FI15752
Request
1. How many kilos/tonnes of illegal meat (meat being sold which is unfit for human consumption and/or does not comply with UK food legislation) has been seized by the council in the past five years?
How many kilos/tonnes from:
January 1st 2020 - December 31st 2020
January 1st 2021- December 31st 2021
January 1st 2022 - December 31st 2022
January 1st 2023 - December 31st 2023
January 1st 2024 - December 31st 2024
January 1st 2025 - March 2025 (latest available data)
2. How many kilos/tonnes of illegal meat (meat being sold which is unfit for human consumption and/or does not comply with UK food legislation) was seized by the council in each month of 2024?
How many kilos/tonnes in:
January 2024
February 2024
March 2024
April 2024
June 2024
July 2024
August 2024
September 2024
October 2024
November 2024
December 2024
3. How many kilos/tonnes of illegal meat (meat being sold which is unfit for human consumption and/or does not comply with UK food legislation) has been seized by the council so far in 2025?
How many kilos/tonnes in:
January 2025
February 2025
March 2025 (latest available data)
Response
1. January 1st 2020 - December 31st 2020 – 0kg
January 1st 2021 - December 31st 2021 – 0kg
January 1st 2022 - December 31st 2022 – 3,899.23kg
January 1st 2023 - December 31st 2023 – 56,227.74kg
January 1st 2024 - December 31st 2024 – 98,988.90kg
January 1st 2025 - March 2025 (latest available data) – 57,861.27kg
2. The Council considers that providing the data in this level of detail is exempt from disclosure under Section 31(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for the reasons set out below.
3. The Council considers that providing the data in this level of detail is exempt from disclosure under Section 31(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for the reasons set out below.
In respect of your request for the data broken down by month for 2024 and 2025, the Council considers that the disclosure of the data in that format could make the UK a target of crime. The month by month level of information is considered exempt from disclosure under Section 31(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Section 31(1)(a) says that we do not need to provide information that would be likely to prejudice the functions of law enforcement (the prevention and detection of crime). The Council believes that releasing this information would increase the likelihood of:
- impacting the delivery of the service from an enforcement perspective as it would show which months are busier/quieter than others
- provide an insight into when vehicles are more (or less) likely to be checked
- criminals using the information to avoid detection and inspection when entering the country
- aid the import of illegal meat through Dover
Public Interest Test
As Section 31 is a qualified exemption we need to consider the public interest test.
Factors in favour of disclosure:
- It would help transparency and accountability of the port health authority.
- It would reassure people about whether our processes are vulnerable or not.
- It would provide information about how effective our inspections and investigations are.
Factors in favour of withholding:
- There is an inherent public interest in crime prevention.
- There is public interest in avoiding the costs (financial, distress, inconvenience, publicity, regulatory) associated with the importing of illegal meat products.
- There is public interests in preventing any threat to the UK.
- There is public interest in ensuring the port health authority can comply with its duties to take all necessary steps to safeguard the safety of the UK.
We believe that the balance of public interest lies in upholding the exemption and not releasing the information to the level of detail requested at questions 2 and 3.