Amenity Pesticide Use

The request was partially successful.

Dear Glasgow City Council,

I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information.

1. Please provide the following information on amenity pesticide usage:
a. A list of the pesticides you use (brand name, and active ingredient), this should include insecticides, fungicides, molluscicides and herbicides.
b. The COSHH assessment form for each of the pesticides you use.
c. Where these chemicals are used, i.e parks, road verges, pavements, tree bases etc.
d. Annual quantities of each pesticide used over the past 5 years. Please include the total amount of each used both by the council internally and externally through contractors.
e. Please also confirm the concentrations of each pesticide used at application.

2. What strategies does the council have in place to reduce the use of these pesticides? Please provide detail on these efforts including dates and costings where possible.

3. How much has the council spent on purchasing and spraying amenity pesticides over the past 5 years? Please include staff costs of people employed to undertake this (either contractors or council staff), personal protective equipment, safety training, spray equipment, hazard signs, etc.

If it is not possible to provide the information requested above for any reason, I would be grateful for any further advice or assistance as to how I can refine my request. If any of this information is already in the public domain, please can you direct me to it, with page references and URLs as necessary.

If you have any queries please don’t hesitate to contact me via email or phone and I will be very happy to clarify what I am asking for and discuss the request.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to your response.

Yours faithfully,

Kate Basley

Customer Care Centre, Glasgow City Council

New Service Request was submitted: RQST00007312268
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will automatically be associated with this Service Request

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FOI_CCT, Glasgow City Council

OFFICIAL

 

Dear Ms Basley

 

Thank you for the Freedom of Information request you sent us on 12 August,
in which you ask for information about Glasgow City Council’s amenity
pesticide usage.  Your request has been logged with reference EIR 7312268
(AG). 

 

 

Why we are treating your request under the Environmental Information
(Scotland) Regulations 2004

 

Glasgow City Council (“the Council”) takes the view that, because of its
subject matter, the information you have requested is environmental
information in terms of the Environmental Information (Scotland)
Regulations 2004 (“the EIRs”).  This means that the information you have
requested is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act 2002 (“the Act”) because of the exemption contained at
section 39(2) of that Act. 

 

We believe that it is more appropriate to consider your request under the
specific regulatory regime provided for environmental information, as
defined in Regulation 2(1) of the EIRs. This includes measures (including
administrative measures), such as policies, legislation, plans,
programmes, environmental agreements, and activities affecting or likely
to affect the elements of the environment (such as air and atmosphere,
water, soil, land, landscape); and factors of the environment such as
substances, energy, noise, radiation of waste, including radioactive
waste, emissions, discharges and other releases into the environment,
including the built environment.

 

Further, the Council is of the opinion that the public interest in
considering your request for environmental information in accordance with
the terms of the EIRs outweighs the public interest in disclosure of such
information under the terms of the Act.

 

 

Why we are extending the timeframe for response

 

Under the EIRs, the Council may extend the initial 20 working day period
for responding to a request by up to a further 20 working days, if the
volume and / or complexity of the information makes it impracticable for
the Council either to comply with the request within the initial period,
or to make a decision to refuse to do so.

 

Having completed initial searches for the information you have requested,
we have established that it is complex and voluminous because much of it
is neither held centrally, nor collated separately.  This means that it
will not be possible for us to respond to your request before the original
deadline of 9 September, and so we are extending the deadline by a further
20 working days.  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Council is operating
with reduced capacity.  Many staff are prioritising delivering essential
frontline services with limited access to files and systems, and we regret
that is not possible for us to provide a full response to your request at
this time.

 

Please be advised that we will respond to your request by no later than
close of business on Wednesday 7 October 2020.

 

 

Your right of review

 

Under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004, if you
are dissatisfied with the way in which Glasgow City Council has dealt with
your request for information to date, you are entitled to require the
Council to review its response.  Please note that for a review to take
place you must:

 

·         Lodge a written requirement for a review within 40 working days
of the date of this letter

·         Include a correspondence address, a description of the original
request and the reason why you are dissatisfied

·         Address your request to the Director of Governance and Solicitor
to the Council:

 

Director of Governance and Solicitor to the Council

Glasgow City Council

City Chambers

George Square

Glasgow G2 1DU

 

Email: [1][email address]

 

You will receive notice of the results of the review within 20 working
days of receipt of your request. 

 

The notice will state the decision reached by the reviewing officer as
well as details of how to appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner
if you are still dissatisfied with the Council’s response.  You must
request an internal review by the Council before a complaint can be
directed to the Scottish Information Commissioner. 

 

For your information at this stage, if you do remain dissatisfied with the
outcome of the Council’s review decision, an appeal can be made to the
Scottish Information Commissioner by contacting his office as follows -  

 

Address: Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, KY16 9DS.

Email: [2][email address]

Telephone: 01334 464610

 

You can also use the Scottish Information Commissioner’s online appeal
service to make an application for a decision:
[3]www.itspublicknowledge.info/appeal

 

Please note that you cannot make an appeal to the Scottish Information
Commissioner until you have first requested an internal review by the
Council.

