Football Policing (1693A/22)
Request
1. The number of police officers assigned to the following teams and their stadiums on match days from 7th August 2021- 22nd May 2022.
– Birmingham City
– Coventry City
– West Bromwich Albion
2. The number of football related arrests made between 7th August 2021-22nd May 2022 on match days at the following teams home games.
– Birmingham City
– Coventry City
– West Bromwich Albion
3. The cost of policing assigned to the following teams and their stadiums on match days from 7th August 2021- 22nd May 2022.
– Birmingham City
– Coventry City
– West Bromwich Albion
Response
Our data are not organised in such a way as to allow us to provide all of this information within the appropriate (cost) limit of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act (see ‘Reason for Decision’ below).
However, although excess cost removes the force’s obligations under the Freedom of Information Act, as a gesture of goodwill I have supplied information, relative to your request, retrieved before it was realised that the fees limit would be exceeded (see attached 1693A_22_attachment.pdf). I trust this is helpful, but it does not affect our legal right to rely on the fees regulations for the remainder of the request.
REASON FOR DECISION
With regard to question 1 (police officers assigned), although we have been able to provide an approximate range (see attached), in order to get a truly accurate figure we would need to carry out a manual trawl of all posting sheets. Such a search would exceed the appropriate limit (FOIA, s.12).
This means that the cost of compliance with the whole of your request is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond, i.e. the cost of locating and retrieving the information would exceed the appropriate costs limit under section 12(1) of the FOI Act 2000. For West Midlands Police, the appropriate limit is set at £450, as prescribed by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004, S.I. 3244.
Further information on section 12 of FOI is available here.