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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 631-2024
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 8th July 2024 as follows:
Also accessible via weblink:
Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.
Q1 response: Warwickshire Police do not hold a Policy / Procedure / Guidance / Aide Memoire (or similar in nature) in this respect and our response therefore is ‘no information held’.
Q2 response: In the event that Children’s Services did want to request police information prior to placement of a child they would submit a PVP2 form to Warwickshire Police CRSU (Central Referral and Safeguarding Unit). Please find a copy of the form attached.
You will notice that there are two slight redactions which is in relation to the telephone number and email address of the team. This is deemed unsuitable for disclosure. Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Warwickshire Police, when refusing to provide 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.
In this case the applicable exemption is:
Section 31(1)(a)(b) – Law Enforcement
Section 31 is a prejudice-based qualified exemption and, as such, there is a requirement to evidence the harm disclosure would cause and to carry out a public interest test.
Section 31 - Evidence of Harm
Effective law enforcement is the core function of the police service and is of paramount importance to Warwickshire Police and this must be considered in respect of every release. In this case, providing the email address and telephone number of the team into the public domain could result in them being bombarded with unnecessary correspondence and telephone calls, resulting in delays and backlogs to essential work.
Public Interest Considerations
Section 31 - Factors favouring Disclosure
Providing the requested information suggests that the team is contactable directly. This may offer reassurance to the public.
Section 31 - Factors favouring Non-Disclosure
If the requested information is disclosed, this could lead to a significant increase in the public making direct contact rather than going through the appropriate channels. This could result in increased backlogs and demands.
Balancing Test
As always, the Freedom of Information Act has a presumption in favour of disclosure, unless, when balancing the competing public interest factors, the prejudice to the community outweighs the benefits. In this case, the strongest argument for disclosure is reassurance to the public. However, this needs to be weighed against the strongest argument for non-disclosure, which, in this case, is the negative impact on law enforcement due to correspondence and telephone calls. Therefore, having considered the arguments for and against disclosure, I have concluded that the argument in favour of maintaining the exemption is stronger and outweighs the public interest in disclosing the redacted information.
In accordance with Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this acts as a refusal notice with regard to disclosure of the redacted elements of the form.
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
320KB