Protection orders 544/2022
FOI Reference: 544/2022
Request:
- The number of non-molestation orders for domestic violence, DVPNs and DVPOs issued in the calendar years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
- The number of breaches of non-molestation orders for domestic violence, DVPNs and DVPOs issued in the calendar years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
- The number of arrests for breaching non-molestation orders (for domestic violence), DVPNs and DVPOs, in each of the calendar years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
- The number of reported domestic violence incidents following breaches to non-molestation orders, DVPNs and DVPOs, in each of the calendar years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
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.
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.
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. The following exemption has been applied to the whole of the information you have requested:
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 determining what information is held, if any, relevant to 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 29.67 hours) to comply with 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 relation to question 4 of your request is not held in an easily retrievable format. Each breach (arrest) would have to be reviewed to obtain the details of the offender and the date of the breach. Further manual research would be required on every offender to establish if a further report of DV was reported post the initial breach.
It has been established that there are 178 records that would need to be interrogated during the timeframe specified. Each record would take around 10 minutes to research correctly across multiple systems.
The breakdown is as follows:
2017: 11 records x 10 minutes per record = 1.83 hours
2018: 16 records x 10 minutes per record = 2.67 hours
2019: 40 records x 10 minutes per record = 6.67 hours
2020: 30 records x 10 minutes per record = 5 hours
2021: 39 records x 10 minutes per record = 6.5 hours
2022: 42 records x 10 minutes per record = 7 hours
Therefore total time estimate to complete whole request (178 records x 10 minutes per record) = 29.67 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 the Freedom of Information Unit.
Please also be advised that should the request be refined, it does not remove the Force’s right to cite exemptions if relevant.
Although excess cost removed the force’s obligations under the Freedom of Information Act, as a gesture of goodwill, I have supplied information, relative to your request, retrieved or available before it was realised that the fees limit would be exceeded. 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.
Goodwill Responses 1:
I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold the information requested, as outlined below.
DVPNs are the notices issued by Superintendent’s starting the DVPO court application process. Our data is kept per calendar year:
- 2017-18: 39
- 2018-19: 76
- 2019-20: 66
- 2020-21: 68
- 2021-22: 92
- Up to 12/07/2022: 42
Please note: Dyfed-Powys Police do not have information on Non-Molestation Orders since police have no standing to apply for these.
Goodwill Response 2 & 3:
I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold the information requested, as outlined below.
|
Year/ Order type |
Total |
|
2017 |
11 |
|
Breach a Domestic Violence Protection Notice |
1 |
|
Breach a non-molestation order - Family Law Act 1996 |
10 |
|
2018 |
16 |
|
Attempt breach of a non-molestation order |
1 |
|
Breach a Domestic Violence Protection Notice |
2 |
|
Breach a non-molestation order - Family Law Act 1996 |
12 |
|
Breach of a domestic violence protection order |
1 |
|
2019 |
40 |
|
Attempt breach of a non-molestation order |
1 |
|
Breach a Domestic Violence Protection Notice |
7 |
|
Breach a non-molestation order - Family Law Act 1996 |
5 |
|
Breach of a domestic violence protection order |
27 |
|
2020 |
30 |
|
Breach a Domestic Violence Protection Notice |
4 |
|
Breach a non-molestation order - Family Law Act 1996 |
5 |
|
Breach of a domestic violence protection order |
21 |
|
2021 |
39 |
|
Breach a Domestic Violence Protection Notice |
2 |
|
Breach a non-molestation order - Family Law Act 1996 |
19 |
|
Breach of a domestic violence protection order |
18 |
|
2022 |
42 |
|
Breach a Domestic Violence Protection Notice |
1 |
|
Breach a non-molestation order - Family Law Act 1996 |
15 |
|
Breach of a domestic violence protection order |
26 |
Please note: To confirm, arrest are counted on every recorded breach.
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 09/09/2022)