FOI 70-2025 / Jan 2025 / Deer collisions
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 70-2025
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 14th January 2025 as follows:
- How many deer vehicle collisions (DVCs) has your force recorded since 1 January 2021 to 1 January 2025? Preferably on a month-by-month basis.
- Of those deer vehicle collisions recorded since 1 January 2021 to 1 January 2025, how many did your force attend? Preferably on a month-by-month basis.
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 specific code or qualifier for deer vehicle collisions.
In order to provide you with the detailed information you have requested, an analyst would have to manually read through each individual incident that has a disposal code of wildlife/animal to identify and extract any information relevant to your request. This does would not take into consideration any incidents with road related disposal codes that could also be relevant. During the period there have been over 3600 such incidents recorded. At a conservative estimate of 5 minutes per log to review, this would equate to in excess of 300 hours of work and would therefore 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 considered to be up to 18 hours of work on one request.
In accordance with Section 12(1) 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. Please note that if one part of a request exceeds the fees limit, then Section 12 applies to the whole request.
In accordance with Section 16 of the Act, I have a duty to provide advice and assistance in relation to your request; however, due to the volume of records that would need to be examined, I am unable to suggest a way to revise your request into one that could be managed within the fees limit.
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