Child Abduction Warning Notice 204/23

FOI Reference: 204/2023

Request:

Under the FOIA, please provide me with the following information.

1/ Please can you provide the annual number of Child Abduction Warning Notices issued for each of the last 5 calendar years, including 2022? Please also break down the type of concern per CAWN where detailed or known i.e. county lines, cannabis farms etc.

2/ Please can you provide the annual number of Looked After Children under 18 whom a CAWN was issued for, for each of the last 5 calendar years, including 2022? Please also provide the name of the children’s home or company which was responsible for children in care who were the subject of the highest number of individual CAWNS per setting where known (i.e. if 3 CAWNS related to children from one children's home over this 5 years period - this is not applicable if the highest figure was simply one). Not all forces will readily hold this detail, so please ignore if not known.

3/ Please provide a) the most number of CAWNs issued in relation to a single child in care/ Looked After Child and b) the youngest age of a child in care whom a CAWN was issued in relation to.

4/ Please can you provide the annual number of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children who a CAWN was issued for, for each of the last 5 calendar years, including 2022?

For definition of a CAWN - please see p41 of this link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1101687/Child_Exploitation_Disruption_Toolkit_082022.pdf

Response:

Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 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 the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Dyfed Powys Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which:   (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.

I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold the information you have requested. However we are withholding the whole of the requested information since we consider that the Section 12(1) exemption the Cost of Compliance exceeds the Appropriate Limit applies to it.

Section 12 (1) – The cost of compliance exceeds the Appropriate Limit

Section 12(1) states: “…Section 1 (1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the appropriate limit.”

The cost of determining what information is held relevant to your request  is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond i.e. the cost of locating and retrieving the information exceeds the “appropriate level” as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004. It is estimated that it would exceed 18 hours (i.e. minimum of 2,295.50 hours) to comply with your request. The regulations can be located @ https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2004/3244

The Freedom of Information department has been advised that the information in respect of your request is not accurately recorded in an easily retrievable format. Therefore, in order to establish what information is held in relation to the request would require the individual interrogation of protect records over the time frame specified to ascertain a response to questions 1 – 4 of your request. It has been established that for the period as specified within the request (i.e. 2018 - 2022) there are a total 13,773 records that would require researching. It has been estimated that it would take a minimum of 10 minutes to research a single record for relevance to your request as outlined above, resulting in the following broken down time estimate.

 Total of 2,295.50 hours to complete task

Please note:  The Freedom of Information department has been made aware that the number of CAWNs has been recorded elsewhere, however it has also come to our attention that this information is not likely to be accurate. Consequently, the above time estimate in respect of searching all protect records has been outlined.  Furthermore, to provide a response to questions 1 - 4 of your request for the number of CAWNs that is deemed not accurate would also exceed the 18 hour time limit, equating to approximately 24 hours.

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a Refusal Notice for the WHOLE of this request under Section 17(5) A public authority which, in relation to any request for information, is relying on a claim that section 12 or section 14 applies must, within the time for complying with section 1(1), give the applicant a notice stating that fact.

You may wish to refine and resubmit your request so that it reduces the time shown above to fall within the 18 hours. Should you require any further advice in relation to this matter please don’t hesitate to contact the Freedom of Information Unit. Please also be advised that should the request be refined, it does not remove the Force’s right to cite exemptions if relevant.

(This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and disclosed on 14/03/23)