EIR/202600518282 · FOI/EIR · not held
Transport Scotland - List of unusual objects removed from trunk roads: EIR release
Information requested
Please provide a list of unusual or non‑standard objects removed from trunk roads or hard shoulders in the last five years.
Please include:
date location description of object whether police or other agencies were involved.
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.
Unit Date Location Object Police Notified M6 DBFO 08/08/2021 MP 70/7 Cooker on Carriageway No
Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), Transport Scotland is not required to provide information which it does not have. Transport Scotland does not have the information you have requested because generally objects and debris are removed from the trunk road network through litter picking activities, cyclic cleansing/sweeping, as well as ‘incidents’ recorded by control room where calls/emails have been received. Responders can recover a wide range of items that have been deposited on the trunk road network, including items that have fallen from vehicles, instances of fly-tipping, and materials that have blown onto the network from adjacent premises and land.
Our Operating Companies and DBFO’s – with the exception on the object reported above - do not collate data on the type of items recovered, though they have advised they have not uplifted anything that they would deem out of the ordinary. They have not been required to notify Police Scotland of any items discovered on the network, nor enlist any specialist contractors to assist with the disposal of any recovered materials.
This exception 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 exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about unusual or non‑standard objects removed from trunk roads or hard shoulders in the last five years, we cannot provide information which we do not hold.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Correspondence Unit Email: contactus@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrew's House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
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. Unit Date Location Object Police Notified M6 DBFO 08/08/2021 MP 70/7 Cooker on Carriageway No Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), Transport Scotland is not required to provide information which it does not have.
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