 

If you wish to submit a complaint to the Council in relation to the manner
in which it has handled your request for information, you can do so by
requesting that the Council reviews its response.  Details of how to
request a review are set out under the ‘Right of Review’ information
above.

 

We will issue a response to you as soon as we can - in the meantime,
please accept our apologies for the delay in providing the information you
have requested.

 

With kind regards,

 

Information and Data Protection Team

 

 

Chief Executive’s Department

Glasgow City Council

 

 

 

 

 

OFFICIAL

Glasgow - proud host of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) -
UK2021.

Please print responsibly and, if you do, recycle appropriately. 

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This email is from Glasgow City Council or one of its Arm’s Length
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reflect those of the council, or ALEO, who will not necessarily be bound
by its contents. If you are not the intended recipient of this email (and
any attachment), please inform the sender by return email and destroy all
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secure as messages can be intercepted and read by someone else. We
therefore strongly advise you not to email any information which, if
disclosed to someone else, would be likely to cause you distress. If you
have an enquiry of this nature then please write to us using the postal
system. If you choose to email this information to us there can be no
guarantee of privacy. Any email, including its content, may be monitored
and used by the council, or ALEO, for reasons of security and for
monitoring internal compliance with the office policy on staff use. Email
monitoring or blocking software is also used. Please be aware that you
have a responsibility to make sure that any email you write or forward is
within the bounds of the law. Glasgow City Council, or ALEOs, cannot
guarantee that this message or any attachment is virus free or has not
been intercepted and amended. You should perform your own virus checks. 

 

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 2. OFFICIAL - this is information relating to the business of the council
and is considered not to be particularly sensitive

 3. NOT OFFICIAL – this is not information about the business of the
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For more information about the Glasgow City Council Protective Marking
Policy please visit [4]https://glasgow.gov.uk/protectivemarking

For further information and to view the council’s Privacy Statement(s),
please click on link below:[5]www.glasgow.gov.uk/privacy

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/appeal
4. https://glasgow.gov.uk/protectivemarking
5. http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/privacy

Dear FOI_CCT,

Thank you for the information and no problem about the delay. I look forward to receiving the information when it has been gathered. Thanks again.

Best wishes,
Kate

FOI_CCT, Glasgow City Council

OFFICIAL

Thanks, Kate - that's very much appreciated.

With kind regards,

Anne

Information and Data Protection Team
Chief Executive's Department
Glasgow City Council

show quoted sections

FOI_CCT, Glasgow City Council

20 Attachments

OFFICIAL

 

Dear Ms Basley

 

Please find attached Glasgow City Council’s response to the information
request you sent us in regard to amenity pesticide use.

 

With kind regards

 

Information and Data Protection Team

 

 

Chief Executive’s Department

Glasgow City Council

 

E-mail: [1][email address]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OFFICIAL

Glasgow - proud host of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) -
UK2021.

Please print responsibly and, if you do, recycle appropriately. 

Disclaimer:
This email is from Glasgow City Council or one of its Arm’s Length
Organisations (ALEOs). Views expressed in this message do not necessarily
reflect those of the council, or ALEO, who will not necessarily be bound
by its contents. If you are not the intended recipient of this email (and
any attachment), please inform the sender by return email and destroy all
copies. Unauthorised access, use, disclosure, storage or copying is not
permitted. Please be aware that communication by internet email is not
secure as messages can be intercepted and read by someone else. We
therefore strongly advise you not to email any information which, if
disclosed to someone else, would be likely to cause you distress. If you
have an enquiry of this nature then please write to us using the postal
system. If you choose to email this information to us there can be no
guarantee of privacy. Any email, including its content, may be monitored
and used by the council, or ALEO, for reasons of security and for
monitoring internal compliance with the office policy on staff use. Email
monitoring or blocking software is also used. Please be aware that you
have a responsibility to make sure that any email you write or forward is
within the bounds of the law. Glasgow City Council, or ALEOs, cannot
guarantee that this message or any attachment is virus free or has not
been intercepted and amended. You should perform your own virus checks. 

 

Protective Marking

 

We are using protective marking software to mark all our electronic and
paper information based on its content, and the level of security it needs
when being shared, handled and stored. You should be aware of what these
marks mean for you when information is shared with you:  

 1. OFFICIAL SENSITIVE (plus one of four sub categories: Personal Data,
Commercial, Operational, Senior Management) - this is information
regarding the business of the council or of an individual which is
considered to be sensitive. In some instances an email of this
category may be marked as PRIVATE

 2. OFFICIAL - this is information relating to the business of the council
and is considered not to be particularly sensitive

 3. NOT OFFICIAL – this is not information about the business of the
council. 

For more information about the Glasgow City Council Protective Marking
Policy please visit [2]https://glasgow.gov.uk/protectivemarking

For further information and to view the council’s Privacy Statement(s),
please click on link below:[3]www.glasgow.gov.uk/privacy

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. https://glasgow.gov.uk/protectivemarking
3. http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/privacy