Publication - FOI/EIR release

M8 inspection/repair records: EIR release

Published: 7 December 2023
Topic: Public sector
FOI reference: 202300350591
Date received: 6 April 2023
Date responded: 21 April 2023

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

Information requested

With reference to the M8 eastbound from junction 12 to 11:

The record of inspections for the area of the M8 which the incident occurred (between junction 12 and 11, East Bound) for the past 12 months.
Records of repairs for the area for the last 12 month.
Confirmation of how the area is inspected.
Any records of similar incidents occurring on the M8 in the last 12 months.
A record of maintenance and repair policy for the last 12 month.

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

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. Please see Annex A to this response, inspection records for the location and timescale requested.
Please see Annex B to this response, repairs records for the location and timescale requested.
Inspections are carried out in compliance with Transport Scotland’s, Trunk Road Information Manual Section 3. Please see Annex C for a copy of this manual.
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. Please see Annex D to this response, incident report for the location and timescale requested.
Our Operating Company, Amey complies with the inspection requirements for network condition and safety set out in Transport Scotland’s, Trunk Road Information Manual Section 3. Please see Annex C for a copy of this manual.

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