FOI 0051-2026/27- Sexual offences in retail premises
Request:
Please provide aggregated data on recorded sexual offences occurring in retail premises within your police force service area.
For the purposes of this request 'retail premises' refers to commercial premises primarily used for the sale of goods to the public, including shops, supermarkets, and shopping centres.
Q1. Please provide the number of recorded offences per calendar year from 2016 to the most recent year available. Where held and within the cost limits set out, please provide the data broken down by:
- Type of sexual offence (in line with Home Office Counting Rules)
I am only seeking aggregated, anonymised data.
Response:
Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information
To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police.
I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police.
Decision
I have today decided to disclose the following information to you.
Q1. Please see the table below showing the number of sexual offence crimes recorded with an MO location description as 'Shop' between 01 January 2016 and 21 April 2026, broken down by crime type and calendar year. I am exempting those figures below 5 and replaced them with <5 pursuant to Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). Please see the exemption explanation below.
|
Calendar Year |
||||||||||||
|
Crime Type |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
2026 |
Total |
|
Causing Sexual Activity Without Consent |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
1 |
|
Exposure And Voyeurism |
5 |
<5 |
<5 |
7 |
<5 |
<5 |
7 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
37 |
|
Rape Of A Female Aged 16 And Over |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
6 |
|
Rape Of A Female Child Under 16 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
2 |
|
Rape Of A Male Aged 16 And Over |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
1 |
|
Rape Of A Male Child Under 16 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
1 |
|
Sexual Activity Involving A Child Under 13 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
1 |
|
Sexual Activity Involving Child Under 16 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
2 |
|
Sexual Assault On A Female Aged 13 And Over |
9 |
10 |
19 |
12 |
<5 |
11 |
17 |
7 |
13 |
15 |
<5 |
119 |
|
Sexual Assault On A Female Child Under 13 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
6 |
|
Sexual Assault On A Male Aged 13 And Over |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
16 |
|
Sexual Assault On A Male Child Under 13 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
<5 |
2 |
|
Total |
14 |
14 |
28 |
23 |
8 |
21 |
25 |
12 |
19 |
24 |
6 |
194 |
Exemption Explanation
Section 40 – Personal Information
Where an individual can be identified by such data, releasing it would clearly breach the first data protection principle of being ‘fair’ to the data subject.
Section 17 of the Act requires North Yorkshire Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which: (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.
Section 40(2) is an absolute class based exemption, which does not require a public interest test, but requires the balancing of the legitimate interests of the public against the interests of the individual under the first Data Protection Principle; in that processing of personal data must be lawful and fair (DPA 2018 35(1), EUGDPR Article 5(1)).
This exemption applies because the right given under the FOI Act to request official information held by public authorities does not apply to the personal data of third parties where disclosure of that information would not be fair to the individual, and where there is no legitimate public interest in disclosure.
In all the circumstances of the case it has been determined that the duty to the individual under the Data Protection Act 2018 & EU General Data Protection Regulations, and the public interest in maintaining the exemption from disclosure of personal information held by the force in such instances, outweighs the public interest in disclosure. In this instance, personal information can only be disclosed to the individual concerned.
Releasing personal details to a person other than the data subject would not only breach the data subject’s Data Protection rights it may also breach the obligations placed on an authority under the European Convention on Human Rights
Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a refusal notice under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to your request.
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.