Our Ref: 165-14-278

Your Ref:

Mike Bailey
/ Information Access Team
Surrey Police H.Q
01483 630007
16 May 2014

Dear Mr Bailey

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 165-14-278

I write in connection with your request for information received on 24 March.

I apologise for the delay in responding. Your request was received at a particularly busy time. I hope that this has not caused you too much inconvenience.

You asked:

Q) Withdrawn

Q2) The number and type of offences committed under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 within Surrey between 2010 and 2014 and, if possible, the outcome

It was my understanding that offence searching on police computer systems under offence titles or codes would allow easy searching for statistical analysis such as this.

However in order to ease response to this request I would be willing to limit my request to the following offences Section 1 Cruelty to persons under sixteen.

Section 4 Causing or allowing persons under sixteen to be used for begging.

Section 7 Sale of tobacco, & to persons under eighteen

I can confirm that the information that you have requested is held by Surrey Police.

The request asked for the number of offences recorded for the calendar years of 2010,2011,2012 and 2013 deriving from the following sections of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933:

a) Section 1 Cruelty to persons sixteen and under

b) Section 4 Causing or allowing persons under sixteen to be used for begging

c) Section 7 Sale of tobacco to persons under 16

Number of crimes recorded
Children and Young Persons Act 1933 sections / 2010 / 2011 / 2012 / 2013
Section 1 Cruelty to persons sixteen and under / 43 / 30 / 27 / 41
Section 4 Causing or allowing persons under sixteen to be used for begging / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Section 7 Sale of tobacco to persons under 16 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Child protection flagged crimes/incidents recorded
Year / Number of child protection flagged crimes/incidents
2010 / 2281
2011 / 2828
2012 / 3106
2013 / 3170

Important Notes

- Results are extracted from a live crime information system, which is subject to change over time.

- The Child Protection flag was applied at officers' discretion and so accuracy cannot be guaranteed.

I bring to your attention that police forces in the United Kingdom are routinely required to provide statistics to government bodies and the recording criteria is set nationally. However, the systems used for recording these figures are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data. The data warehouse is a "live" system and is subject to change as incidents are finalised. In other words, incidents may be initially recorded under a specific category but change with new information. It should be noted that for these reasons this force's response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other response you may receive.

Surrey Police provides you the right to request a re-examination of your case under its review procedure. How to do this is set out in the attached Appeals Notice. Having followed the full procedure, if you are still dissatisfied, then you have the right to direct your comments to the Information Commissioner who will give your case consideration.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in Surrey Police. Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write or contact us on 01483 - 630007 quoting the reference number above.

Yours sincerely

Fiona Burn

Information Access Team Decision Maker