FOI 0327-2025/26-Force expenditure based on informants, CHIS Handlers and Surveillance from 2014-2025e
Request
Q1. How much has the force paid to police informants in the following financial years:
2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
2020/21
2021/22
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
Q2. How many CHIS (Covert Human Intelligence Sources) Handlers did you have on staff in the following financial years:
2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
2020/21
2021/22
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
Q3. What were the staffing costs (total salary costs) for CHIS Handlers in the force in the following financial years?
2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
2020/21
2021/22
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
Q4. How many surveillance officers did you have on staff in the following financial years:
2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
2020/21
2021/22
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
Q5. What were the staffing costs (total salary costs) for surveillance officers in the force in the following financial years?
2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
2020/21
2021/22
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
Q6. How many digital and cyber surveillance staff (for example, but not limited to: cybercrime specialists, digital media investigators) did you have on staff in the following financial years:
2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
2020/21
2021/22
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
Q7. What were the staffing costs (total salary costs) for digital and cyber surveillance staff (for example, but not limited to: cybercrime specialists, digital media investigators) in the force in the following financial years?
2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
2020/21
2021/22
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
Q8. What was the total annual expenditure on technical surveillance equipment (including but not limited to: listening devices, trackers, static or mobile CCTV units, night vision or thermal cameras, drones) for the following financial years:
2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
2020/21
2021/22
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
Q9. What was the total annual budget of the force for the following financial years:
2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
2020/21
2021/22
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
Please provide your response in a table in an excel spreadsheet format.
Response
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.
There is no method by which we can readily retrieve information from police systems to answer this request. A wide-ranging manual review of records would be required which would exceed the time allowed under the Act. This is further impacted by the fact that most historic budget records do not isolate these costs and considerable calculations would be required to calculate the costs requested.
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, due to the information provided above I am unable to suggest how you may refine your request and still receive the information within the cost threshold. Were a refined request to be received, further consideration will be required to determine whether any other exemptions are applicable. For example, given the nature of the information being requested, this is likely to invoke an exemption under Sections 24 and/or Section 31. 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.