OFFICIAL Our Ref: Date: IM-FOI-2018-1421 06 July 2018 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002 I refer to your recent request for information which has been handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. For ease of reference, your request is replicated below together with the response. 1. How many people detained under UK immigration legislation powers have been kept in Police Scotland cells in 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18 (as permitted by 55.13.2 Home office enforcement instructions and guidance)? Having considered your request in relation to 2015/16 and 2016/17, I am afraid that I am unable to provide a response as it would prove too costly to do so within the context of the fee regulations. As you may be aware the current cost threshold is £600 and I estimate that it would cost well in excess of this amount to process your request. As such, and in terms of Section 16(4) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 where Section 12(1) of the Act (Excessive Cost of Compliance) has been applied, this represents a refusal notice for the information sought. The only way to provide you with this information in an accurate and consistent manner for this period would be to individually examine every custody record to establish if it were immigration related. To explain, this equates to over 140,000 records and would clearly exceed the cost limitations of the Act. To clarify further, the introduction of a new National Custody System (NCS) in 2017 allows us to extract figures after this time. For the period between 1st April 2017 and 31st March 2018 this equates to 537 immigration related custodies. 2. What police stations were people held at? Please provide breakdowns on the numbers held in 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18 for the stations used. I refer you to the cost exemption articulated above for the periods 2015/16 and 2016/17. OFFICIAL scotland.police.uk @PoliceScotland PoliceScotland OFFICIAL The following table provides a breakdown by station for the period between 1st April 2017 and 31st March 2018: Station Custodies Station Custodies Station Custodies Ayr 4 Fort William 4 London Road 50 Baird Street 9 Fraserburgh 5 Motherwell 22 Cathcart 48 Govan 76 Perth 6 Clydebank 13 Greenock 2 Saltcoats 1 Coatbridge 17 Inverness 21 Stewart Street 53 Dalkeith 8 Kilmarnock 6 St Leonards 36 Dumfries 10 Kirkcaldy 14 Stornoway 3 Dundee 1 Kittybrewster 50 Stranraer 35 Dunfermline 6 Lanark 4 Wick 2 Elgin 9 Levenmouth 4 Falkirk 10 Livingston 8 Total 537 3. How long were people held in Police Scotland cells under these immigration powers? Please provide figures of those held for one day, two days, three days, or more for 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18 I refer you again to the cost exemption above for the periods 2015/16 and 2016/17. The figures for between 1st April 2017 and 31st March 2018 are as follows; Up to 24 hours - 384 25 to 48 hours - 126 Over 48 hours - 27 Should you require any further assistance please contact Information Management – Highland & Islands Divisional Headquarters on 01463 720508 quoting the reference number given. If you are dissatisfied with the way in which Police Scotland has dealt with your request, you are entitled, in the first instance, to request a review of our actions and decisions. Your request must specify the matter which gives rise to your dissatisfaction and it must be submitted within 40 working days of receiving this response - either by email to foi@scotland.pnn.police.uk or by post to Information Management (Disclosure), Police Scotland, Clyde Gateway, 2 French Street, Dalmarnock, G40 4EH. If you remain dissatisfied following the outcome of that review, you are thereafter entitled to apply to the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner within six months for a decision. You can apply online, by email to enquiries@itspublicknowledge.info or by post to Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner, Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS. Should you wish to appeal against the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner's decision, there is an appeal to the Court of Session on a point of law only. OFFICIAL scotland.police.uk @PoliceScotland PoliceScotland OFFICIAL As part of our commitment to demonstrate openness and transparency in respect of the information we hold, an anonymised version of this response will be posted to the Police Scotland Freedom of Information Disclosure Log in seven days' time. OFFICIAL scotland.police.uk @PoliceScotland PoliceScotland