Covid 19 Deaths (750A/20)
Request
I would be most grateful if you would supply me with the following information.
- The total number of your workforce as a whole.
- The total number of staff who have died FROM Covid 19 within your organisation
- The total number of staff who have been admitted to hospital as a result of Covid 19
- The total number of staff who have been properly diagnosed with Covid 19 not requiring hospitalisation
- The total number of staff who have had to take time off work through isolation procedures not counting when the offices were actually closed
Response
Our data are not organised in such a way as to allow us to provide this information within the appropriate (cost) limit within the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act (see ‘Reason for Decision’ below).
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). 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
Please note that researching each individual case would exceed the appropriate limit (FOIA, s.12). In relation to questions 3 and 4 – this detail is not something we collate and we would need to go through all relevant records to see if any information is recorded.
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.