FOI 255-2024 / Feb 2024 / Hunt complaints
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: FOI-255-2024
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 27th February 2024 as follows:
I wish to seek information regarding the number of complaints made by members of the public to Warwickshire Police concerning trespass on their property and land, anti-social behaviour and dangerous road use. Specifically, I would like to know:
- The total number of complaints received by Warwickshire Police Force regarding trespass on private property and land by the Warwickshire Hunt from October 2021 to the present date from private landowners, public landowners, and other landowners impacted by the trespass.
- The total number of complaints received by Warwickshire Police Force regarding anti-social behaviour committed by the Warwickshire Hunt between October 2021 to present dates.
- The total number of complaints of dangerous road use committed by the Warwickshire Hunt from members of the public and other road users.
- The dates of each complaint made during the specified period.
Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in providing the response to your request and for any inconvenience that this may have caused you. Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.
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.
Although Warwickshire Police have publicly acknowledged that complaints have been made in relation to hunt activity, for example via the following article published on the force website:
An update on the policing of hunt activities in Warwickshire | Warwickshire Police
Given that your request refers to ‘the Warwickshire Hunt’ and has been interpreted as asking for information relating to the ‘Warwickshire Hunt Ltd’, Warwickshire Police can neither confirm nor deny whether information is held in relation to your request as the duty in Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not apply, by virtue of the following exemption:
Section 40(5) Personal information
Section 40 is an absolute exemption and does not require me to articulate the harm in neither confirming nor denying whether information is held, nor does it require a public interest test to be carried out.
Please be advised that any information released as a result of a Freedom of Information request is, in effect, being released into the public domain. Therefore, it could subsequently be published or would have to be made available to any member of the public if it were requested.
The decision to issue a ‘neither confirm nor deny’ response is not affected by whether Warwickshire Police do or do not hold the information but relates to the consequences of confirming or denying the information is held. The decision to neither confirm nor deny is separate from a decision not to disclose information and needs to be taken entirely on its own merits.
Any information that relates to an individual, or from which an individual could be identified, constitutes personal data and to release information that constitutes personal data into the public domain contravenes the Data Protection Act 2018, in particular Article 5(1) of the GDPR.
Where confirming or denying that Warwickshire Police do or do not hold information would, of itself, provide information about individuals, including the fact such information may or may not be held, then the exemption applied is Section 40(5).
In accordance with the Act, this letter represents a Refusal Notice for these parts of the request; however, no inference can be taken from this refusal that the specified information is or is not held.
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