FOI 274/25
Custody detention under PACE
Freedom of information request reference no: 235/25
Original request 217/25:
I am following up on this report:
To that end, can you please provide to me:
- The overall number of arrests you made which led to a mental health act assessment (MHAA) taking place in custody, where a decision was taken to admit the arrestee/patient under S2/3 of the Mental Health Act between 2014-2024 (broken down by year),
And, of those overall cases, by year:
1. How many of those cases each year involved a subsequent detention in custody which exceeded the statutory maximum period under PACE due to a mental health bed not being found.
2. Of those cases, please can you tell me the longest someone was held in custody past the PACE limit each year as a bed could not be located.
3. Your policy as of 2025 regarding MHAAs in custody, and escalation procedures if a bed is not available. If you no longer detain sectioned patients after their PACE clock expires, please also provide your policy on that, and where they are taken instead of custody.
The following exemption was applied: Section 12 – Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit.
Follow up request 274/25
Would it not be possible to sort via the codes you mentioned, within the cost limit, to establish basic numbers?
I would have expected your force to have already conducted this work, given its significance.
If so, could you please release that data to me, even if it only covers 2022-24?
RESPONSE
We consulted with our Custody Services who have provided the below response to your request.
Questions 1- 3
Please note we are only able to provide the requested figures for the period between 22/01/2024 and 31/01/2025 as this is when the use of the appropriate detention log entries began.
During the requested 12-month period, a total of 84 persons who were under arrest for other matters, were assessed under the Mental Health Act in South Wales Police custody and found to require removal under section to a health-based place of safety.
Of those 84 persons detained under the Mental Heath Act, 17 were detained for a period exceeding their PACE clocks.
The longest duration of time that any one of those persons was detained past the expiry of their PACE detention whilst awaiting availability of a transfer to a hospital bed was 25hrs and 26mins.
Question 4
Please find attached document entitled ‘Mental Health Toolkit Redacted’ which answers this part of your request.
In relation to the redacted information the following exemption applies:
Section 40(2) - Personal Information
Section 40(2) is an absolute class-based exemption and therefore the authority is not required to consider the public interest in disclosure.
The Data Protection Act covers processing of personal data about a living individual. Personal data means data which relate to a living individual who can be identified-
- from those data, or
- from those data and other information, which is in the possession of, or is likely to come into the possession of, the data controller or any other person in respect of the individual.
Information will “relate to” a person if it is about them, linked to them, has some biographical significance for them, is used to inform decisions affecting them, has them as its main focus or impacts on them in any way.
If we disclosed these details, this would provide significant detail which could identify an individual and would breach the first principle of the Data Protection Act 2018.
In accordance with the Act, this letter represents a refusal notice for this part of your request.