ASB powers usage 792/23
FOI Reference: 792/2023
Request:
I would like the following information about your force’s use of powers contained in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. I would like to know:
CPNs:
1. The number of Community Protection Notices (CPNs) issued in the year 01/08/2022 - 31/07/2023. Please provide any easily extractable data about the subject of these CPNs.
2. The number of charges or summonses for breaching a CPN. Please if possible provide a breakdown of all disposal outcomes for offences of breaching a CPN.
PSPOs:
3. The number of charges or summonses for the offence of breaching a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) in the year 01/08/2022 - 31/07/2023. Please if possible provide a breakdown of all disposal outcomes for offences of breaching a PSPO. Please provide any easily extractable data about the PSPO offence and the ward area.
4. Please state whether your force is using dispersal powers issued by councils under PSPOs. If so, provide any data on the number of PSPO dispersal notices issued to individuals in the year 01/08/2022 - 31/07/2023.
5. Please provide any existing records of incidents of alcohol confiscation under PSPOs in the period 01/08/2022 - 31/07/2023.
Dispersal orders:
6. If possible, please state the number of dispersal zones declared in the year 01/08/2022 - 31/07/2023. Please provide any data about the reasons for declaring these dispersal zones.
7. Please state the number of orders to disperse issued to individuals in the period 01/08/2022 - 31/07/2023. Please provide any available data about the reasons for issuing these orders to disperse.
Internal/external evaluations of CPNs, PSPOs or dispersal notices:
8. Has your force completed any internal or external evaluation of the use of CPNs, PSPOs or dispersal notices? If so, please provide a copy of any reports, evaluations, or minutes of meetings where these orders have been discussed.
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 providing you with the information requested in respect 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 53.33 hours) to comply with this part of your request. The regulations can be located @ www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2004/20043244.htm
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 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 reviewing all relevant records across two different recording systems as a new recording system was introduced by Dyfed Powys police midway through 2023. In order to accurately determine the number of CPN’s issued for the timeframe outlined in your request it has been established that there are a total of 364 records that cover the period of 01/08/22 – 15/05/23 for recording system 1 and it has also been established that there are a total of 138 records that cover the period of 16/05/23 – 31/07/23 for recording system 2. It has also been established that it would take a minimum of 5 mins minutes to review and obtain the information for a single record for recording system 1 and 10 mins for a single record in relation to recording system 2 of your request (as outlined above). The process outlined results in the below time estimate.
Recording system 1:
01/08/22 – 15/05/23 = 364 records at a minimum of 5 mins per record = 30.33 hours
Recording system 2:
16/05/23 – 31/07/23 = 138 records at a minimum of 10 mins per record = 23.00 hours
Time estimate to complete request = 53.33 hours
Please note: Please see the end of the document in which information relating to questions 2, 3, 5 - 7 has been outlined as it has been easily retrievable and provided as a gesture of goodwill outside of the FOI Act. In addition to this it should also be noted that we are unable to confirm at this point if information is held in relation to question 4 as the request has already exceeded the 18 hour limit we have not progressed this question any further. A response to question 8 can be provided within the 18 hour time limit.
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 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.
Question 2:
- 30 charges/20 postal requisitions for breaching a CPN for the timeframe requested.
Question 3:
- 0 cases identified for this specific offence for the timeframe requested
Question 5:
- There were 140 incidents of alcohol confiscation under PSPOs recorded for the timeframe requested
Question 6:
- 20 zones - ASB/Crime during night-time economy, members of the public in the locality being harassed, alarmed or distressed, planned operation in response to ASB.
Question 7:
- 15 for the timeframe requested
(This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and disclosed on 12/03/24)