I write to request information regarding data that you hold on children in custody. You have signed the Home Office 2017 Concordat on Children in Custody which states the following:
Section 7;
‘Police forces should share data with Local Authorities and other relevant partners to inform effective working relationships and with Local Safeguarding Children Boards to enable them to hold relevant local agencies to account for complying with their statutory duties.’
I would therefore be grateful if you could please provide us with the following information for the year 2019:
1. Do you have system for recording the number of children you are asked to accommodate by the police?
Yes
2. Have you created a local protocol in line with the concordat? If yes, could you provide a copy?
Yes, both relevant policies can be seen via the link below:
Devon protocol for reducing the use of police custody for children
3. How many times were you contacted by the police and asked to provide accommodation under section 38 PACE/section 21 Children Act 2004?
19
4. Can you provide a breakdown of those requests by age and ethnicity of the child if you have them?
Disclosure of a detailed breakdown would potentially identify the children involved and their personal information and would therefore be a breach of the first data protection principle. This information is therefore exempt pursuant to s.40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
5. How many of those requests were for secure accommodation and how many for non-secure accommodation?
Secure accommodation: 4
Non – secure accommodation: 15
6. How many times did you accommodate a child under 21 Children Act 2004 when they were transferred from police accommodation?
7