Cost, resources and crimes at the Notting Hill Carnival 2022
Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.026293
I note you seek access to the following information:
How much money was spent on the policing of Notting Hill Carnival, before, during and after the festival was held? Exact period: 23 August 2022 - 30 August 2022.
Please include a breakdown on what the money was spent on, and by date, including a grand total.
What is the total number of Metropolitan Police Officers who were present over the course of the Notting Hill Carnival Saturday 27 August 2022 - Tuesday 30 August 2022?
Please provide a breakdown of the number of officers each day, if possible.
How many crimes/alleged crimes were committed at Notting Hill Carnival Saturday 27 August 2022 - Tuesday 30 August 2022?
Please provide a total number and a breakdown of the nature of the crimes e.g. murder, assault, robbery.
Decision
I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:
Section 40(2)(3)&(4) – Personal Information
Section 22(1)(a)(b)(c) - Information intended for future publication
Reason for decision
Before I explain the reasons for the decisions I have made in relation to your request, I thought that it would be helpful if I outline the parameters set out by the Act within which a request for information can be answered. The Act creates a statutory right of access to information held by public authorities. A public authority in receipt of a request must, if permitted, confirm if the requested information is held by that public authority and, if so, then communicate that information to the applicant.
The right of access to information is not without exception and is subject to a number of exemptions which are designed to enable public authorities to withhold information that is not suitable for release. Importantly, the Act is designed to place information into the public domain, that is, once access to information is granted to one person under the Act, it is then considered public information and must be communicated to any individual should a request be received.
Section 40(2)(3)&(4) – Personal Information - Details of an investigation could cause an individual to be identified and is therefore exempted in this case.
Section 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 confirms that information which relates to an identified or identifiable living individual is Personal Data.
The Freedom of Information Act provides an exemption for Personal Data and this is known as the section 40 exemption. Some of the information sought under your Freedom of Information request includes the following which we consider to be Personal Data
- Low numbers of offences, that could, if disclosed, identify an individual.
Where the request is seeking access to third party personal data the section 40(2) exemption may be engaged.
In order to apply the Section 40(2) exemption the disclosure of the requested information must satisfy either the first, second or third conditions as defined by subsections 3A, 3B and 4A of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (as amended by
Section 58 of the Data Protection Act 2018).
The first condition ensures that the exemption would apply in circumstances where the disclosure of the information would breach any of the Data Protection Act 2018 principles.
There are six Data Protection principles set out in the 2018 act and these can be found at section 34.
In this instance I have decided that the disclosure of the Personal Data would be incompatible with the first Data Protection principle which states that the processing (in this case the disclosure) of the data must be both lawful and fair.
Section 22(1)(a)(b)(c) - Information intended for future publication - Early disclosure of information sharing agreements may lead to additional public funds needing to be spent to disclose information already intended for future publication.
The strongest reason favouring disclosure is the public interest in understanding and having insight of how the MPS manages resources. The strongest reason favouring non-disclosure is the need to ensure disclosure does not lead to inaccurate information being disclosed or an unnecessary increase in public funds needing to be spent to comply with this request in full when the information is already intended for future publication.
The total cost of the policing operation at Notting Hill Carnival for each of the following year: 2022 at this time as the MPS already intend to publish the information.
Disclosure
How much money was spent on the policing of Notting Hill Carnival, before, during and after the festival was held? Exact period: 23 August 2022 – 30 August 2022.
Please include a breakdown on what the money was spent on, and by date, including a grand total.
What is the total number of Metropolitan Police Officers who were present over the course of the Notting Hill Carnival Saturday 27 August 2022 - Tuesday 30 August 2022?
Please provide a breakdown of the number of officers each day, if possible.
MPS Response
The total cost of the policing operation at Notting Hill Carnival 2022 and the total number of Metropolitan Police Officers who were present is intended for publication in December 2022. Please ‘Reason for decision, Section22 (1)(a)(b)(c)(Information intended for future publication)
How many crimes/alleged crimes were committed at Notting Hill Carnival Saturday 27 August 2022 - Tuesday 30 August 2022?
Please provide a total number and a breakdown of the nature of the crimes e.g. murder, assault, robbery.
The harm of disclosure is reduced by redacting the low numbers of offences. This removes the possibility of a person being identified within the data, including self-identifying. See ‘Reason for decision’ Section 40(2) Personal Information
| Offences | 2022 |
| Assault Police | 29 |
| Robbery Redacted Section | 40 |
| Criminal Damage | 5 |
| Drink/Drug Drive | 6 |
| Theft Person Redacted Section | 40 |
| Public Order | 26 |
| Off Weapon / Points & Blades | 33 |
| Theft Going Equipped | 0 |
| Drugs | 36 |
| Sexual Offences | 10 |
| GBH | 8 |
| ABH / Common Assault | 12 |
| Psychoactive drugs | 10 |
| Other | 31 |
| Total Arrests | 209 |