FOI 594/25

REQUEST

1. How many defendants did South Wales Police recommend should be remanded in custody over the last 12 months? (April 2024-April 2025)
2. Out of those the police recommended should be remanded in custody (i.e. via the MG7 form), how many were actually remanded by the courts?
3. Please provide this data broken down by the relevant exception under the Bail Act (1976).

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.

We consulted with our Custody team who advised there were 4653 remands sent to court within the last 12 months.

We estimate that it would take approximately two minutes to interrogate each individual record to identify whether the defendant was remanded at court and if they were remanded under the Bail Act (1976).

We therefore estimate it would take in excess of 155 hours to comply with your request.

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. Unfortunately, due to the way in which data is recorded, we can see no feasible way in which you could refine your request.