FOI 858-2023 / Sept 2023 / Warwickshire hunt
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 858-2023
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 25th August 2023 as follows:
Q1. How many CPNs have been issued but then withdrawn, involving other groups and/or individuals by the Warwickshire Police? Or is the hunt regarded as a special case for some inexplicable reason?
Q2. How much involvement did senior police officers, and also the Police and Crime Commissioner, have in this decision to withdraw the CPN against the Warwickshire Hunt?
Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in providing the response to your request and for any inconvenience this may have caused. Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.
Q1 response: Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 places two duties on public authorities. Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at Section 1(1)(a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held. The second duty at Section 1(1)(b) is to disclose information that has been confirmed as being held.
Warwickshire Police are unable to confirm whether or not any information is held regarding ‘how many CPNs have been issued but then withdrawn, involving other groups and/or individuals by the Warwickshire Police’, and Section 12(2) applies.
Section 12(2) states: “…Subsection (1) does not exempt the public authority from its obligation to comply with paragraph (a) of section 1(1) unless the estimated cost of complying with that paragraph alone would exceed the appropriate limit.”
Recorded information pertaining to the use or withdrawal of Community Protection Notices is not centrally recorded or held within a single system or by one individual business area. In order to determine if the requested information is or is not held and, if held, to ensure that all information is located, it would be necessary to make extensive enquiries with multiple teams and units within Warwickshire Police who would then be required to conduct searches of all systems, documentation and communication held. As you will appreciate, this would take an inordinate amount of time and, therefore, the cost of complying with paragraph (a) of section 1(1) would be above the amount to which we are legally required to respond, i.e., the cost exceeds the ‘appropriate level’ as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.
In accordance with Section 12(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please treat this letter as the Refusal Notice I am required to provide to you in respect of Q1.
In accordance with Section 16 of the Act, I have a duty to provide advice and assistance in relation to refining your request. However, due to the extent of the searches required to even determine whether information is held, and then, if so, to determine that all information has been located, I am unable to suggest a way to revise this part of your request into one which could be provided within the fees limit.
Q2 response: The Protocol was signed off at Chief Officer level.
Please be advised that the OPCC and Warwickshire Police are separate entities and questions relating to the Police and Crime Commissioner should be referred to the OPCC at the below email address:
You may also find the below link useful:
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