Blue badge disabled parking permits

The request was partially successful.

BBC Shared Data Unit

Good afternoon,

I hope you are well. I would be grateful if you would treat this correspondence as a formal request for disclosure of the following information, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 ("FoI").

Description of information sought:

How many regular car parking bays are there in all of the council-owned car parks across the council area?

How many disabled car parking bays are there in all of the council-owned car parks across the council area?

How many people held a blue badge disabled parking permit issued by the council as at 30 August 2019?

How many applications for blue badge disabled parking permits has the council received since 30 August 2019?

How many of these applications for blue badge disabled parking permits received since 30 August 2019 has the council:
1. Approved
2. Directly refused
3. Refused due to an incomplete request

How many applications for blue badge disabled parking permits has the council received from applicants with hidden/non-visible disabilities (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/peopl...) since 30 August 2019?

How many of these applications for blue badge disabled parking permits received from applicants with hidden/non-visible disabilities (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/peopl...) since 30 August 2019 has the council:
1. Approved
2. Directly refused
3. Refused due to an incomplete request

Could the council please provide the answers to all of the above questions by downloading this read-only Googlesheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1... and filling out its answers in one row of the download, re-saving it and it sending it back as an attachment in response in a .csv file format?

If you need any clarification about my request, or if you cannot provide all of the data I have requested, please contact me to discuss what information you could supply at the earliest opportunity on +443030823927.

If I am mistaken and the information requested is already in the public domain, please direct me to where I can find it.

If it is not, and you feel you cannot provide all of this information, please provide what information you can in the spirit of Section 16 of FoI, to ‘provide advice and assistance, so far as it would be reasonable to expect the authority to do so, to persons who propose to make, or have made requests for information’.

Please provide me with a summary of the information I have requested.

I look forward to hearing from you promptly, and at any rate, within the statutory time limit of 20 working days from your receipt of this request.

Whilst writing, I take this opportunity to remind you of the Information Commissioner's public statements, in which he has stated that there is a "presumption of disclosure" under FoI.

Please note that if this request for FoI disclosure is refused, I reserve the right to take up the matter with the Information Commissioner and/or to pursue all legal avenues of appeal. I trust this will not be necessary.

Thanks in advance for your help, kind regards,

Alex Homer

Senior Journalist
BBC Shared Data Unit

FOI, Shropshire Council

Dear Mr Homer

 

Thank you for your request for information received on 17/08/2020.  We are
currently processing your request in accordance with the relevant
legislation.

Your request is for information about parking spaces and blue badge
applications.

* This is a summary only and full details have been sent to the team
providing the response.
* If you feel the information is inaccurate or requires amendment,
please notify us as soon as possible using the contact details
provided below. 

 
Please note:
 
The Council has been facing unprecedented challenges this year. Firstly,
in response to the flooding in February and now in responding to the
coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. During this time, resources may have to
be diverted away from usual compliance or information rights work. The
council acknowledges that it can’t extend statutory timescales of requests
and everyone is doing their best to meet these. However, priority may have
to be given to other areas, eg the safeguarding of vulnerable people,
during this extraordinary period.
The Information Commissioner’s Office has blogged about their approach to
requests during this time: [1]blog
 
The Information Commissioner’s Office has released a statement about Data
Protection and the Coronavirus here: [2]statement

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

Information Governance Team

Shropshire Council

Shirehall

Abbey Foregate

SHREWSBURY

SY2 6ND

 

Tel:                  01743 252179 / 252774 / 252747

Email:             [Shropshire Council request email]

Web:               [3]www.shropshire.gov.uk/access-to-information

 

 

 

[4]For information about Coronavirus click here/image below
[5][IMG]

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References

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1. https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-an...
2. https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
3. http://www.shropshire.gov.uk/access-to-i...
4. https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
5. https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Mark Barrow, Shropshire Council

Good morning

 

In relation to your FOI Request, please see the following:

 

The council does not currently hold the information about the total number
of bays as we are in the process of moving to a more web friendly format
however the information on individual sites is available on
[1]https://www.shropshire.gov.uk/parking/fi...

 

 

o How many people held a blue badge disabled parking permit issued by
the council as at 30 August 2019? 15387

 

 

o How many applications for blue badge disabled parking permits has the
council received since 30 August 2019? 6646

 

 

o How many of these applications for blue badge disabled parking permits
received since 30 August 2019 has the council:

 

1. Approved 5495

 

2. Directly refused 315

 

3. Refused due to an incomplete request 268

 

Please note that applications which are still pending (such as newly
submitted applications, those awaiting processing and where we are waiting
for further evidence) and applications which were cancelled by the
applicant are not included in these figures.

 

Regards

 

Mark Barrow

Director of Place

 

 

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BBC Shared Data Unit

Dear Mark Barrow,

Thank you for your response.
Would you also be able to provide information for the questions about applications from people with hidden disabilities, or is that information not held?

Yours sincerely,

Anna Khoo
BBC Shared Data Unit

Information.Request, Shropshire Council

Dear Ms Khoo

Thank you for your email. We will make enquiries to see if this information is held.

Yours sincerely

Information Governance Team
Shropshire Council
Shirehall
Abbey Foregate
SHREWSBURY
SY2 6ND

Telephone: 01743 252179
Email: [Shropshire Council request email]

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Rachel Robinson, Shropshire Council

1 Attachment

Dear Alex

 

Please find the response to the FOI you raised in relation to Parking
Spaces and Blue Badge Applications. 

 

How many regular car parking bays are there in all of the council-owned
car parks across the council area?

 

How many disabled car parking bays are there in all of the council-owned
car parks across the council area?

 

The information in response to the two questions highlighted in yellow
above is available from 
[1]https://www.shropshire.gov.uk/parking/fi...

 

How many people held a blue badge disabled parking permit issued by the
council as at 30 August 2019?

 

15387

 

How many applications for blue badge disabled parking permits has the
council received since 30 August 2019?

 

6646

 

How many of these applications for blue badge disabled parking permits
received since 30 August 2019 has the council:

 

1. Approved = 5495

 

2. Directly refused = 315

 

3. Refused due to an incomplete request = 268

 

How many applications for blue badge disabled parking permits has the
council received from applicants with hidden/non-visible disabilities
([2]https://www.gov.uk/government/news/peopl...)
since 30 August 2019? 

 

324

 

How many of these applications for blue badge disabled parking permits
received from applicants with hidden/non-visible disabilities
([3]https://www.gov.uk/government/news/peopl...)
since 30 August 2019 has the council:

 

1. Approved = 210

 

2. Directly refused = 53

 

3. Refused due to an incomplete request = 23

 

Kind regards

 

Rachel Robinson

Director of Public Health

 

Shropshire Council

Shirehall

Abbey Foregate

Shrewsbury

Shropshire

SY2 6ND

 

[4]Catch it, bin it, kill it

 

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