Julie Shrive

[by e-mail: [email address]]

Philip West

Department for Transport

Information Rights &

Data Handling Division

Floor 9/03

Southside

105 Victoria Street

London

SW1E 6DT

Web Site: www.dft.gov.uk

Our Ref: P0005355

11^th June 2009

Freedom of Information Request P0005355

Dear Ms Shrive,

I am writing in response to your request for an internal review of your Freedom of Information request, which you originally made to this Department on 28^th May 2009 and asked:

“Is it legal for a skip lorry to block the road so one can't turn round? My disabled Kangoo van/car carrying disabled scooter has had its rear windscreen wiper knocked off by a lampost painted black [camouflaged] because road so narrow. Why do police not want to know say civil and firm Brewers couldn't care less I shouldn't have to suffer their illegal? practice nor be out of pocket as a result.”

I have conducted, in accordance with this Department's procedures, an independent internal review of the way we have handled your request.

I have considered your request and the responses sent by the Department on 28^th May 2009 and 1^st June 2009, in which we sought clarification from you on the information you were after. I have also considered the advice and assistance we have provided to you in accordance with our duty to do so under section 16 of the Act.

We are keen to be as helpful as possible and have written to you twice seeking further clarification of your request. In our second letter we explained the reasons why we needed clarification. We also advised you that we are unlikely to hold information on the local issue that you described in your request. In carrying out this review I have also confirmed with our Traffic Management Team that section 137 of the Highways Act 1980 concerns the obstruction of Highways and Streets. I enclose a link to the Act on the Office of Public Sector Information website in case you find it useful.

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1980/cukpga_19800066_en_25#pt12-pb3

I have concluded that we were right to seek further clarification from you under section 1(3) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (see extract of the Act at Annex A to this letter) because your request did not adequately describe the information you were seeking from us, and that we have given you appropriate advice and assistance. Despite us giving you two opportunities to clarify your request you have failed to do so, and I must therefore advise you that we are unable to deal with it any further under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

To help you make future requests to public authorities under FOI, I have enclosed a guidance note that has been issued by the Information Commissioner's Office. I hope you will find this useful.

If you are not content with this outcome you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely,

Philip West

Annex A

1 General right of access to information held by public authorities

(1) Any person making a request for information to a public authority is entitled—

(a) to be informed in writing by the public authority whether it holds information of the description specified in the request, and

(b) if that is the case, to have that information communicated to him.

(2) Subsection (1) has effect subject to the following provisions of this section and to the provisions of sections 2, 9, 12 and 14.

(3) Where a public authority—

(a) reasonably requires further information in order to identify and locate the information requested, and

(b) has informed the applicant of that requirement,

the authority is not obliged to comply with subsection (1) unless it is supplied with that further information.

(4) The information—

(a) in respect of which the applicant is to be informed under subsection (1)(a), or

(b) which is to be communicated under subsection (1)(b),

is the information in question held at the time when the request is received, except that account may be taken of any amendment or deletion made between that time and the time when the information is to be communicated under subsection (1)(b), being an amendment or deletion that would have been made regardless of the receipt of the request.

(5) A public authority is to be taken to have complied with subsection (1)(a) in relation to any information if it has communicated the information to the applicant in accordance with subsection (1)(b).

(6) In this Act, the duty of a public authority to comply with subsection (1)(a) is referred to as “the duty to confirm or deny”.