FOI 655/25
REQUEST
1) The number of unlicensed music events (illegal raves) that police have been called to in the past five calendar years (2019-2024).
2) The number of individuals arrested for attending or hosting an unlicensed music event in the past five years
3) The number of individuals who have been fined for attending or hosting an unlicensed music event in the past five years, and the total sum that has been collected in fines for that period.
4) The age of the youngest person arrested or fined at an unlicensed music event each year. Please specify if they were arrested or fined.
5) The number of under 18s recorded as being at an unlicensed music event each year.
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 identify patterns and trends, so resource allocation and policies can be managed to ensure public safety.
The data you have requested is not routinely collated in a format that would easily answer your query, therefore, to accurately answer your request we would need to individually interrogate each occurrence reported between the dates specified. There were 635,113 crimes recorded between 1st January 2019 and 31st December 2024.
We estimate that it would take approximately two minutes to interrogate each occurrence to identify whether it is in relation to an unauthorised music event.
We therefore estimate it would take in excess of 18 hours to retrieve the information.
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 remove question one then we may be able to assist with your request.