Received: 4 May 2023

Please accept this request under the Freedom of Information Act. I’m seeking:

• The total number of PFEW representatives in each year since 2012. Please provide figures using the same ‘snapshot’ date for each year.
• The total number of cases in which the PFEW has defended officers accused of misconduct or gross misconduct, when the officer facing accusations is also a PFEW representative, since 2012. Please provide separate figures for misconduct cases and gross misconduct cases, broken down by calendar year.
• The total number of cases in which the PFEW has defended officers facing criminal charges, when the officer facing charges is also a PFEW representative, since 2012. Please provide figures broken down by calendar year.

Responded: 18 May 2023

QUESTION: 

Please accept this request under the Freedom of Information Act. I’m seeking: 

• The total number of PFEW representatives in each year since 2012. Please provide figures using the same ‘snapshot’ date for each year. 
• The total number of cases in which the PFEW has defended officers accused of misconduct or gross misconduct, when the officer facing accusations is also a PFEW representative, since 2012. Please provide separate figures for misconduct cases and gross misconduct cases, broken down by calendar year. 
• The total number of cases in which the PFEW has defended officers facing criminal charges, when the officer facing charges is also a PFEW representative, since 2012. Please provide figures broken down by calendar year. 

RESPONSE: 

Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) confirms that it does hold this data but is exempting it under Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000: Cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit.  We currently have 1109 active Federation Representatives and turnover in these roles can be high.  There is no automatic search that would satisfy this request and therefore all searches would be manual.  PFEW estimates that the cost and time of this exercise would far exceed the limits of the £450 and 18 hours stipulated by the legislation.