Mental Health Related Officer Absences

Request Number: FOI/15758

Category: Human Resources - Officer and Staff (Health & Wellbeing (Incl. Sick absences and retirement))

Subject: Mental Health Related Officer Absences

Request and Answer:
Your request for information has now been considered. In respect of Section 1(1)(a) of the Act we can confirm that the Police Service of Northern Ireland does hold  some of the information to which your request relates. We consider some of the information you seek is exempt by virtue of Section 40 of FOI Act and have detailed our rationale as to why this exemption applies. We have also provided you with links to guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office which we have followed in responding to your request. The decision has been taken to disclose the following.

Request 
The numbers of officers in the force who were signed off sick with stress, depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder, each year for the last five financial years (2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25).

Please can this information be broken down by financial year.

Answer
Please see the below table which answers the majority of your request. We consider some of the information you seek is exempt by virtue of Section 40 of FOI Act and have detailed our rationale as to why this exemption applies.

On this occasion PSNI have made the decision to withhold some of the data requested as we consider this to be both low level and identifiable. Therefore there is a significant risk that this level of detail requested could potentially lead to identification of PSNI Officers and thus a breach of Data Protection regulations therefore Section 40 (2) of FOI Act applies as articulated below. 

Section 17(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires the Police Service of Northern Ireland when refusing to provide such information ( because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which :

   (a) states the fact,
   (b) specifies the exemption in question and 
   (c) states (if not otherwise apparent) why the exemption applies.

The exemption, as well as the factors the Department considered when deciding where the public interest lies, are listed below:

Section 40(2)(a)(b) by virtue of Section 40(3)(A)(a)- Personal Information – Information constitutes personal data and disclosure would contravene any of the Data Protection principles.

The full text of exemptions can be found at www.legislation.gov.uk and further guidance on how they operate can be located on the Information Commissioners Office website www.ico.org.uk.

Section 40
Section 40 (2) of the FOIA is an absolute exemption which means there is no requirement on PSNI to consider whether there is a public interest in disclosure. It is an interface exemption and we must consider whether release of the information would breach the General Data Protection Regulations    (‘GDPR’) or the Data Protection Act 2018 (‘DPA’). Third party personal information constitutes ‘personal data’ under the GDPR (Article 4) and DPA (Part 1 s.3).

Under the Freedom of Information Act, PSNI must consider if information can be released into the public domain. PSNI have therefore considered whether the disclosure of this personal data is subject to the exemption at Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 by virtue of s40 (3) (A) (a). As this information is ‘personal data’, PSNI considered whether disclosure would contravene any of the six data protection principles contained within the GDPR or DPA.

The six data protection principles are good information handling standards  which PSNI must comply with in relation to how it handles personal information, including deciding whether to disclose it or not. In particular, the first principle requires personal data to be processed in a lawful and fair manner. In considering whether it is ‘fair’ to any individual to release information about them, PSNI considered the likely expectations of those individuals and the nature of the information involved. Individuals must have confidence that their information is treated sensitively and appropriately by PSNI. We consider those individuals including police officers would not have any reasonable expectation PSNI would disclose such information of this nature about them. We consider it would be extremely unfair to those individuals and therefore a breach of the first principle of data protection legislation. This information is therefore exempt under section 40 (2) of the FOIA as it contravenes data protection legislation to release it and PSNI has made the decision to withhold that information.

The release of information under the Freedom of Information Act is considered a release into the public domain and not just to the individual requesting the information.  Once information is disclosed by FOI there is no control or limits as to who or how the information is shared with other individuals, therefore a release under FOI is considered a release to the world in general.

Please note the data is provided in the below table for all psychological illnesses as a whole. It is presented in this way so as to minimise possible disclosure of any personal information due to low numbers in some of the categories of psychological illness.