Sexual offence victims 1087/2025

FOI Reference: 1087/2025

Request:

I would like to request numerical data in response to the following question, please.

1. The number of reports of rape, assault by penetration or sexual assault received between 1st September 2020 and 31st August 2025 in which the victim is identified as having a learning disability or autism. Could these numbers be broken down by offence please?
2. Of those total cases identified in part one, in how many was a suspect charged?
3. Of those total cases identified in part one, how many were closed for no further action?

I would like to request qualitative data in response to the following question.

4. Of the cases identified in part 3 above, what was the reason given for a no further action outcome? (e.g. evidential difficulties, victim withdrew etc).

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.

I can confirm that the cost of determining whether any information relative to this request is or isn’t held is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond therefore we are withholding the whole of the requested information since we consider that the Section 12 (2) exemption the Cost of Compliance exceeds the Appropriate Limit applies to it.

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. The following exemption has been applied to the whole of the information you have requested:

Section 12(2) – The cost of compliance exceeds the Appropriate Limit

Section 12(2) states: “…Subsection (1) does not exempt the public authority from its obligation to comply with paragraph (a) of section 1(1) unless the estimated cost of complying with that paragraph alone would exceed the appropriate limit.”

The cost of determining what information is held, if any, 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 260.2 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 some of the information in respect of your request is not held in an easily retrievable format. Data prior to May 2023 is not easily retrievable. In light of this and in order to accurately obtain the information relative to your request for the time frame stipulated it would involve Dyfed Powys Police conducting a manual review of every crime report relevant to this request to obtain the data requested. 

It has been established that there are a total of 3125 records that cover the period of September 2020 – May 2023.  It has also been established that it would take a minimum of 5 minutes to review and obtain the information for a single crime record in respect of your request (as outlined above). The process outlined results in the below time estimate.

From Sept 2020 – 293 crimes x 5mins = 24.4hours

2021 – 1,124 crimes x 5 mins = 93.6 hours

2022 – 1,261 x crimes x 5mins = 105 hours

Up to May 2023 – 447crimes x 5mins = 37.2 hours

Time estimate to complete task = 260.2 hours

In accordance therefore 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 public authorities right to cite exemptions if relevant.                                              

It should be noted that as a result of the systems adopted by Dyfed-Powys Police in relation to the recording of such information that the information released may or may not be accurate.

Furthermore, it should also be noted that Police forces in the United Kingdom are routinely required to provide crime 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 crime data. It should be noted that for these reasons this force's response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other response you may receive.

(This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and disclosed on 29/12/2025)