email of 10/01/2025 in which I asked:
‘Could you also advise to whom, at the MPS your ‘all chief constables’ messages are sent – ideally the name(s), email address(es)s & department(s)
The MPS cannot locate the circular and in turn, I cannot ascertain whether / how the message was acted upon’
I had hoped this would be dealt with promptly to assist the MPS, writing to the NPCC:
‘Could this be dealt with ‘business as usual’? The MPS are trying to locate info’ but struggling to determine where your email went’
It appears this simple request must be attended to under the FoI disclosure process, you have responded:
‘To confirm your email has been received by the NPCC and is being progressed as an FOI request. You will be responded to within 20 working days, as my prior email confirms.’
so be it. If you could respond via this thread/forum which allows me to monitor the progress.”
The response ‘NOT HELD”, more specifically, the NPCC explained:
“Checks have been made with the NPCC Central Office who confirm(s) no information held.
I have undertaken all of the necessary checks in establishing whether information is held which is captured by your request and any necessary steps with regard to retrieval of such information.
Searches have been conducted with the NPCC portfolio(s) that relates to the subject matter and I am satisfied that the search conducted to locate the information that you have requested has been robust.
There is no information held within the NPCC and I therefore conclude that the information that you seek is not held by the NPCC.
In wishing to assist you, it may be helpful for you to understand that the letter in which you refer, provided to you in your previous response reference 425/2024 (attached for convenience) was posted via the NPCC online platform. Whilst all members of the NPCC, to include Chief Officers of the Metropolitan Police Service, have access to the online platform, and can therefore view the letter, unless they download the letter onto their server, it would not be held by them.
The NPCC does not hold a record of the MPS Chief Officer team having downloaded the letter onto their server.”
I sought an Internal Review, explaining:
“This does not address the information I requested. I did not ask whether a record is held of MPS officers downloading a specific document onto their server. Rather, I am seeking to understand where such communications are sent and who within the MPS is permitted to access the NPCC’s online platform.
Given that the NPCC circulates these messages via what appears to be an internal system rather than email, it seems reasonable to expect that a record exists of who is granted access from the MPS. Therefore, I request clarification on the following:
To whom within the MPS are NPCC ‘all chief constables’ messages directed?
Who is permitted to access the NPCC online platform from the MPS (name, email, department)?
When referring to “Chief Officers of the Metropolitan Police Service,” which specific individuals or roles does this encompass?
If, alternatively, the NPCC truly does not retain any record of where these official communications are directed or who has access to them, please confirm explicitly that the NPCC does not know to whom at the MPS these documents are sent or made accessible.
As I have already explained, the MPS FOIA team has been unable to provide this information or identify the recipient(s). I will, however, follow up with them again to ensure they understand the context of my request.
I would appreciate a prompt review of this matter and a clear response addressing the specific points raised.”
The response to the IR was:
“I have reviewed the previous response and its accuracy against your question and can confirm our response was correct.
You asked
“Could you also advise to whom, at the MPS your ‘all chief constables’ messages are sent to – ideally the name(s), email address(es)s & department(s)”
Our response said
“The NPCC does not hold information captured by your request”.
I am satisfied that ‘all chief constable’ messages are not sent via email, therefore the NPCC do not hold the information you are seeking.
Additional information to assist in your understanding of the process was provided to you, and in response your Internal Review has asked for additional information. Although not forming part of your original request, in order to facilitate a conclusion, I can confirm that the NPCC does not hold a list of the MPS names, emails and departments who are permitted access, and under FOI regulations there is no requirement to create information in order to answer a request.
You have asked “When referring to “Chief Officers of the Metropolitan Police Service,” which specific individuals or roles does this encompass?” this sentence was incorporated into our initial response and in this instance the reference reflected the MPS Senior Management Team – Senior management team: who’s who | Metropolitan Police.
However, please note, as previously confirmed the NPCC do not hold a record of who has viewed the letter, therefore this sentence is not confirming that any individuals from the MPS have viewed it.”
My having identified this issue, I trust in the past year, the NPCC has addressed the issue
Do they know to whom any of their circulars are sent?