FOI 509/25
REQUEST
For the years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021
1) How many notifications of the intention to hold a public procession did you receive under s11(1)Public Order Act 1986?
2) How many processions were there where at least one condition was imposed under s12 POA 1986
3) How many assemblies were there where at least one condition was imposed under s14 POA 1986
4) How many arrests were there for breach of conditions under s12(4)(5) or (6)
5) How many arrests were there for breach of conditions under 14(4)(5) or (6)
If the following data is held, please could I also request
6) What triggered each imposition of conditions under s12 (1)(a) and (1)(b)
serious public disorder
serious damage to property
serious disruption to the life of the community Intimidation
7) What triggered each imposition of conditions under s14(1)(a) and (1)(b)
serious public disorder
serious damage to property
serious disruption to the life of the community Intimidation
RESPONSE
Your request for information has now been considered and I am not obliged to supply the information you have requested.
In relation to your request, the following exemption applies:
Section 12 – Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit.
At South Wales Police we monitor and collate statistical data on crimes, incidents and other data relevant to our daily business. The predominant purpose of this is to identifying pattern and trends, so resource allocation and policies can be managed to ensure public safety. Unfortunately, the data you have requested is not routinely collated in an easily retrievable format for the time frame requested.
Whilst we have archives going back to 2017 the data could be recorded under different descriptions or may not even be recorded within the archives at all. Notifications could have been received by our planning department or they may have gone out to neighbourhood or other local officers.
In order to retrieve this information, we would have to retrieve the figure of how many protests we recorded during the requested time frame and cross reference with other departments and our crime and incident recording system (Niche RMS) to see if we received the notification.
Whilst I cannot quantify exactly how long this would take it would most certainly exceed the 18 hours stipulated by the regulations.
It is estimated that the cost of providing you with the information is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond i.e. the cost of locating and retrieving the information exceeds the "appropriate level" as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.
In the case of the police service, the appropriate limit is £450 which has been calculated to equate to a total of 18 hours of work.
If any part of the request exceeds the fees limit then Section 12 applies to the whole request.
In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a refusal notice.
Excess cost removes the forces obligation under the Freedom of Information Act, however under Section 16 – Duty to provide advice and assistance, an authority is required to offer an applicant the opportunity to redefine their request within the cost limit. If you were to refine your request to only include recent years, we may be able to assist you’re your request.