A726 in East Kilbride: EIR release

Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.


FOI reference: FOI/18/01489
Date received: 25 May 2018
Date responded: 26 June 2018

Information requested

1. Inspection records, including the inspection route and manner in which inspections are carried out for the carriageway on Queensway Road, East Kilbride from 1 January 2017 until 20 March 2018;

2. Details of any complaints or defects reported in any form in relation to Queensway Road, East Kilbride from 1 January 2017 until 20 March 2018;

3. Details of any works carried out or instructed to be carried out on Queensway Road, East Kilbride from 1 January 2017 until 20 March 2018;

4. Details of all maintenance and repairs, including any works instructed and finally completed on Queensway Road, East Kilbride from 1 January 2017 until 20 March 2018;

5. Details of how hazards are deemed actionable for defects or damage to Queensway Road, East Kilbride from 1 January 2017 until 20 March 2018;

6. Details of the policy for verification and assessment of complaints or reports of defects on Queensway Road, East Kilbride from 1 January 2017 until 20 March 2018;

7. Details of any policy or guidance showing how defects or damage to Queensway Road, East Kilbride are prioritised for repair for the period 1 January 2017 until 20 March 2018;

8. Details of all correspondence to independent contractors relating to work carried out by them, including the location of such works in Queensway Road, East Kilbride from 1 January 2017 until 20 March 2018;

9. Details of all correspondence by Transport Scotland to third parties requesting repair to defects or damage to Queensway Road, East Kilbride from 1 January 2017 until 20 March 2018;

10. Details of all correspondence to Transport Scotland from third parties requesting repair to defects or damage to Queensway Road, East Kilbride from 1 January 2017 until 20 March 2018.

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.

As you may be aware our Operating Companies Scotland Transerv and Connect manage this section of the A726. Scotland Transerv have responsibility from West Mains Road to the A725 and Connect from West Mains Road to Phillipshill Interchange.

I have numbered our response for ease of reference;

1. Please refer to Annex A which is the Inspection Defect Report for Scotland Transerv's area of responsibility. Annex B is the corresponding Inspection Records for Connect's area of responsibility.

Transport Scotland's approach to the maintenance of the trunk road network for the South West Unit, is set out in the 4th Generation Term Contract for management and maintenance of the Scottish Trunk Road Network and our Road Asset Management Plan. Both documents are available online at the following links;

https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/35900/sw-combi.pdf

  • Schedule 7: Part 1 of the contract provides an overview of inspections, surveys and defect categories and response times.

  • Schedule 7: Part 2: Section 2.7 of the contract provides details of inspections and their frequency during winter.

  • Schedule 7: Part 6: Section 3 of the contract details the inspections and their frequency for Structures.

https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/road-asset-management-plan-for-scottish-trunk-roads-january-2016

For inspections carried out by Connect the route is driven in various directions to ensure all sections, main line and slip roads, are inspected. Safety Inspections are carried out by an inspection team from a slow moving vehicle travelling as slowly as possible without disrupting traffic flow. A copy of the contract detailing the road maintenance policy can be found at the following link;

http://www.gov.scot/Resource/Doc/81827/0054532.pdf

2. Please refer to Annex C which details complaints recived by Scotland Transerv and Annex D which details those received by Connect.

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 Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 1998. 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.

3. Please refer to Annex E which details works carried out by Scotland Transerv and Annex F which details those carried out by Connect.

4. Please refer to Annex A and F.

5. In relation to how hazards are deemed actionable for defects or damage for Scotland Transerv, the documentation which defines a Category 1 and Category 2 defect can be viewed with the following web link:

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/road/maintenance/operating-companies:

However, please see below the definition as per the 4th Generation Term Contract for management and maintenance of the Scottish Trunk Road Network;

"Category 1 Defect" means a Defect that necessitates prompt attention because it presents:

(i) an immediate or imminent hazard, or

(ii) a risk of rapid structural deterioration to the affected element.

"Category 2 Defect" means any Defect which is not a Category 1 Defect."

