Provision of information held by Northumbria Police made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the 'Act')
As you may be aware the purpose of the Act is to allow a general right of access to information held at the time of a request, by a Public Authority (including the Police), subject to certain limitations and exemptions.
You asked:
For each of the last 5 calendar years - 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019.
- how many calls has your police force received where "mental health" was flagged and/or cited as a factor
- how many times in the last five calendar years has section 136 of the Mental Health Act been used to detain a member of the public?
- Please provide an estimate of money spent dealing with mental health-related calls and cases
In Response:
Following receipt of your request, searches were conducted with both the Finance and Corporate Development departments of Northumbria Police. I can confirm that the information you have requested is held, in part, by Northumbria Police.
I am able to disclose the located information to you as follows, however the following should be noted and considered when reviewing the information:
- In April 2019, the method the force used to define mental health related incidents was altered. Prior to this date, such incidents may have been under-reported. This should explain the notable increase in such incidents in 2019.
Bearing the above in mind, please see the following:
1.
Year |
Calls |
2015 |
7,615 |
2016 |
7,079 |
2017 |
6,927 |
2018 |
7,658 |
2019 |
18,514 |
2.
Year |
Detentions |
2015 |
264 |
2016 |
129 |
2017 |
161 |
2018 |
167 |
2019 |
163 |
3. No information held. This information is not recorded separately.