01/FOI/26/007761/Y – External Secondments

Request:

I seek statistical information on all officers and staff currently on external secondment to organisations such as other forces, international bodies, the College of Policing and HMICFRS.

1. Please provide the number of officers broken down by rank at each place of secondment. 

2. Please provide the number of staff broken down by grade at each place of secondment. 

3. For 1 and 2, please state the number of officers and staff, respectively, whose salaries you are responsible for paying during the course of their secondment (either directly or indirectly).

[On 24/07/2026 you clarified:] [relating to Q3 only]

I am interested only in those employees whose salaries you fund from your budget, thank you; therefore, please exclude:

1. salary costs you reclaim from external organisations; and
2. salary costs covered by grant payments.

Response:

Humberside Police can confirm we hold the following information in relation to your request.

Q1 – 12 Officers

Q2 – 2 Police Staff

Q3 – Humberside Police can confirm that we carry on paying a salary, however, this is reclaimed from the host force.

Section 40(2) – Personal Identification

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 a 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 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.

Questions 1 and 2 – to break down the answers further by Rank, Grade or Secondment place would reveal some low numbers and as such there is a likelihood that they could lead to personal identification. Therefore Section 40(2) – Personal Identification is applied.

It has been determined to provide the information requested and owing to the small number of results it may identify a living individual. Disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act is deemed to be released to the public at large. Therefore, no information if deemed would identify a living individual would be released.  Therefore section 40(2) of the Act is engaged.  As section 40(2) is an absolute exemption there is no requirement for me to conduct a public interest test. However I am satisfied that disclosure would breach the 1st principle of the Data Protection Act – fair and lawful processing.

Section 24(1) – National Security

Section 31(1)(a)(b) – Law Enforcement

Figures relating to secondments to Counter Terrorism Policing have been withheld by virtue of Section 24(1) and Section 31(1)(a)(b).

Section 24(1) National Security

Section 24 is a qualified exemption and as such there is a requirement to evidence any harm that confirming or denying that any other information is held, in addition to considering the public interest.

Section 31(1) Law Enforcement

Section 31(1)(a)(b) Law Enforcement states that information is exempt information if its disclosure under the Act would, or would likely to prejudice:

1. a) The prevention or detection of crime;
2. b) The apprehension or prosecution of offenders

Harm

When a disclosure is made under the Freedom of Information Act, it is a disclosure to the world and not to a single individual.

The disclosure of the staff levels within specialist counter terrorism (CT) units would reveal granular tactical capabilities, or the lack of, to the public. With previous similar requests, the national policing lead has made it clear that this information needs to be protected at force level as if all forces were to disclose, a mosaic picture of capabilities within CT units would be realised identifying the most vulnerable areas.

The information requested relates to a specialised area of policing. There is a public interest in Counter Terrorism policing. However, the staffing of these units is measured and authorised by chief officers after careful consideration in order to protect the public and apprehend individuals. To disclose this information would reveal tactical staffing capability and would place Humberside Police at a tactical disadvantage. 

The risk to public safety cannot be ignored and the Police Service has a responsibility to ensure safety of individuals is protected at all times.

Public interest considerations favouring disclosure

Disclosure would promote openness and transparency regarding police secondment arrangements and increase public understanding of how public resources are allocated. It would also enhance accountability by allowing greater scrutiny of staffing arrangements within policing.

Public interest considerations favouring non-disclosure

There is a strong public interest in protecting national security and ensuring that information which could assist in building a picture of Counter Terrorism Policing resources, capability or capacity is not disclosed. There is also a significant public interest in protecting the ability of the police to prevent and detect crime and apprehend offenders. Releasing this information would be likely to undermine the operational effectiveness of specialist policing functions, and potentially reveal any vulnerabilities.

Law enforcement and operational effectiveness could be compromised by releasing the staffing levels of CT departments. Criminals may have an advantage over the police if they are aware of which geographical areas are perceived to have a ‘weaker’ or ‘stronger’ CT presence.

Balance Test

It is determined that the disclosure of the above information would not be in the public interest. The factors favouring non-disclosure outweigh the factors favouring disclosure. Therefore, the public interest favours maintaining the exemptions under Sections 24(1) and 31(1)(a) and (b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Section 23(5) – Information supplied by, or relating to, bodies dealing with security matters

Furthermore, Humberside Police can Neither confirm nor Deny that any further information exists in respect of your request by virtue of Section 23(5). This is an absolute exemption and therefore no requirement to conduct a Public Interest Test.

Please note that police forces in the United Kingdom are routinely required to provide information and statistics to government bodies and the recording criteria is set nationally. However, the systems used for recording these figures are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data. It should be noted that for these reasons this force’s response to your questions should not be used for the comparison purposes with any other response you may receive.