Information Sharing team
The Alliance Information Sharing team manages the sharing agreements Devon & Cornwall Police are signatories to.
Introduction
Devon & Cornwall Police work collaboratively with external organisations to tackle issues relating to policing, crime, anti-social behaviour, and to safeguard both adults and children. We share information for policing purposes when it is necessary to prevent harm to an individual, or to enable partner agencies to carry out their statutory responsibilities. It is important to know what information we can share, what information we can request, and under what legal basis this can be done. This is all managed by the Information Management department, within which the Information Sharing team sits.
What the Information Sharing team do
The Information Sharing team manages the Devon & Cornwall Police sharing Agreements as well as keeping record of, and being a contact point for, national sharing Agreements approved by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC). This mostly involves liaising with relevant Devon & Cornwall Police business areas and external partners to advise on the process of creating new Agreements and the Data Protection Legislation that needs to be included, as the Information Sharing team’s responsibility is to ensure that any Agreement is compliant with current legislation as well as keeping accurate records of the Agreements.
We do not provide advice on, nor perform any, sharing or disclosures of information.
Sharing agreements are...
Sharing Agreements are created when sharing takes place between partner organisations on a regular basis and are generally used where there is a two-way flow of information. They provide details of why the sharing is required, the lawful basis to share, who the sharing can take place between, what information will be shared, and the process for how to share the information. Sharing of information can take place where there is a lawful basis to do so, as such a sharing Agreement is not necessarily required to share information however regular sharing should be covered by an Agreement.
If sharing does not take place regularly or a relevant sharing Agreement is not available, data protection advice on the legality of ad-hoc and one-off disclosures can be requested from the Data Protection team.
The most regularly used sharing Agreements with partner organisations are provided at the bottom of this page.
Establishing if a new sharing agreement is required if not listed below
If a relevant Agreement is not available at the bottom of this page, please contact the Information Sharing team using the contact ss details below to see if a new sharing Agreement is required or if the sharing can be done via another means already in place.
Process if an external agency requests to create a new sharing agreement with DCP
In accordance with Force policy on sharing Agreements J-P-071 Alliance Information Sharing Policy, an external party wishing to enter into a sharing Agreement with Devon & Cornwall Police will need to liaise with the relevant Devon and Cornwall Police business area / operational team that will facilitate the sharing in order to establish whether they support the need for a sharing Agreement. If a sharing Agreement is considered appropriate, then the business area / operational team can refer to the requirements of the Information Sharing policy.
Contact details
Sharing agreement examples and forms regularly requested for them
- 001 Crime and Disorder ISA
- 003 Potentially Dangerous or Mentally Disordered Persons ISA
- MH1 Form – Request/Disclosure of Information Between the Statutory Agencies in Devon and Cornwall in Relation to Mentally Disordered Persons
- 004 Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) ISA
- 005 Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (DASV) ISA for Devon and Cornwall
- 006 Corporate Housing ISA
- Form HISA 3 - Housing Homelessness Form
- 010 Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults ISA
- VA1 Form – Agency Request for Information in Relation to Safeguarding Adults
- 125 Youth Justice Service ISA
If you require any of the documents above in another format please contact your partner lead.