Modern Slavery

Request Number: FOI/13765

Category: Incident and Crime Statistics - Human Trafficking & Modern Slavery

Subject: Modern Slavery

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 information to which your request relates and this is being provided to you. 
We do not however hold information in relation to request numbers 1, 2, 3 or 4 below. 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.

Request 1

Do you routinely support victims of trafficking and modern slavery to submit a reconsideration request to the Competent Authorities within the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) following a negative Reasonable Ground or Conclusive Ground decision?
 

Request 2

If the answer to question 1 is negative, could you please provide a reason?

Request 3

If you are not able to support the individual with submitting a reconsideration request, do you routinely signpost them to other organisations?

Answer 1, 2 and 3

It is our opinion this is not a valid FOI request by virtue of being general question, and not request for information held. Section 84 of FOIA relates to recorded information held by a public authority and that it does not extend to providing explanations unless the answers are already held in a recorded form.

"Information is defined in section 84 of the Act as 'information recorded in any form'. The Act therefore only extends to requests for recorded information. It does not require public authorities (in this case the PSNI) to answer questions generally; only if they already hold the answers in recorded form. The Act does not extend to requests for information about policies or their implementation, or the merits or demerits of any proposal or action - unless, of course, the answer to any such request is already held in recorded form." (Day vs ICO & DWP – EA/2006/0069 Final Decision)

Accordingly, we have determined that the Police Service of Northern Ireland does not hold the information to which you seek access.

In compliance with Section 16 of the Act, we can advise that we generally do not assist with reconsideration requests. In general, we would have already submitted all relevant information to the Single Competent Authority (SCA) decision making process. If there is anything further to the decision making process, we update the SCA promptly i.e. the Potential Victim of Trafficking (PVOT) provides an Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) interview, or provides further relevant information regarding their trafficking situation. We can also advise that we signpost individuals to support organisations, regardless of whether they have a reconsideration request submitted.

Request 4

Can you provide the number of reconsiderations requests you have submitted for the year 2023 and 2024? Could you please provide this data breakdown by year?
 

Answer 4

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 (PSNI) does not hold information in relation to your requests. Enquiries made in relation to your request failed to locate any records or documents relevant to your request based on the information you have provided.

There were no reconsideration requests submitted as it is not applicable to the PSNI.

Accordingly, we have determined that the Police Service of Northern Ireland does not hold the information to which you seek access.