FOI 260307

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 260307

I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 5^th July 2023.  Please find below the response to your request:

I would like to request:

• The total number of motorists of all categories that were stopped by police in 2021, 2022 and 2023 (year to date) and asked to undergo a breathalyser test for alcohol. If possible, please break down by time of day. 

• The total number of motorists of all categories that were stopped by police in 2022 and 2021 and 2023 (year to date) asked to undergo an alcohol breathalyser test and failed the test. If possible, please break down by time of day.

• The total number of motorists of all categories that were stopped by police in 2022, 2021 and 2023 (year to date) and arrested and prosecuted for failing an alcohol breathalyser test, If possible, please break down by time of day.

Reply

Please see below West Mercia Police’s response to your information request:-

• The total number of motorists of all categories that were stopped by police in 2021, 2022 and 2023 (year to date) and asked to undergo a breathalyser test for alcohol. If possible, please break down by time of day. 

• Your request for information has been considered in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the Act”), and I am not obliged to provide the information requested.  S.12(1) of the Act states that a public authority is not obliged to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the “appropriate limit”.  For police forces in England and Wales, the "appropriate limit" is £450 or 18 hours of work as set by the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.  S.12(2) of the Act exempts a public authority from its obligations under Section 1(1) - the duty to confirm if the information being requested is held, if to provide that confirmation alone would exceed the “appropriate limit”. 

We are unable to easily retrieve an accurate record of those individuals who have simply been asked to undergo a breathalyser test for alcohol. If a person undergoes the test, passes and therefore no further action taken, this information would only be recorded in the Officer’s pocket notebook, so this request would require a manual trawl of each individual West Mercia Police Officer’s pocket note book, which would far exceed the 18hr limit for FOI. In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, s.17(5), this acts as a Refusal Notice for this request.  Under s.16 of the Act I have a duty to provide advice and assistance in relation to your request. Unfortunately, due to the volume of records that would need to be reviewed I am unable to identify information that could be supplied within the fees limit.

• The total number of motorists of all categories that were stopped by police in 2022 and 2021 and 2023 (year to date) asked to undergo an alcohol breathalyser test and failed the test. If possible, please break down by time of day.
•  

• The total number of motorists of all categories that were stopped by police in 2022, 2021 and 2023 (year to date) and arrested and prosecuted for failing an alcohol breathalyser test, If possible, please break down by time of day.
•  

N.B. the numbers of those who failed the breathalyser (Q2), compared to those prosecuted (Q3) will not correlate as we often have to wait for laboratory tests to come back, which can take several months. Each potential offence identified may not be prosecuted until the next year, depending on the date of the alleged offence itself.