Orders Issued and Breached 2020 – 2024

Response

Avon and Somerset Police holds information on the subject you have requested. However, we will not be able to answer your request in full without exceeding the appropriate limit.  This is because parts of the information requested are not centrally recorded and would involve an extensive search of our files to find and collate. 

In relation to questions 1, 2, 6 and 7, we are able to provide the number of the following orders granted and breached in each year for the timeframe specified: 

• Domestic Violence Protection Notices (DVPNs) 

• Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) 

• Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs)  

Please see this information in the table below: 

A response to questions 8 and 9 in relation to these orders would require a manual review of our records, as this information has not been collated. For example, to respond to question 8 we would need to review all records of an order having been breached in the last 5 years, to identify the number that involved the same subject on more than one occasion. Further review and cross referencing of our systems would be required to provide a breakdown by gender, as this is not recorded by our Legal Services department. With 278 breaches recorded in the specified timeframe for the above orders, we estimate this would take more than 18 hours to complete.  

Section 12 of the Act makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of dealing with them would exceed the appropriate limit, which for police authorities is set at £450 or 18 staff hours.  This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 2.5 working days in determining whether the department holds the information, and locating, retrieving and extracting it. 

This letter represents a Refusal Notice under the Act. 

If you would like to submit a refined request, omitting questions 8 and 9, we may be able to assist further. However, I can advise that while Avon and Somerset Police hold some information relating to questions 3, 4 and 5, these questions may be best directed elsewhere, for the reasons explained below. 

We do not own the information we hold in relation to restraining orders and non-molestation orders, and have no means of verifying its accuracy. As these orders are issued by civil courts, questions 3, 4, and the relevant aspects of question 7 may be best directed to HMCTS, for complete information. 

Similarly in relation to question 5, Forced Marriage Protection Orders (FMPOs) are applied for under the provisions of s.63A Family Law Act 1998. As a starting point they can only be applied for by the person who is seeking the protection of the order or “a relevant third party” (s.63A(2)). A “relevant third party” is defined within the statutory instrument The Family Law Act 1996 (Forced Marriage) (Relevant Third Party) Order 2009. The Order specifies that a Local Authority is a relevant third party for the purposes of applying for a FMPO. Anyone else (such as a Police Force) who wishes to apply for a FMPO must seek permission from the court before any application can be made. For this reason, ordinarily, the Local Authority would lead on these matters and applications for FMPOs would only be made by the police in more exceptional or emergency circumstances.  

As such, while some information is held in relation to question 5, you may wish to direct this part of your request to the relevant local authority.   

If submitting a further, refined request to Avon and Somerset Police, please note that our response would be subject to any applicable exemptions.