Transport Scotland cameras: EIR release

FOI reference: FOI/17/02641
Date received: 30 October 2017
Date responded: 27 November 2017

Information requested

1. Would it be possible to get a full list of your cameras and not just the "live" ones?

2. Also was wondering what legislation regulates the operation of the cameras?

3. I am aware of the Statutory Instrument "The Road Traffic Offenders (Prescribed Devices) Order 1992. This allows for unattended traffic cameras to be used for prosecution of speeding offences. Or are they considered as CCTV and required to have appropriate signage?

4. Do the cameras have ANPR capabilities?

5. As a working partner do the Police have a permanent presence in the control room?

6. How long do Traffic Scotland retain the images?

7. Do the police retain images passed onto them?

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.

I have numbered our response for ease of reference.

1. Please refer to Annex A which is a list of all cameras.

2. The Traffic Scotland cameras are considered CCTV and operated under CCTV regulation.

3. They are considered CCTV. Further information on their use can be obtained from the Traffic Scotland web site frequently asked question (FAQ) section.

https://trafficscotland.org/faq/

4. Traffic Scotland CCTV cameras do not have ANPR capabilities.

5. Police Scotland have the facilities to work within the Traffic Scotland Control Room. The attendance of the Police within the control room can vary depending on the demands on Police Scotland resources however, they aim to be present during a normal working week and they are also present during major events such as The Open Golf or during severe weather.

6. Traffic Scotland do not retain CCTV images, unless specifically asked to by the Police or by Transport Scotland.

7. 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 your request under the exception at regulation 10(4) (a) of the EIRs. The reason why that exception applies is that this is a Police Scotland issue.The Traffic Scotland service utilises its network of CCTV cameras for the sole purpose of monitoring the Scottish Trunk Road Network to ensure the safety and reliability of the Trunk Road Network and its users.You may wish to contact Police Scotland at foi@scotland.pnn.police.uk who may be able to help you.

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-17-02641 - Annex A - Transport Scotland - full list of cameras.pdf

File type

9 page PDF

File size

88.3 kB