Drink Driving (1404A/23)
Request
- I wondered if you would be able to supply me with the number of drink driving charges recorded by month, since 2013?
- And, if possible, whether the driver has been served a driving ban, an unlimited fine, or 6 months’ imprisonment.
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 file 1404A_23_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
Regarding question 2 (penalties served), the only way to determine this information is by manually going into each case and cross referencing it with information recorded on the Police National Computer (PNC). However, even allowing a minimum of only a few minutes for each, this would be a huge task, requiring hundreds of hours to complete, and thereby far 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: