Mr A Plough

[FOI #14467 email]

16 September 2009

Dear Mr Plough,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST

I refer to your request for information dated 9^th July 2009, which was received by Cumbria Constabulary on that date. I note you seek access to the following information: -

(1) In the last 5 years, how many warrants for arrest have been issued for an individual who has broken their probation licence conditions?

(2) Out of this figure, how many were considered high priority, and/or considered to pose a risk of harm to others?

(3) Out of the total number of warrants issued per year, as stated in answer to (1), how many of those individuals have been re-arrested?

(4) Out of the warrants consider high priority, as stated in the answer to (2), how many of those individuals have been re-arrested?

(5) Out of the total number of warrants issued, as stated in the answer to (1), how many of those individuals have re-offended while a warrant for their arrest was active?

(6) Out of the total number of warrants issued, as stated in the answer to (2), how many of those individuals have re-offended while a warrant for their arrest was active?

(7) Referring to the individuals stated in answer in question (5), what crimes have they committed while a warrant for their arrest was active?

(8) Referring to the individuals stated in answer in question (6), what crimes have they committed while a warrant for their arrest was active?

(9) Please provide the following information about any individual who is the subject of a warrant for arrest for breaking their probation licence conditions, but who has not as yet been re-arrested:

* names, ages and last offence for which they received a custodial sentence.

For the avoidance of doubt, your request has been interpreted to refers to cases where an offender has been recalled to custody when the terms of a probation licence has been breached.

Cont……

-2-

I can confirm that Cumbria Constabulary does hold information relevant to your request, however, the information is not held in an easily retrievable format and therefore the cost of providing all the information you have requested is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond, i.e. the cost of locating and retrieving the information needed to answer all your questions, would exceed the `appropriate limit' as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004. The current limit has been set by the Secretary of State, and currently stands at £450 for some public authorities, including the police service, which equates to 18 hours of work.

In accordance with Section 17(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter represents a Refusal Notice, by virtue of Section 12(1) of the Act.

Under the Constabulary's duty to assist, however, I have identified some information which it is possible to provide to you under the limit referred to above. This information relates to the number of Revocation Orders received by the Constabulary, and the number of those which were classed as Emergency Recalls, and relates to the calendar years 2007, 2008 and part of 2009.

This information is as follows: -

2007 - 101

2008 - 117

2009 - 79

2007 - 13

2008 - 35

2009 - 10

Please note that the information within the response to question 2 is not directly comparable year on year, due to the manner in which the information has been recorded.

Police forces in the United Kingdom are routinely required to provide 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.

For your information, it may be of interest to you to know that the Ministry of Justice are intending to publish statistical information on this subject, in addition to that which has recently been released. I have attached a link below to where you can find further details relating to this: -

http://www.justice.gov.uk/news/announcement060709a.htm

Complaint Rights

Your attention is drawn to the attached sheet, which details your right of complaint.

Cont……

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If you have any further queries regarding this matter please do not hesitate to contact me again. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in Cumbria Constabulary and to apologise for the delay in responding to your request.

Yours sincerely

David Cherry

Data Protection and Freedom of Information Officer

Professional Standards Department

Enc

Chief Constable
Craig Mackey

Police Headquarters
Carleton Hall
Penrith, Cumbria
CA10 2AU

www.cumbria.police.uk

David Cherry
Data Protection & Freedom of Information
Email [email address]
T 01768 217194

F 01768 217638

My Reference FOI /09
Your Reference