FOI/202000083141 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Questions concerning works carried out on the A702: EIR release
Information requested
1. Confirmation of what works were being carried out on the A702 near to its junction with the A72 Skirling Road on 18 August 2019;
2. The length of the works and dates;
3. The name of the company carrying out the works;
4. The name of the traffic management company on site, if any;
5. Whether or not local access was maintained throughout the works; and
6. How access was controlled.
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.
To aid with our response I have retained the numbering from your request above:
1. The works were a resurfacing scheme from around the Police Station in Biggar north to Hillview, north of the A72 junction. On the 18 August works were being undertaken throughout the length of the closure. Please see Annex A attached for further scheme details.
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.
2. The overnight works started on 15 August until 28 August, with no works undertaken over the weekend nights of 23-25 August.
3. Amey Highways was main contractor with works undertaken by subcontractors.
4. Amey Highways was main contractor on site with support at weekends from APEX Traffic Management.
5. Local access was maintained throughout the works.
6. Local access was maintained from either the north side of the closure or south side of the closures depending on the works and open excavations at the time. At times a vehicle may have needed to wait until access was safe to be escorted through the works.
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Detected exemption language
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. 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.