March 25, 2025 | Incident and Crime Statistics , Serious and Organised Crime
Request Number: FOI/13441
Category: Incident and Crime Statistics - Serious and Organised Crime
Subject: Modern Slavery within the Waste Sector
Request and Answer:
In relation to request number FOI/13441 Police Service of Northern Ireland is providing an NCND response to your requests and will explain this further in the response below.
Request 1
The number of records of contact, reported incidents, and recorded crimes from the past five years (1 January 2019 - 24 December 2024) of suspected modern slavery within the waste sector. Please can you provide a breakdown of the number of reports per year?
Request 2
Details of what the outcome of any completed investigation was - e.g. were any arrests made.
Request 3
The number of times the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) reported suspected modern slavery to the police force over the past five years. Please can you provide a breakdown of the
number of reports per year?
Request 5
The number of incidents or recorded crimes of modern slavery within the waste sector that your police force referred to the National Crime Agency and/or partners in the Joint Waste Crime Unit (JWCU) in the last five years (1 January 2019 - 24 December 2024).
Please state the number referred to the NCA, and the number referred to the JWCU separately.
Request 6
Correspondence (including letters, emails, minutes of meetings and any relevant attachments) between NIEA and constables, sergeants, and inspectors within the police force over the past year (1 January 2024 - 24 December 2024) relating to modern slavery within the waste sector.
Answers 1- 3, 5 and 6
The Police Service of Northern Ireland can neither confirm nor deny that it holds the information you have requested.
Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) places two duties on public authorities.
Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at Section 1(1)(a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in the request is held. The second duty at Section 1(1)(b) is to disclose information that has been confirmed as being held.
Where exemptions are relied upon Section 17(1) of FOIA requires that we provide the applicant with
a notice which
a) states that fact,
b) specifies the exemption(s) in question and
c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) can Neither Confirm Nor Deny that it holds the
information relevant to your request as the duty in Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act
2000 does not apply by virtue of the following exemptions:
- Section 23(5) - Information Supplied By Or Concerning Certain Security Bodies
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 23 is a class based absolute exemption and there is no requirement to consider the public interest in this case. Confirming or denying the existence of whether any other information is held would contravene the constrictions laid out within Section 23 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in that this stipulates a generic bar on disclosure of any information applied by, or concerning, certain Security Bodies.
Request 4
Details of what these reports said. Please can this include the name of the site that was reported and details of the concerns raised?
Answer 4
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) can Neither Confirm Nor Deny that it holds the
information relevant to your request as the duty in Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act
2000 does not apply by virtue of the following exemptions:
- Section 23(5) - Information Supplied By Or Concerning Certain Security Bodies
- Section 31(3) – Law Enforcement
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.
Neither Confirm nor Deny’ (NCND)
PSNI follow the Information Commissioner’s Guidance in relation to ‘NCND’ and you may find it helpful to refer to this at the following link:
Section 23 is a class based absolute exemption and there is no requirement to consider the public interest in this case. Confirming or denying the existence of whether any other information is held would contravene the constrictions laid out within Section 23 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in that this stipulates a generic bar on disclosure of any information applied by, or concerning, certain Security Bodies.
Section 31 is prejudice based and qualified exemption, which means there is a requirement to articulate the harm caused by confirming or denying that the information is held as well as carrying out a public interest test.
‘Neither Confirm nor Deny’ (NCND)
There may be occasions when complying with the duty to confirm or deny under section 1(1) (a) would in itself disclose sensitive or potentially damaging information that falls under an exemption. In these circumstances, the Act allows a public authority to respond by refusing to confirm or deny whether it holds the requested information.
The decision to issue a ‘neither confirm nor deny’ response is not affected by whether we do or do not hold the information but relates to the consequences of confirming or denying the information is held. The starting point and main focus in most cases will be theoretical considerations about the consequences of confirming or denying that a particular type of information is held. The decision to neither confirm nor deny is separate from a decision not to disclose information and needs to be taken entirely on its own merits.
PSNI follow the Information Commissioner’s Guidance in relation to ‘NCND’ and you may find it helpful to refer to this at the following link:
Evidence of Harm
The Freedom of Information Act is applicant and motive blind. Any information disclosed under the Act is a disclosure to the world at large and would be disclosed to any individual upon request. For this reason a request under the Act cannot be a private transaction. Both the request itself, and any information which may be disclosed, are considered suitable for open publication.
To confirm or deny whether information is held in relation to this request would reveal whether the PSNI has or is actively investigating suspected modern slavery within the waste sector. Confirmation or denial would therefore be likely to prejudice our law enforcement functions of preventing and detecting organised crime, and apprehending and prosecuting offenders. Issuing confirmation or denial responses in relation to any investigations that seek to prevent serious organised crime (except for those that have already been publicly confirmed) would enable the public, including criminals, to build up a picture as to where investigations are focused on intelligence gathering and sharing. This would be prejudicial to our policing functions as criminals may take further steps to evade the police, and risks undermining the flow of information by discouraging individuals to come forward or assist with our enquiries if they were to believe that this information may become public.
Public Interest Test
Factors Favouring Confirming or Denying that the Information is held - Section 31
Confirming or denying whether any information is held about reports or investigations of this nature would allow the public to see where public funds have been spent and allow the Police Service to appear more open and transparent in regards to its activities.
Factors Against Confirming or Denying that the Information is held - Section 31
To confirm or deny that the PSNI holds information in relation to this matter has the potential to damage the PSNIs ability to prevent and detect organised crime or apprehend or prosecute offenders in any associated cases. If a FOI disclosure revealed information to the world that would undermine the investigative techniques of the service, this could then be used by offenders to their advantage, which would compromise public safety and encourage offenders to carry out further crimes.
Balancing Test/Decision
A disclosure of information under Freedom of Information is a release to the world in general 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 disclosure to the world in general.
The factors detailed above, highlight the merits of confirming or denying whether information is held in regards to the reporting or investigation of suspected modern slavery. The service is charged with enforcing the law, preventing, detecting crime and protecting the community we serve. While there is a public interest in the transparency of policing and providing assurance that the police service is acting appropriately and effectively, our duty of care to the community and public safety is of paramount importance.
The Public entrust the Police Service to make appropriate decisions with regard to their safety and protection and the only way of reducing risk is to be cautious with what is placed into the public domain.
Therefore, at this moment in time, it is our opinion that for these issues the balance test favours neither confirming nor denying whether we hold the information that has been sought.
However, this should not be taken as conclusive evidence that the other information you requested exists or does not exist.