Section 4 of the PCSC Act 2022 348/2026
FOI Reference: 348/2026
Request:
Under Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I am requesting the following information regarding your force’s approach to Section 4 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Act 2022, which introduced new criminal offences relating to Unauthorised Encampments. Please provide data from the date the legislation came into force to the present.
Question 1: Equality Impact and Compliance
Given the PSED obligations and the recognised protected status of Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers, please provide:
1) Recorded evidence of how any Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs), Equality Analyses, or internal reviews carried out in relation to the introduction or use of Section 4 powers
2) Recorded evidence of how any internal guidance, training materials, or briefings provided to officers regarding the cultural rights of GRT communities and the need to avoid discriminatory or disproportionate enforcement
3) Recorded evidence of how any monitoring data your force holds relating to the protected characteristics of individuals affected by Section 4 enforcement.
If no such recorded assessments, guidance, or monitoring exist, please confirm this explicitly.
Question 2: Policies and Strategies
In light of Section 4 of the PCSC Act, has your force drafted or adopted any new strategies, operational guidance, or policies relating specifically to Unauthorised Encampments?
If so, please confirm whether these documents are publicly accessible and provide copies or links where available.
Question 3: Implementation of Section 4
Has your force implemented Section 4 of the PCSC Act?
If yes, please provide details of how it has been used, including:
1) Directions to leave
2) Seizure or confiscation of vehicles
3) Arrests made under this provision
Question 4: Prosecutions
Have there been any prosecutions within your force area under Section 4 of the PCSC Act?
If so, please provide:
1) The number of prosecutions - including dates, reference numbers and/or case numbers
2) The decision outcomes of those prosecutions (e.g., charges, convictions, discontinued cases) - including dates, reference numbers and/or case numbers
Please also include details of any current pending enforcement.
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 question 4 of 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 question 4 of 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 17648 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, this is due to the recording system not currently holding the HO Code for Section 4 of the PCSC Act, we are not able to obtain reliable information regarding Unauthorised Encampments as it would require freetext search on all occurrence summaries or addresses.
In order to accurately obtain the information relative to question 4 of your request would involve Dyfed Powys Police accessing and manually reviewing all records, this would take a minimum of 5 minutes to review and obtain the information for a single occurrence in respect of your request.
Due to no time period being mentioned within the request, the following time estimate has been provided:
2025: 156,778 records x 5 mins each = 783,890/60 = 13,064 hours
2026 (To date): 55,008 records x 5 mins each = 275,040/60 = 4,584 hours
Time estimate to complete task = 17648 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.
Although excess cost removes the forces obligations under the Freedom of Information Act to provide any further information, as a gesture of goodwill, I have provided information, relative to some of your request which has been easily retrievable and outlined below. I trust this is helpful, but it does not affect our legal right to rely on the fees regulations for the remainder of your request.
1a.
Policy surrounding the introduction and use of Section 4 powers is under development by the Welsh Government.
The police are fully cognisant of the balance between PSED obligations and law enforcement. However, further training is being introduced in 2026 to further educate the workforce.
The lead agency is respect of unauthorised encampment management will be the Local Authority.
1b & 1c:
Specific GRT training was provided on 25th March 2025 by Friends, Families and Travellers.
Funding for this financial year has been approved and dialogue between FFT and HDPP has commenced in order to arrange further training inputs.
Mandatory, Cultural awareness training also refers to the GRT community.
We have a network of trained GRT SPOC’s working in the NPPT teams throughout the Force area who have received Cultural Awareness training.
2 & 3:
The following link is for the Welsh Governemtn draft guidance for managing unauthorised encampments; Draft guidance for managing unauthorised encampments: understanding unauthorised encampments and possible remedies (https://www.gov.wales/draft-guidance-managing-unauthorised-encampments-understanding-unauthorised-encampments-and)
(This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and disclosed on 08/05/2026)
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