Illegally setting off fireworks 437/2022
FOI Reference: 437/2022
Request:
1) For the financial years 2020/21 and 2021/22, please tell me how many reports you have received of fireworks being set off illegally in a public space.
2) Please provide me with copies of the MOs for all firework-related incidents in 2020/21 and 2021/22 which mention the terms “football” and “hotel”, redacting any details which would otherwise fall foul of Section 40(2). For each MO, please state the a) date and b) time when the offence was allegedly committed, or if this is not available, the time when the report was made, as well as the c) location.
NOTE: For your information, I am searching for reports of football fans attempting to disturb rival clubs’ sleep by setting off fireworks outside their hotels the night before a match. Please find a media report about one such incident here for context: https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11669/11713807/police-confirm-fireworks-set-off-outside-barcelona-hotel-ahead-of-liverpool-tie
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 the cost of determining whether any information relative to this request is or isn’t held is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond therefore we are withholding the whole of the requested information since we consider that the Section 12 (2) exemption the Cost of Compliance exceeds the Appropriate Limit applies to it.
Section 12 (2) – The cost of compliance exceeds the Appropriate Limit
Section 12(2) states: “…Subsection (1) does not exempt the public authority from its obligation to comply with paragraph (a) of section 1(1) unless the estimated cost of complying with that paragraph alone 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 8614.5 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 Unit has been advised that the information requested in relation to your request regarding ‘firework incidents’ during the financial years 20/21 and 21/22 is not held in an easily retrievable format and would exceed the appropriate time limit, i.e. 18 hours, to retrieve.
This is due to the fact that the system used to record incidents is unable to conduct keyword searches and there is no specific category to record firework related incidents. Therefore an individual interrogation of all ASB and P-Suspicious incidents, recorded during the specified time period, would be required in order to establish the information requested.
In order to do this, it is estimated it would take approximately 10 minutes to review each record, of which there are 51,687 for the time period given.
The relevant time estimate is detailed below:
|
Financial year |
Number of records |
Time to review |
Total |
|
2020 - 2021 |
27100 |
10 minutes |
4516.67 |
|
2021 - 2022 |
24587 |
10 minutes |
4097.83 |
|
Total |
229,685 |
|
8614.5 |
Therefore, total time estimate to complete request = 8614.5 hours
In accordance 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 me.
Please also be advised that should the request be refined, it does not remove the Force’s right to cite exemptions if relevant.
This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and disclosed on the 21st June 2022.