In addition, the following extract is taken from Schedule 7 Part 1 of the 4th Generation Term Contract for Management and Maintenance of the Scottish Trunk Road Network:

2. DEFECT CATEGORIES AND RESPONSE TIMES

2.1. Classification of Category 1 and Category 2 Defects.

2.1.1. When classifying Category 1 and Category 2 Defects, the Operating Company shall give consideration to the potential impact on all road users including motorists, pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, equestrians and disabled users.

2.1.2. The Operating Company shall comply with the provisions of the Transport Scotland Trunk Road Inspection Manual regarding classification of Defects.

2.1.3. The Transport Scotland Trunk Road Inspection Manual is deemed not to contain an exhaustive compendium of Defects. In the absence of a description of a Defect in the Transport Scotland Trunk Road Inspection Manual, the Operating Company shall make the classification from first principles.

The following extract is taken from Schedule 7, Part 1 of the 4th Generation Term Contract for management and maintenance of the Scottish Trunk Road Network and details the timescales for repairing defects:

"2.2. Category 1 Defects Response Times

2.2.1. Unless stated otherwise in this Part, Category 1 Defects shall be dealt with by the Operating Company in priority order as stated in paragraph 2.2 of this Part.

2.2.2. The Operating Company's inspection team or initial Incident Response Resources shall make the Category 1 Defect safe when identified. This shall be through executing immediate repairs, removing the hazard or by taking any other measures necessary to protect the public and other users of the Unit.

2.2.3. Where a Category 1 Defect renders a Trunk Road unsafe for road users, the Operating Company shall, under Police instruction or on receipt of an appropriate Order, close the relevant part of the Trunk Road for as short a period as possible while remedial action is undertaken.

2.2.4. Where a Category 1 Defect cannot be repaired immediately or the hazard cannot be removed, the Operating Company shall take action to make the area safe until the required temporary or permanent repairs have been completed.

2.2.5. The temporary or permanent repairs shall be undertaken as soon as possible and no later than:

(i) 06:00 on the day following identification for Category 1 Defects on carriageways, and

(ii) within 24 hours of identification for all other Category 1 Defects.

2.2.6. Where a temporary repair has been carried out, the deferred permanent repair period for the following Defect types shall be:

(i) 28 days for carriageway surface, and

(ii) 56 days for Bridge parapets.

2.2.7. All other Category 1 Defects shall be repaired permanently within the specific period referred to in this Part, or no later than 28 days after identification where no specific period is stated.

A copy of the contract with Connect detailing the road maintenance policy can be found at the following link;

http://www.gov.scot/Resource/Doc/81827/0054532.pdf

6. Transport Scotland's Complaints Procedures are available online at the following link;

https://www.transport.gov.scot/contact/complaints-policy-and-process/

Scotland Transerv's policy for complaints can be found at;

http://www.scotlandtranserv.co.uk/scotland-transerv/talk-to-us/

Connect's verification and assessment of complaints or reports of defects is done in line with the Project Agreement. The Project Agreement can be found at;

http://www.gov.scot/resource/doc/81827/0054532.pdf

7. Please refer to our response to question 5.

8. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Transport Scotland does not have the information you have requested. Therefore, we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. The reasons why that exception applies is that through our searches of information held we do not hold any information in relation to correspondence to independent contractors relating to work carried out by them, including the location of such works in Queensway Road.

9 and 10. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Transport Scotland does not have the information you have requested. Therefore, we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. The reasons why that exception applies is that through our searches of information held we do not hold any information in relation to correspondence by and to Transport Scotland from third parties requesting repair to defects or damage to Queensway Road.

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-18-01489 - Annex A - Inspection Defect Summary Report.pdf
FOI-18-01489 - Annex B - DBFO.pdf
FOI-18-01489 - Annex C - Complaints.pdf
FOI-18-01489 - Annex D - Complaints DBFO.pdf
FOI-18-01489 - Annex E - STS_Part1.pdf
FOI-18-01489 - Annex E - STS_Part2.pdf
FOI-18-01489 - Annex F - Road Works DBFO.pdf

Contact

Please quote the FOI reference

Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000

The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG

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