FOI 677-2023 / July 2023 / Agricultural thefts
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 677-2023
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 18th July 2023 as follows:
Q1. How many reports have there been of stolen agricultural equipment. Please can I get an annual breakdown from 2018 to 2023 (so far).
Q2. What was the value of these stolen items of equipment, can I also get the annual breakdown of these figures.
Q3. Can I have a breakdown of the items that were stolen each year. E.g quadbike, rotavator, etc
Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.
Response: Please be advised that the requested information is not centrally recorded and is therefore not held in a readily retrievable format. There is no specific offence for theft of agricultural equipment. In order to determine a response to this request, it would be necessary to individually review all theft offences where such equipment could feasibly be reported. This would also include robbery and burglary offences, and where the offences are classed as personal and business. Such manual review would be necessary to determine whether agricultural equipment was reported stolen, and then, where recorded, the details of specific items and their value. There are thousands of theft related reports recorded annually by the force, and such searches would take an inordinate amount of time. Therefore, the work involved in locating and retrieving the information requested exceeds the cost threshold of £450, which equates to 18 hours work at a standard rate of £25 per hour, as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.
In accordance with section 12 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a Refusal Notice for this request.
In accordance with Section 16 of the Act, I have a duty to provide advice and assistance; however, due to the number of records which would need to be individually reviewed, I am unable to suggest a way to reduce your request into one which could be managed within the fees limit.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided is as accurate as possible.
Your attention is drawn to the below which details your right of complaint.
Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write or email the Freedom of Information Unit quoting the reference number above.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Officer
Freedom of Information Unit
Warwickshire Police
PO Box 4
Leek Wootton
Warwickshire
CV35 7QB