Photographers stopped under Section 44

Dear S Hailstone,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

Thank you for your request for information, received 15th December
2009 concerning photographs stopped under section 44 .

Your request is being considered and you will receive a response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days, as defined by the Act, subject
to the application of any statutory exemptions. Where consideration is
being given to the application of any exemptions the 20 working day
timescale may be extended under the terms of the Act to a period
considered reasonable depending on the nature and circumstances of your
request. In such cases you will be notified and, where possible, a revised
time-scale will be indicated. In all cases we shall attempt to deal with
your request at the earliest opportunity.

There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of
the information requested, where the request exceeds the statutory limit.
In such cases you will be informed in writing and the 20 working day
timescale will be suspended until we receive payment from you or your
request is modified and /or reduced. If you chose not to make full payment
or modify your request then the request will remain unanswered.

Your request may require either full or partial transfer to another public
authority. You will be informed if your request is transferred.

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information Unit

Dear S Hailstone

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

Your request for information, received 15 December 2009, concerning stop
and searches under section 44 of the Terrorism Act, has now been
considered.

Before I explain the decisions I have made in relation to your request, I
thought that it would be helpful to outline the parameters set out by the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) within which a request for
information can be answered.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 creates a statutory right of access to
information held by public authorities. A public authority in receipt of a
request must, if permitted, state under Section 1(a) of the Act, whether
it holds the requested information and, if held, then communicate that
information to the applicant under Section 1(b) of the Act.

The right of access to information is not without exception and is subject
to a number of exemptions which are designed to enable public authorities
to withhold information that is unsuitable for release. Importantly the
Act is designed to place information into the public domain, that is, once
access to information is granted to one person under the Act, it is then
considered public information and must be communicated to any individual
should a request be received.

DECISION

We can confirm that some relevant information is held by West Midlands
Police. However, while some information is attached to this email
(3111_ans_01.pdf) I am afraid the cost of compliance with all of your
request is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond,
i.e. the cost of confirming or denying that the information is held would
exceed the appropriate costs limit under section 12 of the Freedom of
information Act 2000. For West Midlands Police, the appropriate limit is
set at £450, as prescribed by the Freedom of Information and Data
Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004, S.I. 3244. In
accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a
refusal notice for questions 2 to 5 of your request.

Please also note that we can confirm that the location of each stop and
search is held by West Midlands Police. However, we are withholding that
information since we consider that the exemptions outlined below apply to
it.

REASONS FOR DECISION

The only way to identify the requested information would be to undertake a
manual search of each individual case. Such a search would exceed the
appropriate limit (FOIA, s.12 (1)) as described above.

Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act places two duties on public
authorities. Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at s1(1)(a) is to
confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held.
The second duty at s1(1)(b) is to disclose information that has been
confirmed as being held. Where exemptions are relied upon section 17 of
the Act requires that we provide the applicant with a notice which: a)
states that fact b) specifies the exemption(s) in question and c) states
(if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.

In accordance with Section 17 of the Act, this letter represents a Refusal
Notice for the location of each stop and search. The information is exempt
by virtue of Section 24 (1), Section 30 (1) and Section 31 (1).

These exemptions and explanatory notes are shown here:

http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/foi/p...

In line with the above, I am required to complete a Prejudice Test/Public
Interest Test (PIT) on disclosure. Please find this PIT attached
(3111_PIT.pdf).

Your attention is drawn to your right to request a re-examination of your
case under West Midlands Police review procedure (attached). Please note
that such an appeal must be received within six months of the date of this
correspondence.

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information Unit

West Midlands Police in complying with their statutory duty under sections
1 and 11 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to release the enclosed
information will not breach the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
However, the rights of the copyright owner of the enclosed information
will continue to be protected by law. Applications for the copyright
owner*s written permission to reproduce any part of the attached
information should be addressed to The Force Solicitor, West Midlands
Police Headquarters, Lloyd House, Colmore Circus Queensway, Birmingham, B4
6NQ.

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