Dangerous Dogs Act ( as amended)

Essex Police did not have the information requested.

Dear Essex Police,

Please supply figures for the number of dogs seized as a banned breed type under the Dangerous Dogs Act during 2016.

Please also supply the number of dogs seized as a banned breed type who were returned as "not type" prior to any court proceedings for the same time period.

Please supply figures for the number of dogs seized as a banned breed type who were found not guilty in a court for the same time period.

Please also supply figures for each of the above from 1 January 2017 to 1st July 2017

Yours faithfully,

alison green

Data FOI Essex,

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Data Protection & Freedom of Information
Information Management
Continuous Improvement
Essex Police Headquarters
PO Box 2, Springfield, Chelmsford, CM2 6DA

 

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References

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1. https://www.essex.police.uk/
2. mailto:[email address]

Data FOI Essex,

1 Attachment

Thank you for your enquiry which has been logged under the above
reference.

Under the Freedom of Information Act we are required to reply within 20
working days.  The Act does not specify a limit to the number of
information requests a public authority may receive or the number of
requests or questions an applicant may submit.  However, there are
exemptions in the Act that can apply and these include where the cost of
complying with the request would extend beyond the reasonable cost limit,
(currently 18 hours or £450), or if the request is otherwise manifestly
unreasonable in its scope or nature. 

 

Requests that ask a great many questions, or a number of detailed requests
submitted at the same time, may make it necessary for Essex Police to
refuse the requests wholly or in part. The exemption at s14 may be engaged
if the burden on the authority is increased through multiple requests on
differing subjects

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has responsibility for
providing oversight and guidance for the legislation and they have
produced advice for applicants on submitting effective requests.  Further
information can be found on the Commissioner’s website at
[1]www.ico.gov.uk specific information relating to submitting a request
can be found at:
[2]https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/offici...

 

While we process your request, please take the time to consider the ICO’s
advice and whether you feel it may be beneficial to amend or refine your
request. Our team is happy to discuss your request with you and will be
able to provide advice as to what kind of information will be available
from Essex Police.

 

 

Jessica Casey

Information Officer

Data Protection & Freedom of Information

Information Management

Continuous Improvement

Essex Police Headquarters

External Tel: 101 ext 150030

E-Mail:[email address]

Fax: 01245 452256 (int: 150045)

Non Emergency Telephone Number: 101 

 

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Jessica Casey 42077705,

3 Attachments

Thank you for your enquiry which has been logged under the above
reference.

Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) places two duties
on public authorities. Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at
Sec1(1)(a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a
request is held. The second duty at Sec1(1)(b) is to disclose information
that has been confirmed as being held. Where exemptions are relied upon
s17 of FOIA 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 respect of your enquiry:

Please supply figures for the number of dogs seized as a banned breed type
under the Dangerous Dogs Act during 2016.

 

Please also supply the number of dogs seized as a  banned breed type who
were returned as "not type" prior to any court proceedings for the same
time period.

 

Please supply figures for the number of dogs seized as a banned breed type
who were found not guilty in a court for the same time period.

 

Please also supply figures for each of the above from 1 January 2017 to
1st July 2017

Having completed my enquiries I am able to respond as follows:

In respect of Sec 1(1)(a), Essex Police does hold information relating
to your request however Essex Police does not hold all the information
requested in a format that allows it to be retrieved within the scope of
FOI.

 

When responding to a request for information under the terms of the
Freedom of Information Act, a public authority is not obliged to provide
information if the authority estimates that the cost of the retrieval of
the information requested would be in excess of £450 (equivalent to 18
hours work). The costs criteria relates to a request in its entirety,
which means that if we cannot retrieve all of the information requested
within the costs limit, we are not obliged to retrieve any of the
information requested.

 

 Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act states that a public
authority is not obliged to:

“…comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that
the cost of complying with the request would exceed the appropriate
limit.”

 

If I can explain the difficulty in answering all of your request within
the time limits mentioned above;  we can provide partial data in respect
of dogs seized as a banned breed, however at this point in time I am
unable to provide recent data. To provide this data would require a large
number of records to be manually examined. This process would exceed the
time and cost limits mentioned above. In addition the above process would
also qualify as the creation of data as sorting or filtering data sources
or running a database query tool will not provide the level of data
required. There is no requirement under the act for this to be carried out
to answer questions within a FOI request.

