Vinney Green Secure Children’s home

Date of request: 28 February 2025
Reference: 303-25

Request

Please could you provide information about the number of times police officers have been called to Vinney Green Secure Children’s Home in each of the years 2021 – 2024?
Please could you give brief details of each call-out?
On how many occasions in each of the years 2021 – 2024 have officers called to Vinney Green had to deploy personal protective equipment, including riot shields and helmets?
On how many occasions in each of the years 2021 – 2024 have officers called to Vinney Green had to deploy PARVA spray.
How many times in 2025 have police called to Vinney Green deployed PARVA spray?

Response

Question 1

We have searched our call logs and have located 46 calls within your requested time frame.

Question 2

Please find below the final incident group for each call out.

Final Incident Group	Sum of count
ASB	11
CRIME	15
GENERAL	10
PUBLIC SAFETY/WELFARE	10
Total	46

Question 3

There have been no occasions where shields and helmets have been deployed between 2021-2024.

In relation to Personal protective equipment, we are not able to confirm whether Avon and Somerset Police holds the information you have requested. On this occasion the cost of determining whether we hold the information would exceed the limit set by the Freedom of Information Act.

If a public authority estimates that it would exceed the appropriate limit to confirm whether or not the requested information is held then, under section 12(2) of the Act, it does not have to deal with the substance of the request.

At this time the limit is set at £450 or 18 staff hours work. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 2.5 working days in determining whether the department holds the information, locating, retrieving and extracting it.

Personal protective equipment can cover a number of different items that an officer wears as part of their uniform. We would need to manually review every incident where police have been called to Vinney Green, as well as reviewing pocket notebooks or statements of all officers to see if they have recorded if any personal protective equipment has been deployed. For the four year timeframe specified, we have identified 34 potentially relevant occurrences. From a dip sample of these records, each occurrence involved 3 – 5 officers. We estimate that to identify and review every occurrence log, statement and pocket notebook entry of the officers involved would take more than 18 hours to complete.

This letter represents a partial Refusal Notice under the Act.

Question 4

No information held in relation to this question. There have been no occasions where PAVA has been deployed between 2021 until 2024.

Question 5

In 2025 police have been called out to this location on one occasion in which PAVA spray has been used.