FOI 0072-2025/26 Use of 'Cide Products
Request
Q1. A list of all -cides used by the Service. This is inclusive of, but not limited to: any and all avicides, biocides, fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, pesticides, and rodenticides.
Q2. The annual cost and volume of purchase of each of these -cides, broken down by -cide, from January 2014 to December 2024. Please list this on a spreadsheet (CSV), broken down by:
- -Cide
- Product Name
- Volume Purchased
- Price Paid
- Purchase Date
Q3. A list of each of these -cides' use, by volume. Through this I am trying to ascertain whether the purchased volume is matched by the used volume, so if there is a record of expired or unused -cides too, that would be ideal. Please add this to the above CSV as an additional column, also on an annual basis over the same time period. Please list volume in either litres or kilograms, whichever is more appropriate.
Only if available and easily accessible, the location and purpose of each specific -cide’s use. For the former, this may be classified by: location grouping, address, coordinate, or otherwise.
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. Our information retrieval process generally relies on a computer ran report which captures any information recorded upon the surface of a record or within specified fields. Where relevant information is held deeper in the record, or outside of a specified field, a manual assessment is required to retrieve that information.
North Yorkshire Police does not directly purchase any or any significant quantity of ‘-cides’ avicides, biocides, fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, pesticides, and rodenticides. We sub-contract a number of services which may use these chemicals, including grounds maintenance and pest control, although we do not directly specify their use. Given regular changes in contract and sub-contractor in the period specified (2014-2024) it will not be possible to locate and retrieve the information requested within 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, due to the information provided above I am unable to suggest how you may refine your request and still receive meaningful information within the cost threshold. 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.