FOI 540-24 Taser Guns
Enquiry Reference: 540 - 24
I write in connection with regards to your Freedom of Information request. Below is your request and our response.
I would like to request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act:
1a) For the financial year 2023 – 2024, please provide the total number of taser guns purchased by the force, and separately, the total number of taser cartridges purchased.
- I can confirm that there were no taser guns purchased in the timeframe specified.
1b) How much money in GBP did the force spend on purchasing tasers, Conducted Energy Devices or equivalent, and taser cartridges in the financial year 2023 – 2024? Please separate this data in to the total spent on taser guns, and the total spent on cartridges, if possible please.
- There were 2650 cartridges purchased.
2a) For the financial year 2022 – 2023, please provide the total number of taser guns purchased by the force, and separately, the total number of taser cartridges purchased.
- I can confirm that there were no taser guns purchased in the timeframe specified.
2b) How much money in GBP did the force spend on purchasing tasers, Conducted Energy Devices or equivalent, and taser cartridges in the financial year 2022 – 2023? Please separate this data in to the total spent on taser guns, and the total spent on cartridges, if possible please.
- There were 1900 cartridges purchased.
3a) For the financial year 2021 – 2022, please provide the total number of taser guns purchased by the force, and separately, the total number of taser cartridges purchased.
- I can confirm that there were no taser guns purchased in the timeframe specified.
3b) How much money in GBP did the force spend on purchasing tasers, Conducted Energy Devices or equivalent, and taser cartridges in the financial year 2021 – 2022? Please separate this data in to the total spent on taser guns, and the total spent on cartridges, if possible please.
- There were 1750 cartridges purchased.
For clarity, I would like to know how many tasers you bought in the relevant FY, how many cartridges you bought, and the total cost of these for each FY specified.
In relation to Question 1b– 3b We can confirm that some relevant information is held by Cleveland Police. However, we are withholding that information since it is exempt by virtue of the following exemptions.
Section 43 – Commercial Interests
These exemptions and explanatory notes are shown here:
In line with the above, I am required to complete a Prejudice Test/Public Interest Test (PIT) on disclosure. Please find this PIT below.
Data in relation to the number of cartridges is above.
Public Interest Test
Harm
Disclosure of the pricing schedule is commercially sensitive, as divulging the pricing model of the supplier is likely to cause financial loss to that organisation. Revealing this information may give competitors an advantage in future tendering processes which would be unfair to the provider of the product. This would undermine the integrity and effectiveness of the tendering process as it may dissuade organisations from submitting tenders or encourage those who do to compete on price rather than quality.
Factors Favouring Disclosure
There is a clear public interest in ensuring that public authorities are retrieving a fair price from the supplier of these services. Police finances are coming under increased scrutiny as budgets are reduced. It is important that Cleveland are held accountable for any financial decisions that are made.
Disclosing information about budgets and contracts would provide a greater transparency in the financial affairs of Cleveland Police. It is clear that there is a public interest in public authorities operating in as transparent a manner as possible, as this should ensure they operate effectively and efficiently.
Factors Favouring Non-Disclosure
Disclosure would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of the company involved and affect future procurement for the Force as the information is of a commercially sensitive nature. Disclosure is also likely to damage the relationship between Cleveland Police and the supplier involved. This may in the future reduce the number of companies tendering therefore reducing the opportunities to purchase the best services from suppliers.
Releasing the pricing schedule would be a competitive advantage for other companies. We do not want to encourage companies to compete solely on price to the detriment of the quality of the products offered.
Disclosure of the pricing schedule may cause a breach of the confidence surrounding the current contracts. Although not sufficient at present for the confidential information exemptions to be engaged, there is still risk that disclosure could leave an authority at risk of civil proceedings.
Balancing Test
For a public interest test, issues that favour release need to be measured against issues that favour non-disclosure. The public interest is not what interests the public, or a particular individual, but what will be the greater good, if released, to the community as a whole.
The issues supporting disclosure have been considered however, on balance, it is considered that the public interest lies in not disclosing the information. This is due to the harm it would cause in any future tendering processes.
Cleveland Police want to maintain the quality of the service provided, rather than encourage a situation where companies are competing solely on price. The high quality of service provided is obviously in the interest of the wider public.
Please note that all statistical data supplied in relation to Freedom of Information requests is a snapshot of data held at the time the request was received by the Freedom of Information office and is subject to constant change/updates.
The Cleveland Police response to your request is unique and it should be noted that Police Forces do not use generic systems or identical procedures to capture and record data therefore responses from Cleveland Police should not be used as a comparison with any other force response you receive.
If you are not satisfied with this response or any actions taken in dealing with your request, you have the right to request an independent internal review of your case under our review procedure. The Freedom of Information Code of Practice (see below link) states that a request for internal review should be made within 20 working days of the date on this response or 40 working days if extenuating circumstances to account for the delay can be evidenced. Public authorities are not obliged to accept internal reviews after this date.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/freedom-of-information-code-of-practice
Yours sincerely
Information Rights Decision Maker