FOI Neurodiverse Police Officers (0327-2022/23)

Request

I am conducting research into the experiences of police officers with neurodiverse conditions such as Autism, Aspergers, ADHD, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia.
I would be grateful if you could supply me with the following information (if possible)
1) What is the current police officer establishment of your force?
2) How many police officers in your force have a diagnosis of one or more of the conditions listed above?
3) How many police officers are undergoing assessment for one of these conditions?
4) Does your force have a specific policy on support for neurodivergent staff?
5) If there is a policy, please supply me with a copy.
6) In the last three years, have any police officers left or had their services dispensed with due to poor performance linked to their neurodiversity?

Response

Extent of Searches to Locate Information

Following receipt of your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police to locate relevant information. 

Decision

I am not obliged to provide you with a response to your request pursuant to Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). Please note that when one part of your request falls under Section 12, we are not obliged to review the rest of the questions and the whole request is therefore exempt.

Section 12(1) applies to your request as the cost of complying with your request is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond i.e. the cost of identifying and retrieving any relevant information exceeds the ‘appropriate level’ as stated in the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.

Due to the nature of our recording systems the information requested, if held, is not in an easily retrievable format. When an officer leaves the force, there are a set number of reasons listed. Specific information is held outside of these set fields.

In relation to part 6 of your request, to retrieve the requested information, it would be necessary to manually review all leaver files to ascertain their exact reason for leaving the force. This would exceed the time limit allowed under the Act. 

Pursuant to Section 17(5) of the Freedom of Information Act this letter acts as a Refusal Notice.

Pursuant to Section 16 of the Act I am required to offer you advice and assistance with regarding to refining your request to within the ‘appropriate limit’ (time/cost limit). However, we may be able to provide information for the remainder of your request if you refine your request and omit part 6.  If you wish to discuss this, please do not hesitate to contact me.

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.