Roadside breath tests 398/2024
FOI Request: 398/2024
Request:
- the number of roadside screening breath tests carried out by your Police Force in 2023, split by month.
- the number of positive/refused tests, split by month.
Response Question 1 & 2:
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 -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 requested, however the following exemption has been applied to the whole of the information you have requested:
Section 22 – Information Intended for Future Publication
“(1) Information is exempt information if –
(a) the information is held by the public authority with a view to its publication, by the authority or any other person, at some future date (whether determined or not),
(b) the information was already held with a view to such publication at the time the request for information was made, and
(c) it is reasonable in all circumstances that the information should be withheld from disclosure until the date referred to in paragraph.”
Section 22 is a qualified class-based exemption and considerations must be given as to whether there is a public interest in providing the information prior to the anticipated publication.
Public Interest Test
Considerations favouring disclosure:
Dyfed-Powys Police is committed to demonstrating an ethos of openness, transparency and accountability and to disclose the information would be seen as providing updated information, and demonstrating continuing ongoing awareness. Current information would enhance public knowledge of the subject and that may better inform public debate around this subject.
Considerations favouring non-disclosure:
The requested information is to be provided to the Home Office and published by them. Therefore, to disclose the information requested under the Freedom of Information Act would pre-empt this process. Publication processes are in place and disclosure outside of those arranged processes will render such processes obsolete. Such processes are in place to ensure the proactive publication of information, which is in line with the ethos of openness and transparency found within the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Balancing Test
Factors need to be balanced to see if they favour disclosure or non-disclosure of the information. In this case the strongest consideration for disclosure is demonstrating an ethos of openness, transparency and accountability, being weighed against the consideration for non-disclosure which in this case is that the requested information is proactively produced and published. Proactive publication of information assists in meeting the public interest test, disclosure at an earlier date would render such processes obsolete and the Force would continuously have to furnish Freedom of Information requests when there is a process in place which ensures that the Force is open and transparent in regard to such information. Therefore, at this moment in time, the balancing test for disclosure is not made out.
Therefore, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
The relevant link to the Home Office website is: Police powers and procedures: Other PACE powers, England and Wales, year ending 31 March 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
(This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act and disclosed on the 7th May 2024)