FOI 1107-2024 / Dec 2024 / Heat pumps
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 1107-2024
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 19th December 2024 as follows:
Please provide data on the number of crime reports received by your force which refer to the theft of a heat pump from a residential property in both (a) 2023 and (b) 2024.
For clarity, the term ‘heat pump’ refers to the new generation of domestic central heating systems which feature a piece of heat exchange equipment installed in the external area of a property.
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 offence of ‘theft of heat pump’ and no way of readily identifying from the Crime Recording System where this has occurred in relation to an offence. Keyword searches are not carried out routinely as they are not reliable, they will only bring back records where the chosen keyword(s) is present within the MO Description / Incident Summary of an investigation, these are limited free text fields and do not contain all information in relation to an investigation. Therefore, in order to determine the information requested, it would be necessary to manually review each and every offence under Home Office code 49/10, ‘Theft if not classified elsewhere’ on an individual basis. During the period 1st January 2023 to 31st December 2024 (inclusive) there were 4,071 such offences recorded. Even at a very conservative estimate of 2 minutes per offence this would equate to in excess of 135 hours of work. Therefore, searches would exceed 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. For Police forces in the UK, the ‘appropriate limit’ is up to 18 hours of work on one request.
In accordance with Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a Refusal Notice for your request.
In accordance with Section 16 of the Act, I have a duty to provide advice and assistance; however, due to the volume of records that 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 even if you were to reduce the time period.
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