Report Summary
Issued 9 October 2023, this FOI response provides information on the recruitment process for position of Deputy Chief Constable and explains why the Authority considers some of the information to be exempt under FOISA.
To access the full document please open the PDF document above.
To view as accessible content please use the sections below. (Note that some tables and appendixes are not available as accessible content).
Response
Your questions are replicated below, along with our response.
Why was Jane Conners employed by Police Scotland on 22nd December 2022 whilst / during being under investigation by the Metropolitan Police Senior directorate, CAD No: 1879 30322?
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 provides a right of access to recorded information only, which in the context of this request would reasonably be interpreted as information on the recruitment process.
Following a robust recruitment process, the Scottish Police Authority announced the appointment of a new Deputy Chief Constable (DCC) to Police Scotland’s leadership team on Friday 2 December – a link is provided to the announcement and related information. The recruitment pack for the role is also publicly available and details the process and checks undertaken.
All applicants for senior officer roles are required to declare any outstanding complaints, criminal convictions or disciplinary proceedings. A resulting appointment cannot be confirmed until the successful candidate is certified medically fit by the medical advisor, necessary security checks are complete and satisfactory references have been obtained. As part of this process, additional checks are carried out by the Police Scotland Professional Standards team on behalf of SPA.
What were the names of the other candidates who applied for this position?
Whilst we aim to provide information wherever possible, in some instances, information is exempt in terms of the Act. The information requested is considered exempt from disclosure under Section 38(1)(b) Third party personal data. Disclosure would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. As disclosure through Freedom of Information is disclosure to the public in general, in this instance, it is appropriate to withhold this information.
This exemption is absolute and does not require application of the public interest test.
Whilst you may have a legitimate interest in disclosure of this information, we are of the view that those interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject(s).
To assist, we can advise that a total of five applications were received for the post of Deputy Chief Constable.
