WILTSHIRE POLICE
Force Disclosure Unit
Police Headquarters
Jamie Dixon –
London Road
By Email
DEVIZES
Wiltshire
SN10 2DN
Date: 23rd February 2024
Ref: FOI 2024/119
Dear Jamie
I write in connection with your request for information dated 29th January 2024 concerning
bicycle theft.
I am required by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to handle all requests in a manner
that is blind as to the identity and motives of the requestor. Any information released as a
response to a request is regarded as being published and therefore in the public domain
without caveat.
Your request for information has now been considered and I am not obliged to supply the
information you have requested.
You wrote:
I am requesting data on bicycle theft in your jurisdiction during the 2023 calendar year.
Specifical y, I am requesting:
- The date
- The recorded make
- The recorded model and
- The value of each recorded bicycle theft, where available.
Please disclose any available data that matches the above. I am happy to receive partial
data if all of the above conditions cannot be met.
Our response:
The majority of the information that you are requesting is not stored in a way which permits
easy retrieval. In order to determine the make, model and value of the bikes recorded as
stolen would involve a manual perusal through the text of each crime report relating to
bicycle thefts for the time frame requested. We are unable to easily and accurately
extract this data from our system(s), if it is even recorded.
Under the circumstances I am absolutely confident that to locate, retrieve and extract the
information you seek would by far exceed the time obligations upon this authority to
comply, and in so doing would exceed the fees limits. This is set at £450 calculated at a
flat rate of £25 per hour for those work activities comprising of confirming the information is
held, locating it, retrieving it and extracting it.
Although excess cost removes the forces’ obligations under the Freedom of Information
Act, as a gesture of goodwil I have supplied information, relative to your request, retrieved
or available before it was realised that the fees limit would be exceeded. I trust this is
helpful, but it does not affect our legal right to rely on the fees regulations for the
remainder of your request.
The table below reflects the number of crimes and non-crime incident reports we
have received in 2023 that fal under the crime sub-group, “Bicycle Thefts”.
Reported
Non-Crime
Month/Year
Crimes
incidents
Jan-2023
41
0
Feb-2023
47
2
Mar-2023
52
0
Apr-2023
41
0
May-2023
64
1
Jun-2023
68
4
Jul-2023
62
3
Aug-2023
57
1
Sep-2023
63
4
Oct-2023
45
1
Nov-2023
50
2
Dec-2023
42
0
Ordinarily under our Section 16 duty to provide advice and assistance, we would advise
you how to refine your request to a more manageable level. However, due to the difficulties
outlined above, I cannot see how this can be achieved in this particular case.
Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires the Wiltshire Police, 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.
The exemption applicable to the information requested is:
Section 12 – Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit
(1) Section 1(1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a request for
information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request
would exceed the appropriate limit.
In accordance with Section 17 of the Act, this letter represents a Refusal Notice for this
particular request.
I am satisfied that all the relevant information has been passed to me and been considered
in the light of your request within the time constraints applicable under the legislation.
Wiltshire Police would like to thank you for the interest that you have shown in the Force.
Yours sincerely
Force Disclosure Decision Maker
Wiltshire Police offers a re-examination of your case under its review procedure.
Force Disclosure Unit
Wiltshire Police HQ, London Road, Devizes, Wiltshire SN10 2DN
Freedom of Information Request Appeals Procedure
1.
Who Can Ask for a Review
Any person who has requested information from Wiltshire Police, which has been dealt
with under the Freedom of Information Act, is entitled to complain and request an internal
review, if they are dissatisfied with the response they received.
2.
How to Request a Review
Requests for review of a Freedom of Information request must be made in writing to the:
Force Disclosure Unit
Wiltshire Police Headquarters,
London Road, Devizes,
Wiltshire,
SN10 2DN
Email at
xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx.xx.
The reference number, date of the request and details of why the review is being
requested must be included. Requests for review should be brought to the attention of the
Force Disclosure Unit within 20 working days of the Force’s response to the original FOI
request.
3.
Review Procedure
Receipt of a request for review wil be acknowledged in writing to include confirmation of
the reasons for the review. The review wil be conducted by another Decision Maker, who
is independent from the original Decision Maker. The Force Disclosure Unit wil set a target
date for a response. The response wil be made as soon as is practicable with the intention
to complete the review within twenty working days. In more complex cases the review
may take up to 40 working days.
The Independent Decision Maker wil conduct a review of the handling of the request for
information and of decisions taken, including decisions taken about where the public
interest lies in respect of exempt information where applicable. The review enables a re-
evaluation of the case, taking into account the matters raised by the complaint.
4.
Conclusion of the Appeal
On completion of the review the Independent Decision Maker wil reply to the
complainant with the result of the review. If the complainant is stil dissatisfied fol owing the
review, they should contact the Information Commissioner to make an appeal. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted via the following details:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 545 700
Fax: 01625 524 510
Email:
xxxx@xxx.xxx.xxx.xx
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