Motoring offences 489/2024
FOI Reference: 489/2024
Request:
How many instances of the below offence were logged per year, from 2020 to 2023?
"SMO Summary motoring 170 Vehicle registration and excise licence offences (MOT) 81001 81001 - Motor vehicle licence obscured or not affixed"
How many instances of the below offence were logged per year, from 2020 to 2023?
"SMO Summary motoring 170 Vehicle registration and excise licence offences (MOT) 81090 81090 - Other motor vehicle licence, trade licence, registration mark, trade plate and registration book offences (except forgery and deception offences)"
Clarification Q:
With regards to Q1,
Do you require data for each calendar year or each financial year?
The Traffic Department only hold information where an officer has stopped an individual and issued with a Traffic Offence Report. We would only be able to provide figures where an officer has completed a Traffic Offence Report.
Are you requiring figures regarding vehicles regarding numberplate offences or MOT offences or both?
We do not recognise the numbers that you have quoted.
With regards to Q2,
Are you requiring data regarding trade vehicles?
Do you require data for each calendar year or each financial year?
The Traffic Department only hold information where an officer has stopped an individual and issued with a Traffic Offence Report. We would only be able to provide figures where an officer has completed a Traffic Offence Report.
Are you requiring figures regarding vehicles regarding numberplate offences or MOT offences or both?
We do not recognise the numbers that the applicant has quoted.
Clarification A:
We require the date for each calendar year please
We require the figures for number plate offense only.
We do not require the data regarding trade vehicles.
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 109.7 hours) to comply with this part of your request. The regulations can be located @ www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2004/3244
The Freedom of Information department has been advised that the information in respect of data between 12/05/23-31/12/23 for 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 traffic offence reports, each report would have to be manually reviewed to ascertain if a Traffic Offence Report was issues for numberplate related offences.
It has been established that there are a total of 2193 Traffic Offence Reports that cover between 12/05/23-31/12/23 for your request. It has also been established that it would take a minimum of 3 minutes to review and obtain the information for a single report in respect of your request (as outlined above). The process outlined results in the below time estimate.
2193 reports x 3minutes = 109.7 hours
Time estimate to complete task = 109.7 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 question 1 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.
|
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
Up to 12/05/2023 |
|
315 |
334 |
259 |
47 |
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 28/05/2024)