Report Summary
Issued 14 December 2023, this FOI review upholds the original response which explained some of the information is exempt from disclosure (interview questions) and some of the information is not held (transcript of answers).
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Response
I was asked to review the Authority’s response to your request, on the basis that I was not involved in the original decision-making process. Having considered all the relevant information, I have decided to uphold the Authority’s original response. I have explained the reasons for my decision below.
The sensitivity of the interview questions arises from the fact that this was a confidential appointment process. Like many recruitment processes, candidates for this appointment have no prior knowledge of the questions that they are to be asked.
In my view, disclosure of the interview questions would, or would be likely to, cause substantial prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs, specifically the appointment process for future chief constables. Disclosure would provide future candidates with a good indication of the kinds of questions they might be asked at interview, in circumstances where the assessment of competencies is based on candidates having no prior knowledge of these. For the same reasons, I have decided that the public interest in maintaining the exemption to disclosure outweighs that of disclosing the information.
You also requested the candidate’s answers to the questions. This information is not held by the Authority and I have therefore also upheld this part of the original response
