Sexual Risk Orders 643/2023

FOI Reference: 643/2023

 

Request:

I am writing to request information under Freedom of Information, relating to the use, by your Force, of Sexual Risk Orders.

In particular, I would be grateful if you could please provide the following information relating to the time period, 1 January 2020 to 31 March 2023:

• How many Sexual Risk Orders has your Force applied for?
• How many of those applications have been successful?
• What was the conduct / "act of a sexual nature" that triggered the application for the Sexual Risk Order?
• What conditions were imposed by the Sexual Risk Order, negative and positive?
• How many breaches of Sexual Risk Orders have taken please?
• Which conditions were breached?

 

Response 1:

I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold the information requested, the details of which are as follows:

• For the time period of 1 January 2020 to 31 March 2023 there has been a total of two (2) Sexual risk orders applied for by Dyfed Powys police force.

Response 2:

I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold the information requested, the details of which are as follows:

• 1 x Sexual risk order, 1 x Interim Sexual risk order

Response 3:

I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold the information requested, the details of which are as follows:

• Inciting sexual activity with a child
• (Interim SRO) Allegations of cruelty/assault/neglect. Wounding with intent and an offence of sexual activity.

Response 4:

I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold the information requested, the details of which are as follows. However, some of that information has been exempted under Section 40(2) Personal Information.  Please see the end of the document for an explanation of the applied exemption.

1. The respondent is prohibited from 1. Seeking, approaching or communicating by any method with any female under the age of 16 who is not in the immediate presence of another adult with parental responsibility for the child or who is their guardian save for any contact that is inadvertent and unavoidable, in the course of the Respondent’s lawful daily activities. 2. Seeking, approaching or communicating by any method with Section 40(2) applies.

2. (Interim SRO) The Respondent shall be prohibited from:

Seeking, approaching or communicating by any method with any child under the age of 18 who is not in the immediate presence of another adult with parental responsibility for the child or who is their guardian who has knowledge of the terms of this Order save for any contact that is inadvertent and unavoidable, in the course of the Respondent’s lawful daily activities.

Knowingly withholding information, or providing information Section 40(2) applies knows to be untrue, in respect of friendships/relationships, sexual or non-sexual, when asked for the information by a Representative of the Chief Constable in order that an accurate risk assessment can be made for the purpose of protecting children and/or vulnerable persons. Information to include name, address, area of residence and details of known dependants.

Holding any Social Media Account and/or internet profile or usernames, other than in the name of Section 40(2) applies or a name that is approved by police prior to use and allows such account to be checked on request for inspection by a Police officer or civilian Police investigative Officer.

Entering into a relationship with any person who has a child under the age of 18 residing with them without first notifying the Police Offender Manager within the police force area in which he resides of that person’s details, and where necessary that person to be fully aware of the terms of this order

Remaining in any domestic premises with any child under the age of 18 who is not in the immediate presence of another adult with parental responsibility for the child or who is their guardian

Living in the same household as any child, under the age of 18 years, unless with express approval of Section 40(2) applies public protection manager in conjunction with the social services department for the area in which Section 40(2) applies resides.

 

Response 5:

I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold the information requested, the details of which are as follows:

• Zero (0) breaches of Sexual Risk Orders have taken place for the period requested

 

Response 6:

• Not applicable which is based on the response provided in respect of response 5 outlined above.

 

Explanation of the applied exemption – Section 40 (Personal Information)

Section 40(2) applies to third party personal data and is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 if disclosure, in relation to data subject to law enforcement processing, would breach any of the data protection principles contained within Part 3 - Chapter 2 of the Data Protection Act 2018.

Under Section 34 within Chapter 2 “The Controller in relation to personal data is responsible for and must be able to demonstrate, compliance with” Chapter 2. Such information would not be released under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 unless there is a strong public interest. One of the main differences between the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 2018 is that any information released under FOI is released into the public domain, not just the individuals requesting the information and disclosure under the Act must be made with that in mind. As such, any release that identifies any individuals through releasing their personal data, even third party personal data is exempt.

Personal data is defined under Section 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 as:

“(2) ‘Personal data’ means any information relating to an identified or identifiable living individuals (subject to subsection (14)(c)).

(3) ‘Identifiable living individuals’ means a living individuals who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to—

(a) An identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data or an online identifier, or

(b) One or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of the individuals.”

All members of the public including those employed by the force have an intrinsic right to privacy and these rights are protected by virtue of the Human Rights Act, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK-GDPR) and a public authority must not interfere with that right. Any release of the information subject to the exemption is likely to compromise those rights.

Data Protection Act 2018

Part 3 – Law Enforcement – Chapter 2 Principles Section 35

The first data protection principle:

“(1) The first data protection principle is that the processing of personal data for any of the law enforcement purposes must be lawful and fair.”

UK - General Data Protection Regulation

Article 5 of the UK-GDPR – ‘Principles relating to processing of personal data’ provides:

“1. ‘Personal data’ shall be

(a) Processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject (‘lawfulness, fairness and transparency);

(b) Collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes; further processing for archiving purposes in the public interest…

2.  The controller shall be responsible for, and be able to demonstrate compliance with, paragraph 1 (‘accountability’).”

Dyfed-Powys Police would not want to disclose any information that could potentially identify any individuals. In this particular case, to release some of the requested information could lead to the identification of individuals. To release such information would be a direct breach of Data Protection legislation and as a consequence I am satisfied that Section 40(2) Personal Information exemption is applicable to the release of the information. The Section 40 exemption is in part qualified and in part absolute, in the present case it would be absolute as to release the information would breach Data Protection legislation and therefore there is no requirement to carry out a public interest test.

                                                                                                           

It should be noted that owing to the systems adopted by Dyfed-Powys Police in relation to the recording of such matters the information provided may or may not be accurate. 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 08/04/24)