number of freedom of information requests

Corporate Information Management Department

Force Headquarters, PO Box 37, Valley Road,

Portishead, Bristol, BS20 8QJ

Facsimile 01275 814667

Private
Mr A Plough
[FOI #14207 email]
Our Reference 09/400
Your reference
Date 10 July 2009
Dear Mr Plough

Thank you for your request for information dated 7^th July, relating to
FOI requests. 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 Avon and Somerset Constabulary 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
Avon and Somerset Constabulary.

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information Officer

Freedom of Information Officer
Corporate Information Management Department

Please note;

1. Requests and responses may be published on Avon and Somerset
Constabulary's website (within 24 hours), some of which may
contain a link to additional information, which may provide
you with further clarification.
2. Whilst we may verbally discuss your request with you in order
to seek clarification, all other communication should be made
in writing.
3. Avon and Somerset Constabulary provides you with the right to
request a re-examination of your case under its review
procedure (copy enclosed).

<<A&S Appeals Procedure - E-Mail.doc>>

Corporate Information Management Department

Force Headquarters, PO Box 37, Valley Road,

Portishead, Bristol, BS20 8QJ

Facsimile 01275 814667

Private

Mr A Plough
[FOI #14207 email]
Our Reference 09/394
Your reference
Date 21 August 2009

Dear Mr Plough

I write in connection with your request for information dated 7^th July
concerning Freedom of Information requests received by Avon and Somerset
Constabulary.

Your request for information has now been considered and some of the
information asked for is below.

1. Total number of FOI requests received by the police force, dating from
1st Jan 2005 to present day, and broken down annually.

Calendar Year Number of FOI requests received:
2005 347
2006 431
2007 531
2008 635
2009 (to 30^th June 2009) 383

2. Out of these, the number that received a response within the 20-working
day limit.

Calendar Year Number of requests that received a response within 20
working days
2005 (data is only available between 1st July 2005 - 31st December
2005) 164
2006 404
2007 515
2008 561
2009 (to 30^th June 2009) 231

3. The longest time taken to respond to a request.

Where exemptions are relied upon, section 17 of the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 requires Avon and Somerset Constabulary, 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.

Avon and Somerset Constabulary only retain 2 years worth of Freedom of
Information requests in line with our weeding and retention policy.
Therefore the only information that we would be able to supply would
relate to the time period of July 1^st 2007 - 30th June 2009. However the
information you have requested is not routinely gathered. Therefore in
order to provide you with a response to this request, we would have to
review all of the previous requests for information, approximately 1300
separate requests to ascertain which request took the longest time to
provide a response to. The cost of providing you with the information 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 cost at least £450 to
comply with your request.

4. Out of the total, the number of requests that were refused.

Avon and Somerset Constabulary only retain 2 years worth of Freedom of
Information requests in line with our weeding and retention policy.
Therefore the only information that we would be able to supply would
relate to the time period of July 1^st 2007 - 30th June 2009.

Please note that the figures below only include full refusals and not
partial refusals. For example, a partial refusal would relate to an
applicant asking 3 separate questions, 2 being supplied and 1 being
refused.

In the 2007 calendar year (1^st July 2007 - 31^st December 2007), Avon and
Somerset Constabulary refused a total of 142 requests for information.

In the 2008 calendar year, Avon and Somerset Constabulary refused a total
of 251 requests for information.

In the 2009 calendar year (to 30^th June 2009), Avon and Somerset
Constabulary have refused a total of 151 requests for information.

5. Out of those requests that were refused, please provide, in accordance
with section 17 of the Act, the specific exemption in question.

I do not need this for each individual case, but a tally of how many cases
were refused for specific exemptions.

eg.

135 cases refused by virtue of section 30 (2) FOI Act 2000.

59 cases refused by virtue of section 40 (1) FOI Act 2000.etc.

Please find attached a spreadsheet of results. However, please note that a
request for information could be refused under multiple exemptions and
therefore the number of refusals will not directly relate to the number of
exemptions detailed within the spreadsheet.

<<exemptions used for refusals.xls>>

6. The number of requests subject to an internal review.

2005 - 12

2006 - 12

2007 - 8

2008 - 10

2009 (up to 30^th June 2009) - 3

7. The results of any internal review. I.e. was the original decision
upheld?

2005 - 10 fully upheld / 1 upheld in part / 1 information provided.

2006 - 11 fully upheld / 1 upheld in part / 1 information provided.

2007 - 7 fully upheld / 1 upheld in part

2008 - 4 fully upheld / 3 partially upheld / 3 information provided

2009 (up to 30^th June 2009) - 2 fully upheld / 1 information provided.

8. The number of cases referred to the Information Commissioner

This information is not held by the Constabulary.

9. If any such cases exist, details of the cases. i.e. date, subject of
the request, reason for exemption, what the result was.

As Avon and Somerset Constabulary are unable to provide you with a
response to question 8, this request is no longer applicable.

However, under section 16 (duty to assist), the Information Commissioners
Office publish decision notices on their website. I have provided the link
below for your use, please amend the public authority to display `Avon and
Somerset Constabulary' and any decision notices issued will be displayed:

[1]http://www.ico.gov.uk/tools_and_resource...

10. The criteria used when considering the public interest test.

Please find below some considerations that Avon and Somerset Constabulary
would take into account when applying a public interest test, please note
that other considerations may be used in addition to this list and
therefore this is not exhaustive:

Considerations favouring disclosure.

* Accountability
* Human rights, morals and ethics
* Improper actions of public officials
* Public awareness and debate
* Public participation
* Public safety
* Research
* Use of public funds

Considerations favouring non-disclosure:

* Efficient and effective conduct of the service / force
* Existing procedures
* Flow of information to the service / force
* Human rights, morals and ethics
* Interests of third parties
* Investigations
* Public Safety
* Timing of the request
* Tortuous duty.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Avon and Somerset Constabulary.

Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information Officer

Freedom of Information Officer
Corporate Information Management Department

Please note:

1. Requests and responses may be published on Avon and Somerset
Constabulary's website (within 24 hours), some of which may
contain a link to additional information, which may provide
you with further clarification.
2. Whilst we may verbally discuss your request with you in order
to seek clarification, all other communication should be made
in writing.
3. Avon and Somerset Constabulary provides you with the right to
request a re-examination of your case under its review
procedure (copy enclosed).

<<A&S Appeals Procedure - E-Mail.doc>>

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ico.gov.uk/tools_and_resource...