A82 Pulpit Rock and Tarbert-to-Invernarnan Schemes: EIR release

Information requested

1. In relation to the A82 Tarbet to Inverarnan scheme: 'a copy of the minuted agreement not to carry out a STAG Appraisal as intended.'
2. In relation to the A82 Pulpit Rock Improvement scheme: 'On a similar theme the Pulpit Rock Appraisal reads “Due to the extensive preliminary assessment work carried out as part of the A82 Route Action Plan (RAP) it was concluded that the RAP satisfied the requirements of the STAG process and DMRB Stage 1 Assessment” (j13013b-02 | Transport Scotland). Again I am making an FOI request for a copy of the minute that confirms that (false) statement.'
3. '[W]hich of these early reports surveyed local people to identify their objectives, one of which appears to be no or minimal closures on the existing road. It is clear they do not and that they are not based around STAG principles.'

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.

Response

1

Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have. The Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested because there is no correspondence by way of minuted agreement between Transport Scotland and the appointed design consultants, CH2MHILL Fairhurst (now Jacobs-Fairhurst Joint Venture) not to carry out a STAG appraisal based assessment.

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 such information, we clearly cannot provide information which we do not hold.

As previously stated in our letter of 19 May 2022 under reference 202200298050, the options appraisal process for the A82 Tarbet to Inverarnan scheme was undertaken in a manner underpinned by the principles of STAG and the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB). The work undertaken to support the first Strategic Projects Review (STPR 2008) to identify potential interventions for the A82 improvement scheme was consistent with STAG appraisal requirements.

Furthermore, a verification and validation process complying with STAG was undertaken as part of the early stages of development of the A82 Tarbet to Inverarnan scheme in order to confirm that the previously identified problems, issues and constraints were still valid. This process was subsequently supplemented with the DMRB Stage 1 Assessment in order to support the Strategic Business Case for the scheme. Appendix B of the Strategic Business Case (a link to which was provided to you in our response dated 23 February 2022 to FoI request referenced 202200276096) incorporates the STAG Part 1 Appraisal Summary Tables, which include an assessment of the options against the STAG criteria, namely Environment, Economy, Accessibility and Social Inclusion.

Annex A to this letter including extracts from the Inception Report confirms that this approach was accepted.

To further re-iterate the contents of our letter of 19 May 2022 under reference 202200298050: 'All appraisals using STAG must encompass the principles of being objective-led rather than solution-led, present the appraisal of options against the Transport Planning Objectives, STAG Criteria and established policy directives……STAG should, however, be applied proportionately to the impacts of the issue under consideration. Help and advice is available from Transport Scotland on this frequently misunderstood point to ensure that the appraisal presents the information required by the decision maker in a timely manner that also represents value for money.'

2

With regard to the second point of your request, under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have. The Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested because there is no minute that confirms that the extensive preliminary assessment work carried out as part of the A82 Route Action Plan (RAP) did not satisfy the requirements of the STAG process and DMRB Stage 1 Assessment.

Again, 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 such information, we clearly cannot provide information which we do not hold.

We can, however, confirm that the Scheme Requirements and Work Packages Brief from the initial Design Study Commission for the A82 Pulpit Rock Improvement from 2006 states that the work undertaken by the A82 RAP broadly satisfied the requirement of the STAG process and DMRB Stage 1 assessment. It also includes the instruction that the consultants commissioned were to review the A82 Route Action Plan Study and any previous work undertaken on the scheme. This included carrying out any additional work required to update this to satisfy the requirements of STAG along with reviewing and updating the work undertaken to date in relation to the preliminary engineering, environmental, traffic and economic assessments and the initial baseline scoping and environmental screening. Annex B to this letter encloses the relevant extracts from the A82 Pulpit Rock Design Study Commission Brief.

3

Finally, with regard to your last point as to which reports surveyed the objectives of local people, I can confirm that as well as receiving feedback from the public exhibitions held from 30 September to 6 October 2015 (details in table below) to promote the preferred route option announcement, along with the extensive feedback received from the recent Interactive Story Map published on Transport Scotland’s website, the following workshops with key stakeholders (including the local and community councils; the A82 Partnership; Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority; Highlands and Islands Enterprise; Historic Environment Scotland; SNH; HISTRANS and Friends of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs) were held on the following dates:-

A82 Inception Workshop – 28 June 2013

A82 Stakeholder Workshop 1 – 2 October 2013

A82 Stakeholder Workshop 2 – 29 May 2014

A82 Stakeholder Workshop 3 – 20 November 2014

A82 Stakeholder Workshop 4 – 28 March 2018

Summary of public exhibition dates, times and venues:

Date	Time	Venue
Wednesday 30th September 2015	12 noon – 7pm	Three Villages Hall, Arrochar, Argyll & Bute, G83 7AB
Friday 2nd October 2015	2pm – 7pm	Kilmore & Oban Parish Church Centre, Glencruitten Road, Oban, Argyll, PA34 4DN
Thursday 1st October 2015	12 noon – 7pm	Crianlarich Village Hall, Main Street, Crianlarich, Perthshire, FK20 8QN
Tuesday 6th October 2015	12 noon – 7pm	Duncansburgh MacIntosh Church Hall, The Parade, Fort William, Inverness-shire, PH33 6BA

I also wish to draw your attention to the Summary Tables at Appendix B to the Strategic Business Case of March 2014 (as referenced above) which set out the various route options against performance indicators and STAG criteria, one of which being public acceptability.

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.

FOI - 202200332036 - information released - Annex A

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PDF

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185.4 kB

FOI - 202200332036 - information released - Annex B

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232.3 kB