FOI 380796

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 380796

I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 3^rd January 2025. Please find below the response to your request:

I am submitting an FOI request for the following information relating to smoking in cars.

1. How many fines and fixed penalty notices has your force issued under the Children and Families Act 2014 for smoking in a private vehicle with children (under 18 years old) present?

2. How many incidents and warnings under the Children and Families Act 2014 for smoking in a private vehicle with children (under 18 years old) present has your force identified?

Please return data broken down and split annually from 1st January 2015 to 31st December 2024.

Reply

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.

The information you have requested for question 2 is not available in a readily retrievable format. This information would be recorded in officers pocket note books (PNB). In order to ascertain whether the information you have requested is held would take in excess of 18 hours as each record would have to be checked individually.

In accordance with s.17(5) of the Act, this acts as a Refusal Notice.

However, In accordance with Section 16 of the Act I have a duty to provide advice and assistance in relation to your request and can provide the information requested for questions 1 from 2019 onwards as this was retrieved during our initial research. This should not be taken as a precedent that additional information would be supplied outside of the time/fees legislation for any subsequent requests

Please note data prior to 2019 will have been removed under MOPI guidelines.