FOI 16708-25 - Soil and Rock Analysis
Request:
The number of soil samples that your force analysed and sent for analysis dated back to 2015, the last 10 years
The number of sediment/rock samples that your force analysed and sent for analysis dated back to 2015, the last 10 years
What analyses/techniques were used on the sediment, soil and rock samples dated back to 2015, the last 10 years
The cost of all above analyses to the force
Response:
Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Northamptonshire Police, when refusing to provide information (because the information is exempt), to provide the applicant with a notice which:
(a) states that fact,
(b) specifies the exemption in question and
(c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.
The exemption applicable to the information requested is:
Section 12(1) – Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit
The information you are requesting is not held by Northamptonshire Police in any reasonably retrievable form. The only means of establishing information of the nature you are requesting would be by way of manual examination of each work request record. Our information retrieval process generally relies on a computer-run report which captures any information recorded upon the surface of a record or within specified fields. Where relevant information is held deeper in the record, or outside of a specified field, a manual assessment is usually required to retrieve that information. By way of further explanation, our contract is for capacity across a range of physical forensic services, shared between multiple forces.
Examinations are not requested under specific product codes. To provide the requested data, we would need to conduct a manual search. This search would be complicated by the fact that a sample may not be labelled as specifically soil/rock/sediment. This may be the case if the soil/rock/sediment was analysed as a secondary analysis, or where the exhibit is described, for example, as clothing or footwear. Searching would be further complicated by the need to retrieve and review paper files.
It is my assessment that the cost of providing you with the information requested would exceed the 'appropriate level' as set out in the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.
My assessment is that it would cost 70 (approximate number of work requests) x 20 minutes each (minimum) = over 23 hours at £25 per hour to respond to your request, which exceeds the 'appropriate limit' (currently £450 for 'prescribed costs'). This is in addition to 3 hours to identify relevant cases (already performed), 3 hours for further manual review, and 1 hour to retrieve paper files.
In view of the above, and in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please take this letter as a Refusal Notice.
You may wish to refine and resubmit your request so that it reduces the costs shown above and is then within the 'appropriate limit'. I cannot think of a means to refine the request in order to provide the information you are seeking, but if you would like some further information about how to proceed with your request then please contact:
Due to the different methods of recording information across forces, a specific response from one constabulary should not be seen as an indication of what information could be supplied (within cost) by another. Systems used for recording these figures are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data. For this reason, responses between forces may differ, and should not be used for comparative purposes.