Inquiry into Ovingham bridge delays

The request was successful.

Dear Northumberland County Council,

Could you provide any documents, meeting minuets and reports into the Inquiry into Ovingham bridge delays that was carried out as reported in the news on 30th October 2015.

Yours faithfully,

Matt Beattie

FOI Mailbox,

Thank you for your email. 

We aim to respond to general enquires within two working days. 

If you have submitted a Freedom of Information request, this will be
logged, and you will receive an acknowledgment email including a reference
number shortly. 

Thanks 

 
Save Time Do It Online!
We have made a few key improvements to our site to make our services easy
to access. Now you can do everything from paying your council tax, to
reporting a faulty street light online. Go to: www.northumberland.gov.uk
and click 'pay, apply or report' to access the relevant forms.
This email is intended solely for the individual or individuals to whom it
is addressed, and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. If
you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing,
copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of
this email is prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please
contact the sender and delete the email from any computer. All email
communication may be subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance
with internal policy and relevant legislation.

[1]Northumberland County Council Stay Home

References

Visible links

Northumberland County Council

1 Attachment

Our Ref: 11155  

Dear Mr Beattie,

INFORMATION REQUEST

Thank you for your request for information which will be dealt with under
the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, we
will let you know the likely charges before proceeding.

If you have any queries about this matter please contact us. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Kind regards,
 
Julia

Information Governance Office
Northumberland County Council
County Hall
Morpeth
Northumberland
NE61 2EF

Tel: 0345 600 6400
Email: [Northumberland County Council request email]
Web: http://www.northumberland.gov.uk

Northumberland County Council

1 Attachment

Our Ref: 11155   

Dear Enquirer,
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST
I refer to your Freedom of Information request in relation to Ovingham
bridge delays. 

This request is being handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

I am writing to ask you to clarify your request. This is because we need
further details from you in order to identify and locate the information.
Therefore I should be grateful if you would clarify and give more details
as to what was reported in the news of the 30th October 2025 and in what
news outlet. This is so we can determine what this relates to and can
source any documents.
If you need assistance with this, please contact me on by email as
follows: [email address]
I am writing to check whether we have understood your request for
information correctly. In order to assist you, I can tell you that the
Council holds the following information / categories of
information (delete as appropriate) which may be of interest. Please let
me know by (date) which, if any, of this information would satisfy your
request: (list them here)

Please contact me by the above email address if you need assistance with
this.

If we do not receive your clarification within 3 calendar months from
today we will close your request. If after the 3 month period you then
provide clarification, your request will be logged as a new request.

Yours faithfully

FOI/EIR Co-ordinator - Local Services
Information Governance Office
Northumberland County Council
County Hall
Morpeth
Northumberland
NE61 2EF

Tel: 0345 600 6400
Email: [Northumberland County Council request email]
Web: http://www.northumberland.gov.uk

Dear Northumberland County Council,

It was quoted in the Hexham Courant in the following article that "The local authority has commissioned the review, which will examine the causes for the delay" and "we have commissioned independent analysis of the project to evaluate the effectiveness of project development and delivery"

https://www.hexham-courant.co.uk/news/16...

Yours faithfully,

Matt Beattie

Dear Northumberland County Council,

Not sure if you received my previous clarification email.

It was quoted in the Hexham Courant in the following article that "The local authority has commissioned the review, which will examine the causes for the delay" and "we have commissioned independent analysis of the project to evaluate the effectiveness of project development and delivery"

https://www.hexham-courant.co.uk/news/16...

Yours faithfully,

Matt Beattie

Northumberland County Council

2 Attachments

Our Ref: 11155   

Dear Enquirer,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST

I refer to your Freedom of Information request in relation to Ovingham
Bridge.

Right of Access

Section 1(1) of the Act provides 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 (which Section
1(6) of the Act designates as the "duty to confirm or deny"), and

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

The right is to obtain access to the information itself and not to the
document or record which contains it.

The Act creates a general right of access to information held by public
authorities subject to various exemptions.

Northumberland County Council confirms that it holds the information you
have requested, please see the attached and following information in
response.

Could you provide any documents, meeting minutes and reports into the
Inquiry into Ovingham Bridge delays that was carried out as reported in
the news on 30th October 2015. 
 
Please find attached a copy of the report referred to entitled "Ovingham
Bridge Repairs, Report on Ovingham Bridge repairs Contract, 4th February
2016".  It should be noted that this report was produced by a third party
commissioned by the County Council and that the Council does not accept
some aspects of the report and some of the statements made.  However, the
Council has considered and taken on-board the recommendations made within
the report as part of its on-going project management and continuous
improvement arrangements.  It should also be noted that John Graham
Construction Ltd (referred to within this response and the report as
'Graham's') have had no input to the production of the report, which they
consider contains a number of factually incorrect and /or unsubstantiated
statements regarding the works carried out by Graham's including the
manner in which they were priced.  In addition to the factual errors
Graham's also consider the report to be unreasonable, inflammatory and
partisan in nature, and that the comments it contains have no basis in
either fact or fair comment.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been
handled, you can request an internal review by writing within 2 months
from the date of this response to the Information Governance Office:

Information Governance Office, Northumberland County Council, County Hall,
Morpeth, NE61 2EF
Email: [Northumberland County Council request email]

Information Commissioner

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have a
right by Section 50 of the Act to apply to the Information Commissioner
for a decision as to whether your request has been dealt with in
accordance with the requirements of the Act at:

The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113, Email: [email address]

There is no charge for making an appeal.

Yours faithfully,

FOI Coordinator - Local Services
Information Governance Office
Northumberland County Council
County Hall
Morpeth
Northumberland
NE61 2EF

Tel: 0345 600 6400
Email: [Northumberland County Council request email]
Web: http://www.northumberland.gov.uk