21 0939 Response

OFFICIAL

Our Ref: IM-FOI-2021-0939 Date: 20 May 2021

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002

I refer to your recent request for information which has been handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

For ease of reference, your request is replicated below together with the response.

The names of any missing persons in Scotland who have been linked by the police to the serial killer Fred West.

Details of any cases in Scotland that were considered to be part of any investigation into serial killer Fred West.

Were any locations in Scotland searched in connection with the serial killer Fred West. If so where were these locations could you please provide addresses?

Has Police Scotland at any time searched the former homes, gardens, and allotments occupied by Fred West? Please name any locations investigated/searched.

Has Police Scotland uncovered any evidence linking Fred West to convicted pedophiles in Scotland?

What information does Police Scotland have on the disappearance of Margaret McAvoy and the investigation surrounding her disappearance?

Was there any evidence pointing to, or suspicion around Fred West at any point during the Moira Anderson investigation?

Your request in relation to the above questions have been considered and in terms of section 18 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, I am refusing to confirm or deny whether the information you have requested is held. Section 18 provides that an authority does not have to confirm whether or not information is held where:

- if the information was held, it would be considered exempt from disclosure in terms of any of sections 28 to 35, 38, 39(1) or 41 of the Act; and

- disclosing whether or not information is held would be contrary to the public interest. In this instance, if information was held it would be considered exempt in terms of section Section 34(1)(a)(i) and 34(b) applies to your request – Investigations by Scottish public authorities.

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This should not, however, be taken as conclusive evidence that the information you have requested exists or does not exist.

The names of all women and girls who went missing between 1963-1980 inclusive in Scotland who were never found alive. The year they were reported missing and the location they went missing from.

Please see below a table which contains the, year, number of females missing for the period requested above and the county they were last seen.

Year Number of females County 1965 1 Female Lanarkshire 1967 4 Females Dumfries and Galloway, Fife, West Lothian, Lanarkshire 1969 1 Female North Lanarkshire 1970 2 Females Lanarkshire 1972 1 Female Stirlingshire 1973 2 Females West Lothian 1974 1 Female Dumfries and Galloway 1976 4 Females Argyll, Aberdeenshire, Ayrshire, Inverness- shire 1977 3 Females Aberdeenshire, Caithness, Lanarkshire 1978 1 Female Lanarkshire 1979 2 Females Isle of Lewis, Lanarkshire 1980 3 Females Ayrshire, Argyll, Aberdeenshire

The names of the individuals is considered to be personal information and has been exempted in terms of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (the Act).

Section 16 of the Act requires Scotland to provide you with a notice which: (a) states that it holds the information, (b) states that it is claiming an exemption, (c) specifies the exemption in question and (d) states, if that would not be otherwise apparent, why the exemption applies.

Section 38 (1) (b) – Personal Information Whilst I accept that you may have a legitimate interest with regards the disclosure of this information and that disclosure may well be necessary for that purpose, I am nonetheless of the view that those interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject.

To explain, the release of personal information, either directly or inadvertently is exempt under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. This is an absolute exemption which does not require a public interest test to be conducted.

4. The number of unsolved murders in Scotland during the period 1963-1980 inclusive and the names of these murder victims. The year they were murdered and the location their remains were found.

I regret to inform you that I am unable to provide you with the information you have requested, as it would prove too costly to do so within the context of the fee regulations. As you may be aware the current cost threshold is £600 and I estimate that it would cost

scotland.police.uk @PoliceScotland PoliceScotland OFFICIAL OFFICIAL well in excess of this amount to process your request. As such, and in terms of Section 16(4) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 where Section 12(1) of the Act (Excessive Cost of Compliance) has been applied, this represents a refusal notice for the information sought.

By way of explanation, Police Scotland was established in April 2013 prior to this date information was held by 8 legacy forces and each force had standalone crime recording systems and different retention policies. To gather the information requested would require a search of each legacy system and 238 files of unresolved cases for the period from 1963 to 1980. Each case could involve a various amounts of information which could be held electronically or as hard copies and could be held locally. Due to the time period and the differences in retention and recording policies by each legacy force it is difficult to provide an accurate figure, however, to give a limited example if it took 15 mins for an individual to manually review 238 files, this would total 60 hours at a cost of £15 per hour and would exceed the cost and time cost thresholds.

Should you require any further assistance concerning this matter please contact Information Management – Glasgow at [email protected] quoting the reference number given.

If you are dissatisfied with the way in which Police Scotland has dealt with your request, you are entitled, in the first instance, to request a review of our actions and decisions.

Your request must specify the matter which gives rise to your dissatisfaction and it must be submitted within 40 working days of receiving this response - either by email to [email protected] or by post to Information Management (Disclosure), Police Scotland, Clyde Gateway, 2 French Street, Dalmarnock, G40 4EH.

If you remain dissatisfied following the outcome of that review, you are thereafter entitled to apply to the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner within six months for a decision. You can apply online, by email to [email protected] or by post to Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner, Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS.

Should you wish to appeal against the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner's decision, there is an appeal to the Court of Session on a point of law only.

As part of our commitment to demonstrate openness and transparency in respect of the information we hold, an anonymised version of this response will be posted to the Police Scotland Freedom of Information Disclosure Log in seven days' time.

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