FOI Request
- Please send me details of the number of complaints made against PCC Barry Coppinger in each year since he was first elected and the outcome of these complaints.
- Please send me details of the number of complaints made against members of staff in PCC Coppinger’s office in 2019 and associated outcomes.
FOI Response
I can confirm that the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland holds some of the information you seek.
Q1
Complaints against the Police and Crime Commissioner are referred to and investigated by Cleveland Police and Crime Panel. The OPCC extends every co-operation to the Panel in relation to the handling of any such complaint, in accordance with the Panel’s policies and procedures.
As part of our statutory publication requirements, the OPCC publishes the number of complaints against the PCC since he was elected in 2012. Please note that this is the number of complaints which the Cleveland OPCC have been notified of by the Panel.
This information can be found on the PCC’s website here:
Our complaints procedure [LINK 3.5.3]
However, all details about the nature of the complaints and the outcomes of any investigations are held by Cleveland Police & Crime Panel. The Panel is hosted by Stockton Borough Council and I would recommend that you make a request to their FOI department for this information. If you need any assistance to do this, please let me know.
Q2
The number of complaints recorded against members of staff within the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner are presented annually in the Monitoring Officer’s report to Cleveland Audit Committee.
The Audit Committee independently consider the internal and external reports of both the PCC and the Chief Constable.
The 2018-2019 report (Item 16) was presented to the Committee on 27 July 2019 and covers the period 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019:
[link]
The remainder of the 2019 year will be covered on a report that will go to the Committee on the 2 October 2020 covering the period 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020. As the agenda for this meeting is intended for future publication on our website, I have refused this element of your request under Section 22 of the FOIA.
The information you seek will be published after 2 October 2020 at the following link, where you can also access previous meeting agendas for the years prior to 2019:
Date responded: 18 August 2020