FOI 1017/26

REQUEST

 

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I would like to request information concerning calls received by South Wales Police following the UK Government Emergency Alert issued on 14 August 2026.

 

I am seeking to establish:

 

1. whether there was an increase in 999 or 101 calls immediately following the alert; and 2. whether any identifiable part of that increase related to confusion caused by the Welsh-language alert being received before the English-language alert.

 

1. Call volumes

 

Please provide the number of:

 

* 999 calls received; and

* 101 calls received

 

between 18:30 and 21:30 on 14 August 2026, broken down into 15-minute intervals, if held in that format.

 

If 15-minute intervals are not readily available, please provide the smallest readily available time interval.

 

2. Comparison period

 

Please provide the equivalent 999 and 101 call figures, using the same time intervals, for the same period on the previous four Fridays:

 

* 7 August 2026

* 31 July 2026

* 24 July 2026

* 17 July 2026

 

If South Wales Police already holds an average or other baseline figure for the equivalent period, I would be happy to receive that instead.

 

3. Calls relating to the Emergency Alert and language confusion

 

For 18:30–21:30 on 14 August 2026, please provide, where this can be identified from existing recorded categories, classifications, tags or other readily searchable information:

 

1. the number of 999 and 101 calls recorded as relating to the UK Government Emergency Alert; and

 

1. of those, the number recorded as relating to confusion or concern about the language of the alert, including the Welsh-language alert being received before the English-language alert.

 

 

RESPONSE

 

Your request for information has now been considered, and I am not obliged to supply the information you have requested. 

         

Section 17(5) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires South Wales Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which:   

  

(a) states that fact,  

(b) specifies the exemption in question and 

(c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.  

 

In relation to your request, the following exemption applies:  

  

Section 12(1) – Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit. 

  

We have consulted with our Public Service Centre who confirm that a total of 715 calls relating to 999 and 101 calls were received on 14^th August 2026 between 18:00 and 22:00 (calls are recorded in an hourly format).

 

In order to locate and retrieve the information to answer question 3, each occurrence would need to be individually interrogated.

 

We estimate that this would take approximately 5 – 10 minutes per occurrence and we therefore estimate that it would take in excess of 26 hours to comply with this part of 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. If you were to remove question 3, we may be able to assist with the rest of your request.