A96 trunk road between Haughs road in Keith and B9016: EIR release
Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004
Information requested
"1) A copy of your current road maintenance policy relating to that road. Please send me the full policy, but this should include details of the intended frequency of road safety inspections, how these inspections should be conducted and the maximum time between identification of a defect and repairs being carried out.
2) A copy of the road repair history for that road over the past year. Again, please send me the full road repair history, but this should include:
a) dates of all safety inspections between 1st January 2020 and 2nd March 2020.
b) details of how safety inspections were undertaken (walked or driven, speed of inspection vehicle etc)
c) details of all carriageway defects identified, with description, date and time
d) details of how the authority handled these defects, what repairs were undertaken and the time between the identification of each defect and a repair being carried out
e) Specifically, a full and detailed description of repairs carried out between 1st January 2020 and 1st June 2020 on the section of road specified - A96 trunk road between Haughs Road in Keith and the 89016 junction (and the turn off towards Buckie)."
Response
As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.
This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.
This response is in relation to the A96 trunk road between Haughs Road in Keith and the B9016 junction and does not apply to the turn off towards Buckie. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Transport Scotland does not have some of the information you have requested. Therefore we are refusing this part of your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. This is because Transport Scotland is not responsible for the maintenance of the B9016. However, you may wish to contact Moray Council at info@moray.gov.uk who may be able to help you.
This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in the B9016, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.
To aid with our response I have retained the numbering from your request above.
1. Information in relation to the maintenance of the trunk road network is provided in our FAQs which can be found at https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/44436/frequently-asked-questions-about-thescottish-trunk-road-network-january-2019.pdf . Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.
2 a), c) and d) - Please see annex A to this response for details of safety inspections, including defects identified, between 01/01/20 and 02/03/20.
b) - Details of how safety inspections are carried out are provided in our FAQs which can be found at
https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/44436/frequently-asked-questions-about-the-scottish-trunk-roadnetwork-january-2019.pdf . Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.
e) Please see Annex B to this response for details of repairs carried out between 01/01/20 and 02/03/20 on the section of road specified. An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the ‘public interest test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrews House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
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