Maintenance of footway on Main Street, Largs: EIR release
Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.
Information requested
“Our client had an accident on the footway adjacent to the premises of Robert F Duff & Co Ltd Solicitors, 30 Main Street, Largs KA30 8AB and we would be grateful if you would provide us with the following information relating to this pavement on Main Street, Largs:-
1. Inspection records, including the inspection route and manner in which inspections are carried and the frequency of inspections for the footway in the period 1/1/2018 - 31/12/2018;
2. Details of any complaints made or defects reported in any form in relation to the footway for the period 1/1/2018 – 31/12/2018;
3. Details of any works carried out or instructed to be carried out on the footway for the period 1/1/2018 – 31/12/2018;
4. Details of any maintenance and repairs, including any work instructed and finally completed on the footway, for the period 1/1/2018 – 31/12/2018;
5. Details of how hazards are deemed actionable for defects or damage to the footway for the period 1/1/2018 – 31/12/2018;
6. Details of the policy for the verification and assessment of complaints or reports of defects on the footway for the period 1/1/2018 – 31/12/2018;
7. Details of any policy or guidance showing how defects, fixtures or damages to the footway are requested for the period 1/1/2018 – 31/12/2018;
8. Details of any correspondence to independent contractors relating to work carried out by them, included the location of such works, on the footway for the period 1/1/2018 – 31/12/2018;
9. Details of any correspondence to third parties requesting repair to defects, fixtures or damages to the footway for the period 1/1/2018 – 31/12/2018.”
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.
1. Please refer to Annex A of this request which is the Inspection Defect Report. Information in relation to the manner and frequency of inspections this information is available at https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/44436/frequently-asked-questions-about-the-scottish-trunk-road-network-january-2019.pdf
2. Annex B details complaints or reports of defects in relation to the footway for the period 1/1/2018 – 31/12/2018.
3. Annex C details any works carried out on the footway for the period 1/1/2018 – 31/12/2018;
4. Please refer to Annex B and Annex C.
5, 6 and 7. Information in respect of these aspects is available online from the following links
https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/35900/sw-combi.pdf and https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-19-00624/
8 and 9. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we do 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 reason why is that we do not hold any correspondence to independent contractors or correspondence to third parties relating to work carried out by them, included the location of such works, on the footway for the period 1/1/2018 – 31/12/2018.
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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