Dear Ricki,

I write in connection with your request for information dated 20 April 09 concerning prostitution related arrests, in Wiltshire, during 2008.

Your request for information has now been considered and it is not possible to meet your requirements in full.

You wrote:

a) released without charge

b) cautioned

c) charged

d) fined

e) If none of the above can be applied to each arrest I would like to know how the crime was dealt with.

Response:

I must inform you that the number of people arrested for soliciting prostitutes or kerb crawling in this force has been so rare that in order to provide you with a month on month answer to this request, along with subsequent punishments, I would be bound to impart detail which if it were put together with other information would inevitably lead to identifying individuals, and as such the data would be sensitive personal data under the terms of the Data Protection Act of 1998. Therefore it is arguable that the request is exempt under the provisions of section 40(2) of the freedom of Information Act.

However, to assist you as best I can, but maintain the rights and entitlements of those individuals; I am prepared to state that in 2008, there have been no more than 5 people arrested for soliciting prostitutes or kerb crawling in Wiltshire.

Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires the Constabulary, when refusing to provide 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. In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 this letter acts as a Refusal Notice for those aspects of your request.

Section 40 Personal information

(2) Any information to which a request for information relates is also exempt information if—

(a) it constitutes personal data which do not fall within subsection (1), and

(b) either the first or the second condition below is satisfied.

(3) The first condition is—

(a) in a case where the information falls within any of paragraphs (a) to (d) of the definition of “data” in section 1(1) of the [1998 c. 29.] Data Protection Act 1998, that the disclosure of the information to a member of the public otherwise than under this Act would contravene—

(i) any of the data protection principles, or

(ii) section 10 of that Act (right to prevent processing likely to cause damage or distress), and

(b) in any other case, that the disclosure of the information to a member of the public otherwise than under this Act would contravene any of the data protection principles if the exemptions in section 33A(1) of the [1998 c. 29.] Data Protection Act 1998 (which relate to manual data held by public authorities) were disregarded.

Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information Decision Maker

The Wiltshire Constabulary offers a re-examination of your case under its review procedure.

Data Protection and Freedom of Information Unit

Chippenham Police Station, Wood Lane, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN15 3DH

Telephone 0845 408 7000 ext 343 Fax 01225 794690

Freedom of Information Request Appeals Procedure

If, upon receipt of a response to a request for information, you as the applicant are unhappy with the outcome, you are entitled to appeal against the decision reached in the following way:

In the first instance, you should write to the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Officer at the address given above. You will need to include the reference number and date of your request, plus details of why you are appealing.

Receipt of your appeal will be acknowledged including confirmation of the issue/s raised, a target date for response (as soon as practicable and in any case within three months) and the point of contact dealing with the appeal (who will be independent from the original decision maker).

A review of the appeal will then be conducted and you will be subsequently informed of the outcome, which could be one of three possibilities:

If after the appeals procedure has concluded, you are still dissatisfied, you have the right to direct your comments to the Information Commissioner (www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk) who will give it due consideration.

WILTSHIRE CONSTABULARY

www.wiltshire.police.uk