999 BSL service 300/2026

FOI Reference: 300/2026

Request

The total number of incident responses which came through the 999 BSL service (https://999bsl.co.uk) that resulted in the attendance / dispatch of police officers from your force in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025

1. Please provide a separate figure for each individual calendar year - e.g. 100 in 2022, 37 in 2023, etc
2. The total number of incident responses which came through the 999 BSL service that resulted in the attendance / dispatch of police officers from your force specifically where a BSL interpreter was also used / employed / contracted to assist at the scene of the emergency (AFTER the dispatch) (either in-person or virtually e.g. computers on wheels, facetime, etc) in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025

Again, please provide a separate figure for each individual calendar year 

3. If data is not available for part two, please instead indicate whether the police force routinely contracts / uses a BSL interpreter to assist with any police officer dispatches resulting from an incident report through the 999 BSL service (aka, if there is any provision for BSL interpretation in emergency situations after the initial 999 BSL video relay service has concluded and officers are dispatched).

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 42,346 hours) to comply with this part of 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 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 manually reviewing 254,075 records.

When calls come into the Force Command and Control and a report needs to be created on ‘STORM’ incident recording system, they should be created to reflect the option that the caller is reporting on e.g., (non-emergency)101- English line, 101 Welsh Line, 999, BSL 999, BSL 101, etc. However, this may not always be the case if the call taker has incorrectly inputted the type of call onto the system.

Therefore, other BSL 999 calls have possibly been incorrectly categorised on the system as normal 999 calls.  

It has also been established that it would take a minimum of 10 minutes to review the information for a single record in respect of your request, in order obtain the accurate information relating to this request.

The process outlined results in the below time estimate:-

 In 2022 there were 58,811 - 999 calls.

 In 2023 there were 68,301 - 999 calls.

 In 2024 there were 64,337 - 999 calls.

 In 2025 there were 62,626 - 999 calls.

Total ‘999’ calls = 254,075

254,075 records x 10 minutes per record = 42,346 hours

Time estimate to complete task = 42,346 hours

Please note: Above ‘999’ calls do not include those correctly categorised in the BSL 999 category.

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.

(This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and disclosed on 02/04/2026)