FOI 392362
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 392362
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 3rd March 2025. Please find below the response to your request:
I would like to know if there are any records of unsolved missing persons cases in the county of Herefordshire; specifically of cases of female children that may have disappeared/gone missing between the years of 1952 and 1956.
I would like to know details of the locations of where any missing girls were last seen/disappeared, as well as the ages of the children at the time of their disappearance.
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(2) 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.
The information you have requested “details of the locations of where any missing girls were last seen/disappeared, as well as the ages of the children at the time of their disappearance between the years of 1952 and 1956” is not available in a readily retrievable format.
This information may be mentioned within archival records held by West Mercia Police however, to retrieve the requested information, if held, would involve a manual trawl and search of those archive records held. Given the volume, West Mercia Police are unable to manually check the Incident Details fields of all it’s archival crime records to establish the nature of the incident. In order to ascertain whether the information you have requested is held would take in excess of 18 hours as each archival record would have to be checked individually and hence 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.
From 1857 to 1967 covering the timeframe in your request (1952 to 1956) Herefordshire Constabulary (rather than West Mercia Police) was in operation. I note that Herefordshire Record Office hold Constabulary records I ‘assume they are referring to Herefordshire Constabulary records. It may be that Team there may be able to assist in your request. The Team can be contacted at:-
- Visit Herefordshire Archive and Records Centre – Herefordshire Council
- https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/herefordshire-archive-records-centre/visit-herefordshire-archive-records-centre/2
Please note however that many of these records are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act and access to them is restricted under the Data Protection Act. However, permission to view records can be sought from the relevant authorising body.
Further archival resources that may be able to assist include:-
This should not be taken as a precedent that additional information would be supplied outside of the time/fees legislation for any subsequent requests.