Theft of building materials 535/2022
FOI Reference: 535/2022
Request:
Please can you provide information on reports of theft of building materials, equipment and tools from commercial properties and vehicles?
- Specifically, I’d like to request the number of reports of these types of theft within your jurisdiction from 1st January 2020 to the present (5th July 2022), broken down by calendar year.
- Where possible please provide the total cost of the claims for each theft.
- If you could also provide me with a basic description of the items stolen in each report, that would be greatly appreciated.
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 28 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 2 of your request is not held in an easily retrievable format as there are number of records in which the value of the item stolen has been listed as zero (0). 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 the crime records with the value of the item stolen listed as zero (0) to ascertain if a true value has been outlined/recorded within the pages of that crime record. It has been established that there are a total of 168 crime records that cover the period of your request. It has also been established that it would take a minimum of 10 minutes to review and obtain the information for a single crime record in respect of your request (as outlined above). The process outlined results in the below time estimate.
2020 = 66 crime records@ a minimum of 10 minutes per record = 11.00 hours
2021 = 49 crime records@ a minimum of 10 minutes per record = 08.17 hours
2022* = 53 crime records@ a minimum of 10 minutes per record = 08.83 hours
(*2022 data is up to 5th July)
Time estimate to complete request = 28 hours
Please note: A response to question 1 and 3 of the request has been outlined at the end of the document and provided outside of the FOI Act as a gesture of goodwill. In addition to this and in relation to question 2, a response can be provided in respect of the remainder of the crime records (i.e. 123 crimes) that have a value listed within the 18 hour time limit. However, it should be noted that this would not be a true and accurate reflection of the data requested.
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 questions 1 & 3 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.
Question 1:
|
Year |
No. of thefts |
|
2020 |
117 |
|
2021 |
102 |
|
2022 |
72 |
|
Grand Total |
291 |
Question 3:
|
Item Stolen |
Total |
|
AIR VENT |
1 |
|
BAG |
1 |
|
BANNER |
1 |
|
BATHROOM FITTINGS |
4 |
|
BEACON |
1 |
|
BLOCK CUTTER |
1 |
|
BOARD |
1 |
|
BOILER |
4 |
|
BOLTS |
1 |
|
BRACKETS |
1 |
|
BRICKS/BLOCKS/STONES |
10 |
|
CABLE |
2 |
|
CEMENT |
1 |
|
CHAIN |
1 |
|
CHIMNEY POT |
1 |
|
CHIPPINGS |
1 |
|
CONCRETE BREAKER |
2 |
|
CONSTRUCTION |
61 |
|
CONSTRUCTION EQUIPME |
19 |
|
COPPER PIPE |
1 |
|
COPPER PIPES |
1 |
|
COPPER TANK |
1 |
|
COPPING STONES |
1 |
|
DECKING BOARD |
1 |
|
DECORATING EQUIPMENT |
5 |
|
DISC CUTTER |
1 |
|
DOOR |
1 |
|
DOOR HANDLE |
1 |
|
DRAIN PIPE |
1 |
|
DRAINAGE PIPES |
1 |
|
ELECTRIC CABLING |
1 |
|
EYEHOLE |
1 |
|
FENCE PANEL |
2 |
|
FENCE STAKES |
1 |
|
GATE |
1 |
|
GENERATOR |
1 |
|
GLASS |
1 |
|
GRAB OFF A DIGGER |
1 |
|
GRAVEL |
1 |
|
H&S SIGNS |
1 |
|
IRON GUTTERING |
1 |
|
KITCHEN FIXTURES |
2 |
|
KITCHEN TAP |
1 |
|
LADDER |
16 |
|
LASER LEVEL |
1 |
|
LEAD |
11 |
|
LOCK/CHAIN |
1 |
|
LOCKS |
11 |
|
LOGS |
2 |
|
METAL BOLTS |
1 |
|
METAL SHEETING |
1 |
|
OIL TANK |
1 |
|
ON DEMAND PUMPS |
1 |
|
ONE TONE PECKER |
1 |
|
PADLOCK |
3 |
|
PADLOCK AND CHAIN |
1 |
|
PAINT |
2 |
|
PALLET |
1 |
|
PALLETS |
2 |
|
PAVING SLABS |
1 |
|
PAVING STONE |
1 |
|
PLANK |
1 |
|
PLANKS |
1 |
|
PLAQUE |
1 |
|
PLUMBING SUPPLIES |
4 |
|
POLYTUNNEL |
1 |
|
PORTA LOO |
1 |
|
PORTALOO |
1 |
|
POST BOX |
1 |
|
POWER WASHER |
1 |
|
RADIATOR |
1 |
|
ROOF TILES |
1 |
|
ROOFING SHEETS |
1 |
|
RULER |
1 |
|
SAFETY CONE |
1 |
|
SAND |
2 |
|
SATELLITE AERIAL |
1 |
|
SCAFFOLDING |
5 |
|
SCAFFOLDING FOAM COV |
1 |
|
SCAFFOLDING ITEMS |
1 |
|
SCAFFOLDING PROTECTI |
1 |
|
SCEPTIC TANK |
1 |
|
SCREW |
1 |
|
SHED |
1 |
|
SKIP |
5 |
|
SOLAR PANEL |
1 |
|
SPADE |
1 |
|
STEEL SHEET |
1 |
|
STONE |
2 |
|
TILES |
1 |
|
TIMBER |
16 |
|
TIMBER & DOOR STOP |
1 |
|
TRAFFIC CONE |
1 |
|
TRESTLES |
1 |
|
UNKNOWN ITEMS |
1 |
|
VARIOUS |
6 |
|
WACKER PLATE |
1 |
|
WASTE PLUG |
1 |
|
WATER BOUSER |
1 |
|
WATER PIPING |
1 |
|
WELDER |
1 |
|
WHEELBARROW |
2 |
|
WINDOW |
2 |
|
WIRE |
1 |
|
WOOD |
7 |
|
WOOD PALLETS |
1 |
|
WOODEN PALLETS |
1 |
|
WOODEN POLE |
1 |
|
WORK BENCH |
1 |
|
Grand Total |
291 |
(This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and disclosed on 02/08/22)