Cost of supporting revenue protection for Merseyside public transport

The request was refused by Merseyside Police.

Dear Merseyside Police,

Please provide me with the following information:

1. How many man hours did Merseyside police provide to support enforcement of revenue protection for public transport during 2009?

2. What was the cost of providing these officers?

3. How much income did Merseyside police receive for providing this support?

To clarify, by public transport I mean Merseytravel, Merseyrail, Arriva, Stagecoach, HTL, etc.
By Revenue protection I mean when the police are present to support these companies in checking tickets on buses, trains, or at train stations.

Yours faithfully,

Rosie Harris

Merseyside Police

Dear Ms. Harris,

Reference No : DJAN- 8E6EBS (please quote in all correspondence)


Thank you for your application for information dated 16/02/2011, received by Merseyside Police on 17/02/2011. I note
that your are seeking information relating to:

(paraphrased) : Revenue protection on public transport systems

Your request will be dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and will now be considered.
You will receive a response within the statutory time-scale of 20 working days as defined by the Act, subject to the
information not being exempt nor containing a reference to a third party. In the event that we are not able to
achieve this deadline you will be informed at the earliest opportunity and given a revised time-scale.

There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of the information you have requested. If this
is the case you will be informed and the 20 working day time scale will be suspended until we receive payment from
you.

Some requests may also require either full or partial transfer 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.


Yours faithfully,

D. Jackson
Disclosure Analyst
Merseyside Police
Information Bureau
Disclosure Unit
PO Box 59,
LIVERPOOL L69 1JD
Fax: 0151 777 7099
Email : [Merseyside Police request email]

Further information in respect of Freedom of Information and Merseyside
Police can be found on the Force website at:
http://www.merseyside.police.uk/html/sup...

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Merseyside Police

Dear Ms. Harris,

Reference No : DJAN- 8E6EBS (please quote in all correspondence)

Thank you for your application for information dated 16/02/2011, received
by Merseyside Police on 17/02/2011. I note that your are seeking
information relating to:

(paraphrased) : Revenue protection on public transport systems

This is to inform you that to enable Merseyside Police to meet your request
could you please provide this office with further information. I provide
some guidance that may assist you more clearly to describe the information
you require:

1) Initial enquiries have strongly suggested that this application will
have to be exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 12, Freedom of
Information Act, 2000, the cost exemption. This is based on the way in
which information has been recorded with no central recording system that
can be used to produce the data that you seek.

2) I understand that Merseytravel (a separate public authority), does hold
the data that you are seeking and is very likely to be able to provide the
data that you seek, including cost of police officer time, within cost.

3) In terms of the rail network, the British Transport Police (BTP) ( a
separate public authority) is the Force that would take the lead in revenue
protection issues on the rail network and as such Merseyside Police would
not hold data to answer the applications in relation to BTP police
activity.

4) Do you therefore wish Merseyside Police to progress work on the
application and provide a response, which may be a section 12 exemption
response?

5) Do you wish to withdraw the application and resubmit as a separate
application to Merseytravel?

6) Do you authorise Merseyside Police to transfer the application to
Merseytravel, in which case the Force will inform you of when the transfer
has been made which will mean Merseyside Police will not then provide any
response to you?

After receiving your reply, your request will then be considered and you
will receive the information requested within the statutory time scale of
20 working days as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject
to the information not being exempt or containing reference to a third
party.

However, if the requested information has not been received by one month
after the above date, I will consider that you no longer wish to proceed
with this request and it will be treated as withdrawn.

There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collection and provision of
the information you request. If this is the case you will be informed and
the 20 working day time scale will be suspended until we receive the
payment from you. If you chose not to make a payment then your request will
remain unanswered.

Yours faithfully,

D Jackson
Disclosure Analyst
Merseyside Police
Information Bureau
PO BOX 59
LIVERPOOL
L69 1JD

============================================================
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.

If you have received this email in error please notify the sender as soon
as possible.

This footnote confirms that all reasonable steps have been taken to
ensure that this email message has been swept for the presence of
computer viruses.

The views expressed in this communication may not necessarily be the
views of Merseyside Police.

All communications, including telephone calls and electronic messages to
and from Merseyside Police may be subject to monitoring and recording.
============================================================

Merseyside Police

Dear Ms Harris,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION APPLICATION – DJAN-8E6EBS

I write in connection with your application for information, which was
received by Merseyside Police at the Information Bureau, on 17th February,
2011, having been transferred from the Merseyside Police Authority, which
received the application in August 2010. I note that you seek access to
the following information:

(Paraphrased) Information in respect of revenue protection on public
transport systems.

You will recall that on 17th February 2011, I provide you with a suspension
notice which informed you, that in terms of Merseyside Police, the
application was likely to engage the provisions of section 12 of the Act,
(the cost exemption), but that it was understood the information you sought
was held by a different public authority, Merseytravel and that
additionally a third public authority, the British Transport Police would
also be engaged in the activities that you were interested in. I sought
clarification as to whether you wish this Force to transfer your
application or whether it was to proceed on the basis outlined. The notice
further stated that if a response had not been received by one month after
the above date, the Force would consider that you no longer wish to proceed
with this request.

In accordance with the provisions of the Act and Information Commissioner’s
guidance, as it has now been three months since the application was made
and a response to the suspension notice has not been received, I write to
inform you that the application has been treated as withdrawn. You will not
now receive a response in respect of the application. Should you wish to
resubmit an application to Merseyside Police, the Force will be pleased to
accept it and deal with it as a new application.

Yours faithfully

D. Jackson
Disclosure Analyst
Merseyside Police
Information Bureau
PO BOX 59
LIVERPOOL
L69 1JD
Fax: 0151 777 7031
============================================================
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.

If you have received this email in error please notify the sender as soon
as possible.

This footnote confirms that all reasonable steps have been taken to
ensure that this email message has been swept for the presence of
computer viruses.

The views expressed in this communication may not necessarily be the
views of Merseyside Police.

All communications, including telephone calls and electronic messages to
and from Merseyside Police may be subject to monitoring and recording.
============================================================