Mayoral candidate correspondence (linked to NY8821)
Our Ref: NY9018
Date: 4 April 2024
Freedom of information request reference number: NY9018
I write in connection with your request for information that was received by the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire (OPFCC) on 25 March 2024.
Question/Request:
I refer to your letter, dated 27th September 2023, addressed to Mr Keane Duncan, written in your official capacity as PFCC and holder of public office, reporting and recording.
Although you make no reference to the Nolan Committee Principles of Public Life, they were adopted by North Yorkshire Council.
You wrote that Keane Duncan made an inappropriate approach, and remarks of an oppressive tenor and content made towards you.
As you were aware, Mr Duncan is also the Holder of Senior Public Office and is officially recorded as being the Executive Member for Highways and Transportation. He was formerly Leader of Ryedale District Council.
It also seems that he improperly sought to influence you, as an Office Holder, regarding the appointment of a Chief Constable, a decision which is for the PFCC alone.
I am sure we are in agreement that It is essential that there can be no place in North Yorkshire for allowing any form of coercive, controlling and abusive, oppressive behavior to go unchallenged, especially when made towards women and girls and especially from persons likely to portray themselves as role models for the young and when seeking prominent positions in public life.
I therefore ask that you treat this letter as a request and application for a Freedom of Information disclosure of all matters, to which we are entitled, regarding Mr Keane Duncan and his contacts with you and your Office Staff on the issues and topics you have raised and reported. I further respectfully ask that this information be responded to expeditiously in view of the imminence of the forthcoming election.
You state that you proposed to raise the issue via Conservative Party Channels. As such a issue was written in your official capacity as PFCC, it will be readily available, and should be disclosed without delay, and in any case within 7 days, please. Presumably they replied to you, and dealt with your complaints to your satisfaction?
Can you also clarify if your report was brought to the attention of the Chairperson of the North Yorkshire Police & Crime Panel.
Answer:
To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within the OPFCC.
I can confirm that some information that you have requested is held by the OPFCC.
Question 1
I therefore ask that you treat this letter as a request and application for a Freedom of Information disclosure of all matters, to which we are entitled, regarding Mr Keane Duncan and his contacts with you and your Office Staff on the issues and topics you have raised and reported. I further respectfully ask that this information be responded to expeditiously in view of the imminence of the forthcoming election.
Interpretation of your request: we have construed the request for ‘disclosure of all matters’ as being a request for all recorded information held by the Office of the Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire. This would encompass (i) correspondence and (ii) other recorded information, held by the Commissioner as office-holder and by the team of staff that support the Commissioner in the discharge of her duties. It would not encompass information held by Zoe Metcalfe solely in her personal capacity or her capacity as a member of the Conservative Party. We have therefore sought to interpret your request as broadly as appears reasonable.
i.Correspondence
The correspondence you have requested is already reasonably accessible at the following location (Freedom of Information request NY8821 26 October 2023 and NY8821 Addendum 8 November 2023):
Since the information above was published in November 2023, the OPFCC has had no further correspondence on this topic with Mr Keane Duncan.
In respect of correspondence, I have therefore decided to exempt providing you with a response pursuant to Section 21 Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act).
Section 17 of the Act requires the OPFCC, 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 header below for further detail.
Exemptions Explained
Section 21 – Information Reasonably Accessible by Other Means
This exemption applies when the information sought is determined to be already reasonably accessible to the applicant by other means. Section 21 is an absolute class based exemption and I am not required to consider the harm or public interest when applying this exemption.
Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a Refusal Notice in response to the correspondence element of your request.
ii.Other recorded information
We hold the following additional information fitting the terms of your request:
• Chief Executive’s Day book note 25 September 2023
• Chief Executive’s Day book note 26 September 2023
Typed copies of those Day Book notes are enclosed. They set out the information provided by the Commissioner to the Chief Executive and a precis of the discussion.
Question 2
You state that you proposed to raise the issue via Conservative Party Channels. As such a issue was written in your official capacity as PFCC, it will be readily available, and should be disclosed without delay, and in any case within 7 days, please. Presumably they replied to you, and dealt with your complaints to your satisfaction?
As stated in the letter you refer to, the PFCC raised the issue via Conservative Party channels in her capacity as a politician and an individual member of the Conservative Party, not in her official capacity as the PFCC. We therefore do not hold recorded information in respect of this element of your request.
Question 3
Can you also clarify if your report was brought to the attention of the Chairperson of the North Yorkshire Police & Crime Panel.
We can confirm that on 25 September 2023 the Commissioner met for a routine scheduled meeting with the Leader of North Yorkshire Council, who also holds the remit of Chair of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel. This regular commitment is always an informal liaison meeting in respect of which there is no expectation of a formal (or for that matter informal) documentary record being kept. In order to address your question the Commissioner hopes it will be helpful to inform you that she recalls that the topic of the forthcoming Chief Constable vacancy formed part of those routine discussions, during which the Commissioner emphasised that the decision as to whether to recruit to the role, was one for her as holder of the office of Commissioner and that she would arrive at her view based on the public interest and after taking professional and stakeholder advice in the appropriate manner. This was important, not least as a courtesy to the Leader (as Chair of the Panel) whose role would include convening and chairing any subsequent confirmation hearing for the preferred candidate for the role of Chief Constable. It was also important given the level of public interest in the topic, including from prospective Mayoral candidates.
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 the OPFCC’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.
Additional Attachments: