Fixed Penalties and cautions for non compliance with Covid 19 Travel rules

The request was successful.

Dear Constabulary or Police Force FoI official,

I would like to make an open government request for all of the information to which I am entitled under the freedom of information act.


If this request below is too wide or too unclear, I would be grateful if you could contact me as I understand that under the act, you are required to advise and assist requesters.

Can you please tell me how many individuals your police force has issued with Fixed Penalty Notices for non-compliance with covid-19 testing requirements on returning to the UK after travelling abroad since January 1, 2021, to September 8, 2021.

Can you please tell me how many individuals your police force has issued with Fixed Penalty Notices for non-compliance with requirement to quarantine on returning to the UK after travelling abroad since January 1, 2021, to September 8, 2021.

Can you please tell me how many individuals your police force has cautioned for non-compliance with covid-19 testing requirements on returning to the UK after travelling abroad since January 1, 2021, to September 8, 2021.

Can you please tell me how many individuals your police force has cautioned for non-compliance with requirements to quarantine on returning to the UK after travelling abroad since January 1, 2021, to September 8, 2021.

Can you please tell me how many individuals have been visited or contacted on suspicion of non-compliance with covid-19 testing requirements on returning to the UK after travelling abroad since January 1, 2021, to September 8, 2021 but faced no action.

Can you please tell me how many individuals in total your police force has visited on suspicion of non-compliance with requirements to quarantine on returning to the UK after travelling abroad since January 1, 2021, to September 8, 2021 but faced no sanction.

Yours faithfully,

Andy Buckwell

Freedom of Information, Cheshire Constabulary

Dear Requester,

 

We acknowledge receipt of your correspondence received 09/09/2021 00:00:00
which is being dealt with as a request for information in accordance with
the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or the Environmental Information
Regulations.

 

We are in the process of dealing with your request and will respond in due
course and in any case by 06/10/2021 00:00:00.

 

Please note if we require further details to identify and locate the
requested information we will contact you for clarification via email. If
clarification is required please be aware the 20 working day clock will
start the day the Constabulary receives the necessary clarification.

 

Please contact us by email at [email address] if you have
any further enquiries.

Regards

 

The Requests Team

Information Compliance

Cheshire Constabulary HQ

Clemonds Hey

Oakmere Road

Winsford

Cheshire

CW7 2UA

 

Tel - 01606 362384

This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. Please notify
the sender if received in error. Internet email is not to be treated as a
secure means of communication. The Constabulary monitors all Internet and
email activity and requires it is used for official communications only.
Thank you for your co-operation.

Requests, Cheshire Constabulary

2 Attachments

Dear A Buckwell,

 

YOUR REQUEST:

 1. Can you please tell me how many individuals your police force has
issued with Fixed Penalty Notices for non-compliance with covid-19
testing requirements on returning to the UK after travelling abroad
since January 1, 2021, to September 8, 2021. 
 2. Can you please tell me how many individuals your police force has
issued with Fixed Penalty Notices for non-compliance with requirement
to quarantine on returning to the UK after travelling abroad since
January 1, 2021, to September 8, 2021. 
 3. Can you please tell me how many individuals your police force has
cautioned for non-compliance with covid-19 testing requirements on
returning to the UK after travelling abroad since January 1, 2021, to
September 8, 2021. 
 4. Can you please tell me how many individuals your police force has
cautioned for non-compliance with requirements to quarantine on
returning to the UK after travelling abroad since January 1, 2021, to
September 8, 2021. 
 5. Can you please tell me how many individuals have been visited or
contacted on suspicion of non-compliance with covid-19 testing
requirements on returning to the UK after travelling abroad since
January 1, 2021, to September 8, 2021 but faced no action.
 6. Can you please tell me how many individuals in total your police force
has visited on suspicion of non-compliance with requirements to
quarantine on returning to the UK after travelling abroad since
January 1, 2021, to September 8, 2021 but faced no sanction.

 

OUR RESPONSE:

 

Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) 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 FOIA requires that we provide the applicant with a
notice which: a) states that fact; b) specifies the exemptions in question
and c) state (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the
exemption(s) applies.

 

From our preliminary assessment we are unable to provide this as it would
exceed the appropriate costs limit under section 12 of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. This is currently £450. The basis for this
calculation is the cost of retrieving the data to answer your questions.

 

When we are recording a new incident on our incident system, we do not
have a specific ‘opening code’ for COVID-19. Therefore we are unable to
search for incidents which relate directly to COVID-19 via an ‘incident
type’ search which would be completed using business reporting tools. If a
created incident was in relation to COVID-19, this would be covered within
any free-texts sections of the incident. We would need to review any
incidents which relate to COVID-19 and check if the requested data is
recorded. In order for us to establish the number of individuals visited
by Cheshire Constabulary on suspicion of non-compliance in relation to
COVID-19 testing requirements and requirements to quarantine upon
returning to the UK after travelling abroad that received no further
action, we would need to read through every incident recorded to establish
whether this was in relation to the aforementioned non-compliance.  There
would be thousands of incidents which we would need to manually review. It
would take one member of staff approximately 5 minutes per record equating
to in far in excess of 18 hours of work. Your entire request is therefore
refused.

 

In order to assist you in re-defining your request, should you wish to
re-submit Qs 1,2,3 and 4 we may be able to provide the requested data.

 

If you are not satisfied with the decision applied in this case I enclose
for your attention a copy of the Constabulary's appeal procedures.

 

Regards,

 

George McEvoy

Request Compliance Officer

Cheshire Constabulary and Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service Joint Corporate
Services

Information Compliance | Cheshire Constabulary | Clemonds Hey | Oakmere
Road | Winsford | Cheshire | CW7 2UA

Visit [1]www.cheshire.police.uk | [2]www.cheshirefire.gov.uk | Follow
[3]@cheshirepolice and @CheshireFire on Twitter | Like [4]Cheshire Police
and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service on Facebook

 

[5]cid:image001.png@01D336C2.D0FEEF40

 

This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. Please notify
the sender if received in error. Internet email is not to be treated as a
secure means of communication. The Constabulary monitors all Internet and
email activity and requires it is used for official communications only.
Thank you for your co-operation.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.cheshire.police.uk/
2. http://www.cheshirefire.gov.uk/
3. http://www.twitter.com/cheshirepolice
4. http://www.facebook.com/cheshirepolice

Dear Cheshire Requests,

Thanks for your response. I would be grateful if you could answer just questions 1- 4 as outlined in the original request.
They were:
1. Can you please tell me how many individuals your police force has
issued with Fixed Penalty Notices for non-compliance with covid-19
testing requirements on returning to the UK after travelling abroad
since January 1, 2021, to September 8, 2021.
2. Can you please tell me how many individuals your police force has
issued with Fixed Penalty Notices for non-compliance with requirement
to quarantine on returning to the UK after travelling abroad since
January 1, 2021, to September 8, 2021.
3. Can you please tell me how many individuals your police force has
cautioned for non-compliance with covid-19 testing requirements on
returning to the UK after travelling abroad since January 1, 2021, to
September 8, 2021.
4. Can you please tell me how many individuals your police force has
cautioned for non-compliance with requirements to quarantine on
returning to the UK after travelling abroad since January 1, 2021, to
September 8, 2021.

Kind regards

Andy Buckwell

Freedom of Information, Cheshire Constabulary

Dear Requester,

 

We acknowledge receipt of your correspondence received 08/10/2021 00:00:00
which is being dealt with as a request for information in accordance with
the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or the Environmental Information
Regulations.

 

We are in the process of dealing with your request and will respond in due
course and in any case by 04/11/2021 00:00:00.

 

Please note if we require further details to identify and locate the
requested information we will contact you for clarification via email. If
clarification is required please be aware the 20 working day clock will
start the day the Constabulary receives the necessary clarification.

 

Please contact us by email at [email address] if you have
any further enquiries.

Regards

 

The Requests Team

Information Compliance

Cheshire Constabulary HQ

Clemonds Hey

Oakmere Road

Winsford

Cheshire

CW7 2UA

 

Tel - 01606 362384

This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. Please notify
the sender if received in error. Internet email is not to be treated as a
secure means of communication. The Constabulary monitors all Internet and
email activity and requires it is used for official communications only.
Thank you for your co-operation.

2 Attachments

Dear A. Buckwell,

 

YOUR REQUEST:

1. Can you please tell me how many individuals your police force has

issued with Fixed Penalty Notices for non-compliance with covid-19

testing requirements on returning to the UK after travelling abroad

since January 1, 2021, to September 8, 2021.

 2. Can you please tell me how many individuals your police force has

issued with Fixed Penalty Notices for non-compliance with requirement

to quarantine on returning to the UK after travelling abroad since

January 1, 2021, to September 8, 2021.

 3. Can you please tell me how many individuals your police force has

cautioned for non-compliance with covid-19 testing requirements on

returning to the UK after travelling abroad since January 1, 2021, to

September 8, 2021.

 4. Can you please tell me how many individuals your police force has

cautioned for non-compliance with requirements to quarantine on

returning to the UK after travelling abroad since January 1, 2021, to

September 8, 2021. 

 

OUR RESPONSE:

 

In accordance with section 1(1) (b) of the Act, our response is as
follows:

 

1.       Zero

2.       13

3.       Zero

4.       Zero

 

If you are not satisfied with the decision applied in this case I enclose
for your attention a copy of the Constabulary's appeal procedures.

 

Regards,

 

George McEvoy

Request Compliance Officer

Cheshire Constabulary and Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service Joint Corporate
Services

Information Compliance | Cheshire Constabulary | Clemonds Hey | Oakmere
Road | Winsford | Cheshire | CW7 2UA

Visit [1]www.cheshire.police.uk | [2]www.cheshirefire.gov.uk | Follow
[3]@cheshirepolice and @CheshireFire on Twitter | Like [4]Cheshire Police
and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service on Facebook

 

[5]cid:image001.png@01D336C2.D0FEEF40

 

This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. Please notify
the sender if received in error. Internet email is not to be treated as a
secure means of communication. The Constabulary monitors all Internet and
email activity and requires it is used for official communications only.
Thank you for your co-operation.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.cheshire.police.uk/
2. http://www.cheshirefire.gov.uk/
3. http://www.twitter.com/cheshirepolice
4. http://www.facebook.com/cheshirepolice