Question

Dear Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner,

In respect of grants made by the Home Office from the Safer Streets Fund please provide the following information:

1. Did your office apply
2. Provide a copy of your application(s)
3. Provide a copy of any grant letter(s) received together with any conditions attached to the grant(s)
4. Any information held with regards to ongoing revenue costs not covered by the Home Office grant.

Answer

I can confirm that the Office of the Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (OPFCC) holds information that you have asked for (see attached)  but in this case we will not be providing you with copies of the Environmental Visual Audit (EVA) which supported the application as it is exempt from disclosure.

We are not obliged to provide information if its release would prejudice law enforcement. In this case, we believe that releasing all the information requested would be likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime (section 31(1) (a) of the Act).

In line with the terms of this exemption in the Freedom of Information Act, we have also considered whether it would be in the public interest for us to provide you with the information, despite the exemption being applicable. In this case, we have concluded that the public interest favours withholding the information.

You can find out more about Section 31 by reading the extract from the Act and some guidance points we consider when applying this exemption,

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/31

When assessing whether or not it was in the public interest to disclose the information to you, we took into account the following factors:

Public interest considerations favouring disclosure

• Disclosure of the information would be consistent with policies for greater transparency about the uses of, and accountability for, public expenditure.
• It is also in the public interest to know that a public authority has policies in place to protect to help mitigate the impact of crime in neighbourhoods across Northamptonshire.

Public interest considerations favouring withholding the information:

• The EVA contains information that could lead to the identity of individual householders and details of particular weaknesses and issues that could assist criminals in specific targeting of these locations or specific premises within them.

We reached the view that, on balance, the public interest is better served by withholding this information under section 31(1) (a) of the Act at this time.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original letter and should be addressed to: Nicci Marzec, Monitoring Officer, Office of the Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, East House, Force Headquarters, Wootton Hall, Northampton, NN4 0JQ.

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications. If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.