 

Consequently, and to this extent, Essex Police are exempt from the duty to
provide information you have requested under the provisions of section
12(1) of the FOI Act. Therefore, and in accordance with section 17(1) of
the Act, this communication must act as a refusal notice to provide all of
the information that could be interpreted as being captured by this part
of your request.

 

Having said that, and in an effort to assist - although excess cost
removes the force’s obligations under the Freedom of Information Act - we
are able to provide information in respect of 2016 data for seized dogs,
data provided by the force Dog Section, which I hope is of interest to
you.  

 

Banned breeds will be shown as PBT The following information explains some
of the terms used:

 

Sus Pit = Dog was suspected of being a Pit Bull Terrier Type Dog
(prohibited Breed Sec 1 DDA 1991)

PTS = Put to Sleep ( Euthanized)

4B Process = A court process where the dog gets returned to the owner with
restrictions, eg entered on the DEFRA index of exempted dogs, neutered,
micro-chipped, insure & walked on a lead & muzzle.

 

The number of seized dogs in 2016 = 90 dogs seized

 

The following website may be of interest to you, in relation to the
Dangerous Dogs Act:

[1]https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q65...

 

 

Thank you for your interest in Essex Police.

 

Kind regards

 

 

Jessica Casey

Information Officer

Data Protection & Freedom of Information

Information Management

Continuous Improvement

Essex Police Headquarters

External Tel: 101 ext 150030

E-Mail:[email address]

Fax: 01245 452256 (int: 150045)

Non Emergency Telephone Number: 101 

 

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If you require further information or wish to submit a request, please
refer to the information found on the Commissioner’s website regarding
submission of effective requests
[3]https://www.ico.org.uk/for_the_public/of...

 

Your right to complain

 

If you feel your request has not been properly handled, or you are
otherwise dissatisfied with the outcome of your request you have the right
to complain.

 

Complaints should be submitted within 20 working days from the date of
this response and should be addressed to the Senior Information Officer at
the above address or by email to: [4][Essex Police request email]

 

We will conduct a review to investigate your complaint and endeavour to
reply within 20 working days.

 

Please explain which aspect of the reply you are not satisfied with, and
if your complaint concerns the decision to apply an exemption it would
assist the review if you would outline why you believe the exemption does
not apply.

               

If you are still dissatisfied following our review, you have the right
under section 50 of the Act to complain directly to the Information
Commissioner. Before considering your complaint, the Information
Commissioner would normally expect you to have exhausted the complaints
procedures provided by Essex Police

 

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF or via [5]https://ico.org.uk/

 

From: Data FOI Essex
Sent: 15 September 2017 09:43
To: 'alisob green'
Subject: RE: FOI request our ref. 10550 Dangerous Dogs Act ( as amended)

 

Thank you for your enquiry which has been logged under the above
reference.

Under the Freedom of Information Act we are required to reply within 20
working days.  The Act does not specify a limit to the number of
information requests a public authority may receive or the number of
requests or questions an applicant may submit.  However, there are
exemptions in the Act that can apply and these include where the cost of
complying with the request would extend beyond the reasonable cost limit,
(currently 18 hours or £450), or if the request is otherwise manifestly
unreasonable in its scope or nature. 

 

Requests that ask a great many questions, or a number of detailed requests
submitted at the same time, may make it necessary for Essex Police to
refuse the requests wholly or in part. The exemption at s14 may be engaged
if the burden on the authority is increased through multiple requests on
differing subjects

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has responsibility for
providing oversight and guidance for the legislation and they have
produced advice for applicants on submitting effective requests.  Further
information can be found on the Commissioner’s website at
[6]www.ico.gov.uk specific information relating to submitting a request
can be found at:
[7]https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/offici...

 

While we process your request, please take the time to consider the ICO’s
advice and whether you feel it may be beneficial to amend or refine your
request. Our team is happy to discuss your request with you and will be
able to provide advice as to what kind of information will be available
from Essex Police.

 

 

Jessica Casey

Information Officer

Data Protection & Freedom of Information

Information Management

Continuous Improvement

Essex Police Headquarters

External Tel: 101 ext 150030

E-Mail:[email address]

Fax: 01245 452256 (int: 150045)

Non Emergency Telephone Number: 101 

 

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