FOI Cuckooing (0595-2022/23)

Request

Please disclose under the FOI Act/EIR:

Q1. The forces definition of cuckooing

Q2. The number of reports of cuckooing in the last five years; 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 (to date)

Q3. From the above figures; how many resulted in a conviction

Q4. How many officers are dedicated to cuckooing. Are there dedicated teams?

I would be grateful if you would supply the information as soon as possible. If you are able to supply some of this information more quickly than other items, please supply each item as soon as it is available.

Response

Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information

To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police. I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you.

Q1. North Yorkshire Police have published information around ‘cuckooing’ on the website under the following link.

County lines | North Yorkshire Police

I have therefore decided to exempt providing you with a response to Q1 pursuant to Section 21 Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act).

Section 17 of the Act requires North Yorkshire Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you 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.

Q2. No information held

Q3. No information held

Q4. North Yorkshire Police have no officers dedicated solely to cuckooing.

Exemption Explanation

Section 21 – Information Reasonably Accessible by Other Means

Section 21 is an absolute class based exemption and I am not required to consider the harm or public interest when applying this exemption.

Section 23 – Information Supplied by, or Relating to, Bodies Dealing with Security Matters

North Yorkshire Police can neither confirm nor deny that it holds any other information with regard to an exempt body as the duty in Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not apply by virtue of the following exemption:

Section 23 is an absolute class-based exemption therefore I am not required to articulate the harm or the public interest in the confirmation or denial of information being held.

Confirming or denying the existence of whether any other information is held would contravene the constrictions laid out within Section 23 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in that this stipulates a generic bar on disclosure of any information applied by, or concerning Security Bodies.  

To give a statement of the reasons why neither confirming nor denying is appropriate in this case would itself involve the disclosure of exempt information, therefore under S.17(4), no explanation can be given. To the extent that S.23 applies, North Yorkshire Police have determined that in all circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exclusion of the duty to neither confirm nor deny outweighs the public interest in confirming whether or not the information is held.

Pursuant to Section 17(4) of the Freedom of Information Act this letter acts as a Refusal Notice.

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.