Dear Mr Lovell

Thank you for your e-mail below, requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I have logged your email and will deal with your request in order that we can respond to you within the statutory deadline of 20 working days.

I will contact you further as soon as the relevant information is available.

This correspondence is available in large print, Braille or Welsh. Please contact us for further details or if we can help in any way.

Yours sincerely

Helen Britton
Senior Business Support Officer (Complaints/FOI) / Uwch Swyddog Cymorth Busnes (Cwynion/Rhyddid Gwybodaeth)
Resources Directorate/Cyfarwyddiaeth Adnoddau
Torfaen County Borough Council / Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Torfaen
Phone/Ffôn: 01495 766026/ Fax/Ffacs: 01495 766026
Email/E-Bost: [email address]
http://www.torfaen.gov.uk/ / Follow us on Twitter / Find us on Facebook

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Dear Mr Lovell

Further to your e-mail below, requesting information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, I am now in a position to respond to your questions
as follows:

I am interested in understanding the effectiveness of public spaces
protection orders for dog control. With this in mind, if you hold the
information can you please disclose to me any of the following:

- an effectiveness review of the public spaces protection order for dog
control – We have not undertaken an effectiveness review, however, please
find below links to documents which may be helpful:-

[1]Decision - Public Consultation for Public Spaces Protection Order: Dog
Controls | Torfaen County Borough Council

[2]Decision - Public Spaces Protection Order 2018: Review of Dog Controls
in Torfaen / Gorchymyn Gwarchod Mannau Cyhoeddus 2018: Adolygiad o
Reolaeth C?n yn Nhorfaen | Torfaen County Borough Council

[3]Decision - Public Spaces Protection Order: Review of Dog Controls in
Torfaen / Gorchymyn Amddiffyn Mannau Agored: Arolwg o Reolaeth Cwn yn
Nhorfaen | Torfaen County Borough Council

- the number of complaints received per year in relation to dogs before
the control – We do not hold this information

- the number of complaints received per year in relation to dogs in public
spaces after the control -  *Withheld under Section 12

* Under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act, the Council is not
obliged to comply with your request. We estimate that the cost of
complying with your request would exceed the appropriate limit of £450.00.
This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 hours (at
£25.00 per hour) in determining whether the Council holds the information
and locating, retrieving and extracting it.

We have interpreted this as service reports received and these are
received by phone or email, some via Call Torfaen.  An officer would be
required to undertake a trawl of all emails received to analyse each one
and this exercise would exceed 18 hours. 

Alternatively, if you were to make a new request within narrower confines,
then it may be the Council could comply with that request within the
appropriate limit, although I cannot guarantee that this will be the
case.  For example, we could export the number of applicants who indicated
they were born outside of the UK.  However, this data may not be accurate
as some applicants class themselves as a British citizen yet

Information supplied in response to any Freedom of Information Act request
may be subject to copyright. A single copy of information supplied under
the Freedom of Information Act may only be used for personal,
non-commercial research or study, unless stated otherwise. It must not be
passed to others, copied or re-published in whole or in part without
permission from the copyright holder. Any copyright statement that forms
part of or in any way refers to the information provided must not be
altered or removed.

If you have any queries about this letter or are unhappy about the service
you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint
or request a review, please do not hesitate to contact me in writing. A
request for an internal review should be made within 40 working days of
the date of the response.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
Information Commissioner’s Office (Wales) cannot make a decision unless
you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by this Council. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner’s Office (Wales), 2nd Floor, Churchill House, Churchill Way,
Cardiff, CF10 2HH. Telephone 0330 414 6421 or e-mail [email address].

Yours sincerely

Helen Britton

Senior Business Support Officer (Complaints/FOI) / Uwch Swyddog Cymorth
Busnes (Cwynion/Rhyddid Gwybodaeth)

Resources Directorate/Cyfarwyddiaeth Adnoddau

Torfaen County Borough Council / Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Torfaen

Phone/Ffôn: 01495 766026/ Fax/Ffacs: 01495 766026

Email/E-Bost: [email address]

www.torfaen.gov.uk / Follow us on Twitter / Find us on Facebook

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