Information on Knife Crime Prevention Orders (KCPOs)

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.033171

I note you seek access to the following information:

The piloting of KCPOs was extended until March 2023, meaning that the pilot scheme came to an end more than six months ago.

1. Could you please provide an update on how and when a decision on a wider rollout of these orders will be made, and
2. If / when a report on the pilot scheme will be published?
3. If a report on the scheme already exists, please provide this report in full.
4. As a follow-up to the data you shared in response to my previous request about KCPOs, please provide the statistics / data on the demographic breakdown of those who were issued with KCPOs, by gender, age, race, and borough for the entire duration of the pilot scheme.

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)(a)(b)&(3)(a)(i) – Personal Information

Please also note that, with reference to Q1, 2 & 3, this information is not held by the MPS.

Reason for decision

The Section 40(2) Exemption has been utilised with reference to ‘borough data’, where numbers 5 and below have been replaced with ‘xx’. The MPS believes that this could lead to the identification of individuals. Low numbers constitute personal data which, if released, would be in breach of the rights provided by the DPA (Data protection Act) 2018 and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).

It is important to note that a Freedom of Information Act request is not a private transaction. Both the request itself and any information disclosed are considered suitable for open publication, 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. Any information released under the Act is also published on the MPS website.

Section 40(2)(a)(b) and (3)(a)(i) - Personal Information - This is an absolute exemption which means that the legislators have identified that harm would be caused by any release. In addition there is no requirement to consider the public interest test.

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 3(a), 3(b) and 4(c) 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 low numbers must be withheld as release of this data constitutes Personal Data which 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.

Disclosure

With reference to Q.4, please find below requested data.

Please note, however, that, as indicated above, low numbers have been removed and are represented by ‘xx’ in relation to borough data.

Demographic Data of those issued with KCPOs for the duration of the pilot scheme as requested -

Demographics
Youth	IC1	IC2	IC3	IC4	IC6	Not Recorded	Grand Total
Female	1	0	1	0	0	0	2
Male	8	2	41	4	1	1	57
Adult	IC1	IC2	IC3	IC4	IC6	Not Recorded
Male	21	5	64	6	5	0	101
Grand Total	30	7	106	10	6	1	160

 

Borough Based
Residency	Total
Barking & Dagenham	7
Barnet	7
Bexley	xx
Brent	8
Bromley	xx
Camden	xx
Croydon	18
Ealing	7
Enfield	7
Greenwich	xx
Hackney	xx
Hammersmith & Fulham	6
Haringey	xx
Harrow	xx
Hillingdon	xx
Hounslow	7
Islington	xx
Kensington & Chelsea	xx
Lambeth	8
Lewisham	xx
Merton	6
Newham	7
Outside London	xx
Redbridge	xx
Richmond	xx
Southwark	6
Sutton	xx
Unknown	7
Waltham forest	6
Wandsworth	xx
Westminster	xx
Grand Total	160

DUTY TO ADVISE & ASSIST
Under Section 16 of the Act, there is a duty to advise and assist applicants in making requests for information and I have provided some information below.

With reference to Q1, 2 & 3, you may wish to contact the Home Office to request this information. I have provided a link below to their website for your reference:
How to make a freedom of information (FOI) request