Unaccompanied migrant children 1086/2024

FOI Reference: 1086/2024

Request

1.)

a) How many unaccompanied migrant children have been registered as ‘missing’ since January 2020?
b) How many of these people (some of whom may  now be adults) are still registered as missing?
c) How many of these have been missing for more than one month? How many have been missing for more than six months? How many have been missing for more than a year?

2)

a) Of the people in 1.) b) How many of these are still under the age of 18?
b) Of the people in 1.) b) How many of these are now over 18?
c) Of the people in 1.) b)  please break down the ages at which they went missing (ie - how many went missing at age 14, how many at age 15, etc)
d) Please break down the figures in 1.) b)  by sex
g)   Please break down the figures in 1.) b)  by nationality
h)  Please break down the figures in 1.) b)  by the  local authority (or or other authority) from whose care they went missing.

3)

a) Of the people in 1.) b) Please provide me with the age and nationality of the girl who was the youngest on the date she went missing. Has she been missing for more than six months? More than a year? (If data protection rules allow please also tell me in which month did she go missing?) From which local authority/other authority?
b) Of the people  in 1.) b) please provide me with the age and nationality of the  boy who was the youngest on the date he went missing. Has he been missing for more than six months, more than a year? (If data protection rules allow please also tell me in which month did she go missing?) From which local authority/other authority?

If you are planning on invoking the time/cost exemption please instead answer as many questions as possible within the time/cost limit, starting from question 1 and working your way down.

Ammended request received

1.)

a)  How many unaccompanied migrant children  have been registered as ‘missing’ since January 2020? If this data is only available via FOI for more recent months or years because if improved recording - please provide me with data reaching as far back as possible AND the date from which the data stretches back.
b) As at 22 November or nearest possible date: How many of these people (some of whom may  now be adults) are still registered as missing?
c) How many of these in 1.) B) have been missing for more than one month? How many have been missing for more than six months? How many have been missing for more than a year? 

2)

a) Of the people in 1.) b) How many of these are still under the age of 18?
b) Of the people in 1.) b) How many of these are now over 18?
c) Of the people in 1.) b)  please break down the ages at which they went missing (ie - how many went missing at age 14, how many at age 15, etc)
d) Please break down the figures in 1.) b)  by sex
e) Please break down the figures in 1.) b)  by nationality
f) Please break down the figures in 1.) b)  by the  local authority (or or other authority) from whose care they went missing.

3)

a) Of the people in 1.) b) Please provide me with the age and nationality of the girl who was the youngest on the date she went missing. Has she been missing for more than six months? More than a year? (If data protection rules allow please also tell me in which month did she go missing?) From which local authority/other authority?
b) Of the people  in 1.) b) please provide me with the age and nationality of the  boy who was the youngest on the date he went missing. Has he been missing for more than six months, more than a year? (If data protection rules allow please also tell me in which month did she go missing?) From which local authority/other authority?                           

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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 382 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 Question 1 of your request is not held in an easily retrievable format, in order to identify the child’s status would require manual review of each misper record.  

In light of this and in order to accurately obtain the information relative to your request for the time frame stipulated would involve Dyfed Powys Police accessing and manually reviewing 4590 records.

It has also been established that it would take a minimum of 5 minutes to review and obtain the information for a single record in respect of your request (as outlined above). 

The answer to Q1 would need to be established, prior to identifying whether or not the remaining questions of this request would exceed 18hrs.

The process outlined results in the below time estimate.

4,590 x 5 minutes = 382.5 hours

Time estimate to complete task = 382 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.

(This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and disclosed on 12/12/2024)