Response to ICO Enforcement Notice

Ian Cosh, Senior Informaton Risk Owner (SIRO) at Greater Manchester Police, said: "GMP takes the Enforcement Notice issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) incredibly seriously and has an action plan in place, which is already in motion, enabling the force to respond timely to incoming requests, while managing an unprecedented volume of requests in recent years.

“GMP are committed to transparency and upholding individuals’ access rights, and since receiving the Practice Recommendation from the ICO in February, GMP has engaged in positive discussions with the ICO. We have introduced a robust action plan which includes new practices and processes to better service the public’s right to request information, which has already delivered positive results.

“This action plan includes reprioritising existing force resources into the team, as well as recruiting new staff, some of whom have already started with us.

“GMP has focused on delivering long-term and sustainable improvement in our information access service. As a result, our compliance rate has improved significantly, exceeding 80% consistently over the last four months and the national average for police forces which currently stands at 76%.

“I do not take these steps in the right direction as complacency, but I want to provide the public reassurance that I’m confident that our action plan will result in us managing outstanding requests in a timely manner and maintaining compliancy with statutory requirements.”