FOI/202600510468 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Transport Scotland number of overnight closures on the A68: EIR release
Information requested
"The total number of overnight closures on the A68 for repairs by Bear from March 2023 to March 2026, broken down by year" and "the total number of complaints made by members of the public about overnight closures on the A68 covering the same period"
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.
Response to your request
Q1. You requested the total number of overnight closures on the A68 for repairs by Bear from March 2023 to March 2026, broken down by year
A2. Please see details of the total number of overnight closures on the A68 for repairs by Bear from March 2023 to March 2026, broken down by year listed below:
2023 - 12 2024 - 10 2025 - 23 2026 - 6
Please also see Annex A to this response for further details of these closures.
Q2. You requested the total number of complaints made by members of the public about overnight closures on the A68 covering the same period.
A2. Transport Scotland's Operating Company, BEAR Scotland, advise they received a total of 3 complaints.
About FOI
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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.