Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to request information on the recent surge in metal
theft across the country. Please can you send me the approximate
cumulative number of reported thefts of metal such as; signposts,
church roofs and roadside cables for the following times for your
area.

1)2007June-2008June 2)2006June -2007June 3) if possible 5 years ago

Also can you give me the number of arrests Thames valley Police
have made for incidents relating to metal theft.

Yours faithfully,

Will

Mr Will

Reference No: RFI2008000359

Thank you for your request for information dated 01/07/2008 concerning
the number of metal thefts for 1) June 2007 - June 2008, 2) June 2006 -
June 2007 and 3) 5 years ago.

This request will be dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

Your request will now be considered and you will receive a response
within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act,
subject to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to
a third party. In some circumstances Thames Valley Police may be unable
to achieve this deadline. If this is likely you will be informed and
given a revised time-scale at the earliest opportunity.

There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of
the information you request. If this is the case you will be informed
and the 20 working day timescale will be suspended until we receive
payment from you. If you choose not to make a payment then your request
will remain unanswered.

Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to
another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest
possible way. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Thames Valley Police.

Yours sincerely,

Malcolm Hopgood
Freedom of Information Officer

Thames Valley Police Currently use the Microsoft Office 2002 suite of applications. Please be aware of this if you intend to include an attachment with your email. This communication contains information which is confidential and may also be privileged. Any views or opinions expressed are those of the originator and not necessarily those of Thames Valley Police. It is for the exclusive use of the addressee(s). If you are not the intended recipient(s) please note that any form of distribution, copying or use of this communication or the information in it is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error please forward a copy to: [email address] and to the sender. Please then delete the e-mail and destroy any copies of it. Thank you..

Dear Sir,

You have not supplied me with the information I'e requested, nor
have you informed me or revised the timescale. Please can you
explain why not and when I will have the information I requested.

Yours sincerely,

Dear Mr Will

Reference No: RFI2008000359

Thank you for your request for information dated 01/07/2008 concerning:
The approximate cumulative number of reported thefts of metal such as; signposts, church roofs and roadside cables for the following times for your area.

1) 2007June-2008June
2) 2006June -2007June
3) If possible 5 years ago

Also can you give me the number of arrests Thames Valley Police have made for incidents relating to metal theft.

Your request for information has now been considered and our response is detailed below:

Response to questions 1, 2 and 3 - The information is not recorded or held in the format requested. However to assist you in this matter, I am able to provide you with the attached recorded statistics of metal items stolen for major property items.

The information requested regarding the number of arrests relating to metal theft is not held routinely in an easily retrievable format or at the level you require on ICT systems used by Thames Valley Police. Any attempt to retrieve the information requested would involve a complicated and prolonged search of records which would not necessarily provide accurate results and would exceed the appropriate cost limit of £450.

The cost of providing you with the information is above the amount we are legally required to respond i.e. the cost of locating and retrieving the information exceeds the "Appropriate Limit" as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.

Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act allows that public authorities do not have to comply with section 1(1) of the Act if the cost of complying would exceed the appropriate limit. It is Thames Valley Police general policy that should a request for information exceed the appropriate level then we will exercise our legal right not to respond but cases will be assessed individually to consider the implications.

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, this letter represents a Refusal Notice for this particular part of your request.

Police forces in the United Kingdom are routinely required to provide crime statistics to government bodies and the recording criteria is set nationally, which is subject to change. 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.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in Thames Valley Police.

Yours sincerely,

Malcolm Hopgood
Freedom of Information Officer

Thames Valley Police Currently use the Microsoft Office 2002 suite of applications. Please be aware of this if you intend to include an attachment with your email. This communication contains information which is confidential and may also be privileged. Any views or opinions expressed are those of the originator and not necessarily those of Thames Valley Police. It is for the exclusive use of the addressee(s). If you are not the intended recipient(s) please note that any form of distribution, copying or use of this communication or the information in it is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error please forward a copy to: [email address] and to the sender. Please then delete the e-mail and destroy any copies of it. Thank you..