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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 453-2024
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 25th April 2024 as follows:
1 - How many evictions did your constabulary enforce under section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, per year, between 2013 and 2023?
2 - How many arrests were made under section 144 of the LAPSO Act 2012, per year, between 2013 and 2023?
a - Of these, how many were charged for the offence of squatting in a residential building per year, between 2013 and 2023?
3 - How many convictions were secured for the offence of squatting in a residential building per year, between 2013 and 2023?
Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below. When reviewing the information please note that, due to changes in systems, it is not possible to retrieve annual information for Q2 and Q2a prior to 2018.
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.
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.”
Warwickshire Police may have been requested to assist in such circumstances, for example in order to prevent a breach of the peace; however, in order to determine whether or not this occurred during the stated period, and then to ensure that all relevant information is located, it would be necessary to conduct reviews of thousands of incident logs and officer pocket note book entries during the period.
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 of 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 your request.
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, I am unable to suggest a way to revise this element into one which could be provided within the fees limit.
Q2 response:
2018 – 1
2019 – No information held
2020 – No information held
2021 – No information held
2022 – 1
2023 – No information held
Q2a response: Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Warwickshire 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.
The exemption applicable in this case is:
Section 40(2) Personal Information
Section 40 is an absolute class-based exemption, which does not require evidence of the harm disclosure would cause and does not require consideration of a public interest test. That being said, where Section 40(2) is engaged, in order to make the exemption absolute there needs to be evidence that a Data Protection Principle would be breached by disclosure.
This exemption is engaged where disclosure of information relates to personal data of a third party or could lead to the identification of an individual, either from that information alone or combined with any other information from within the Police Service or public domain. In this case, due to the extremely low number of arrests, providing the requested information is likely to provide information in relation to an individual. Such a disclosure would breach individuals’ rights under the Data Protection Act 2018, in particular Article 5(1) of the GDPR which states that personal data shall be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject.
Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a refusal notice under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to these elements of your request.
Q3 response: Please be advised that conviction data falls within the remit of, and is held by, HM Courts and you may wish to contact them in this regard.
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