FOI 267/25 Domestic Abuse Related Death
Enquiry Reference: FOI 267 -25
I write in connection with regards to your Freedom of Information request. Please accept my apologies for the late response. Below is your request and our response.
Please provide the following information:
1) The number of deaths of women referred by the force to be considered for domestic homicide reviews/domestic abuse related death reviews between 2019-2024
- a) This data was not captured as a domestic homicide within Cleveland until the start of April 2024. Cleveland police are working with VKPP to determine which of our cases would fit the criteria for a domestic related suicide death from the information we have provided them. This information has not been resolved as yet as we are still collating the data.
2) How many of the referrals identified in response to question 1 resulted in the review process being undertaken and how many did not
- a) Would need this information from VKPP to review.
3) For each death identified in response to question 1, please provide the number of DASH assessments completed by the force in relation to the deceased prior to their death and the risk level identified in each assessment
- a) We would require this information from VKPP and would also rely on the below exemption.
4) For each death identified in response to question 1, please provide the number of occasions on which the deceased was discussed at the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference/High Risk Daily Meeting/Daily Risk Assessment Management Meeting or equivalent meetings prior to their death.
- a) We would require this information from VKPP and would also rely on the below exemption.
Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) places two duties on public authorities. Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at Section 1 (1) (a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held. The second duty at Sec 1(1) (b) is to disclose information that has been confirmed as being held. Where exemptions are relied upon s17 of FOIA requires that we provide the applicant with a notice which: a) states that fact b) specifies the exemption(s) in question and c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.
Having made enquiries within the Force we do not have an automated way of retrieving this information and therefore would need to undertake manual scrutiny of all niche events and OEL and count the Dash assessments it is estimated that this would take in excess of the appropriate time stipulated by the Secretary for Constitutional Affairs, Lord Falconer on the 18th Of October 2004, that is, eighteen hours. This falls under the exemption of 'Compliance exceeding the appropriate limit' covered by Section 12 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and as such this work could not be undertaken.
Therefore, please treat this as a refusal notice under S17 of the Freedom of information Act.
In accordance with Section 16 of the Act we have a duty to provide advice and assistance however on this occasion we cannot offer any suggestion on how you could refine this request.
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