Latest Oxford pollution data - August / September 2022

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Oxford City Council should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Oxford City Council,

Please provide me with the recent air quality monitoring data you hold for
the Cowley and Eastern areas of Oxford. By "recent”, I ideally mean from
around 7 August 2022 onwards. I am happy to accept unverified / unapproved
data. I understand you typically receive these monthly reports from
Socotec between around 17 - 22 of each month, so may already be in
possession of the September 2022 report by the time that you process this request. If so,
please provide this data too.

This is is a follow-on request to several similar requests made
previously, because I want to evaluate the impact of the ending of
lockdown and the Cowley LTNs on local pollution levels.

By "the Cowley" and "Eastern areas of Oxford", I mean all pollution
monitoring stations around Cowley Road, the Plain, St Clements, Hollow
Wall, Temple Road, Oxford Road, Garsington Road, Barns Road, Iffley Road,
Horspath Driftway, and any other local pollution monitoring stations that
do not currently appear on the [4]https://oxfordshire.air-quality.info
website. If in doubt regarding borderline monitoring stations, please
include its data

Yours faithfully,

Richard Parnham

Freedom Of Information, Oxford City Council

Dear Richard Parnham

Oxford City Council Freedom of Information – Reference: 11496

 

Thank you for your email below.  Your request was received on 3 October
2022 and you will be sent a response within 20 working days (of receipt)
in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000/ Environmental
Information Regulations 2004 (EIR), subject to the information not being
exempt or containing reference to a third party.

 

Due to an unprecedented volume of Freedom of Information Requests
currently, it is likely that some requests may go beyond the 20 working
days. We are working as hard as possible to respond in a timely manner,
but we feel it is better to keep requestors informed in advance.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Freedom of Information Team | Law and Governance | SAC 3.8 | Oxford City
Council | St Aldates Chambers | 109-113 St. Aldate's | Oxford | OX1 1DS 

Website: [1]www.oxford.gov.uk | Follow us on Twitter:
[2]www.twitter.com/OxfordCity | Like us on Facebook:
[3]www.facebook.com/OxfordCityCouncil

 

 

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Dear Freedom Of Information,

This information is now overdue. Please provide it promptly.

Yours sincerely,

Richard Parnham

Dear Oxford City Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Oxford City Council's handling of my FOI request 'Latest Oxford pollution data - August / September 2022'.

This data is now substantially overdue for delivery. Please provide it promptly.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/l...

Yours faithfully,

Richard Parnham

Freedom Of Information, Oxford City Council

1 Attachment

Dear Richard Parnham,

 

Freedom of Information Request, Oxford City Council – Reference: 11496

 

Your request for information has now been considered and I can confirm, in
accordance with s.1 (1)(a) of the FOIA, that the Council does hold the
information you have requested.  However, in the case of this request, the
data you have requested is exempt under Section 22 of the Act (for future
publication), since it is intended for future publication on the Council’s
website. Therefore, for your information, this email constitutes a refusal
notice under Section 17.1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, since
the exemption under Section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
applies in this instance.

 

I will pass your contact details onto our Air Quality Officer, asking him
to contact you to see if you can make an agreement, where he will provide
you with the data for each month as soon as it is available, without
having to go through the FOI route.

 

If you disagree with any part of the response to your request, you are
entitled to ask the Council for an internal review of the decision(s)
made.  You may do this by writing to the Monitoring Officer, by either
email – [email address] – or by post to Monitoring Officer, Oxford
City Council, St Aldate’s Chambers, St Aldate’s, Oxford, OX1 1DS.  After
the result of the internal review, if you remain dissatisfied, you may ask
the Information Commissioner to intervene on your behalf.  You may do this
by writing to the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

 

Freedom of Information Officer

 

| Freedom of Information Team | Law & Governance | Oxford City Council |
St Aldates Chambers | St Aldates | Oxford | OX1 1DS |

 

For any Data Protection queries please send the email directly to the
[1][email address] mailbox

 

[2]stands-with-ukraine-flag-shape

 

From: Freedom Of Information
Sent: 20 October 2022 09:40
To: [FOI #904734 email]
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - Latest Oxford pollution data
- August / September 2022 Ref 11496

 

Dear Richard Parnham

 

Oxford City Council Freedom of Information – Reference: 11496

 

Thank you for your email below.  Your request was received on 3 October
2022 and you will be sent a response within 20 working days (of receipt)
in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000/ Environmental
Information Regulations 2004 (EIR), subject to the information not being
exempt or containing reference to a third party.

 

Due to an unprecedented volume of Freedom of Information Requests
currently, it is likely that some requests may go beyond the 20 working
days. We are working as hard as possible to respond in a timely manner,
but we feel it is better to keep requestors informed in advance.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Freedom of Information Team | Law and Governance | SAC 3.8 | Oxford City
Council | St Aldates Chambers | 109-113 St. Aldate's | Oxford | OX1 1DS 

Website: [3]www.oxford.gov.uk | Follow us on Twitter:
[4]www.twitter.com/OxfordCity | Like us on Facebook:
[5]www.facebook.com/OxfordCityCouncil

 

 

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Dear Oxford City Council,

I note your refusal to provide me with this information, noting that you are refusing to do so on S22 "intended for future publication" grounds.

You are, of course, aware, that this is a qualified grounds for refusal, which must be weighed against the potential public interest in favour of disclosure. I am specifically requesting unverified data, in advance of official publication, because I suspect pollution levels on Hollow Way are now above legal limits, and that this has been directly caused by the installation of the Cowley LTNs. If the average pollution levels on Hollow Way are above legal limits for a full calendar year, it is reasonable to assume that Oxfordshire County Council will have manufactured this illegality. It is also possible that a similar situation is now occurring on St Clements, near where I live, due to additional traffic now being funnelled down this road by the East Oxford LTN.

I therefore wish to have the pollution data provided to me as possible, in case they form the basis of a legal claim against Oxfordshire County Council. I do not wish wait until the official publication of this data in summer of 2023. I argue that the public interest, of potentially illegality, therefore weighs in favour of disclosure, notwithstanding the future publication of verified pollution data. I argue that is is impeditive that Oxfordshire County Council be made aware of the situation, as a matter of urgency, as they consider any modifications to the Cowley and East Oxford LTNs - especially now that the traffic filters will not reduced pollution on Hollow Way or St Clements during 2023.

Moreover, your grounds for refusal only relates to information that is to published: I am asking for unverified monthly pollution pollution data, which is NOT indented for publication. Additionally, the monthly pollution report cover notes occasionally reveal useful information, that will also not be published elsewhere.

I therefore have two specific grounds for appeal:

1) that you have used the Section 22 defence without taking proper account of its qualified nature, and the ongoing public interest in favour of disclosure - potential newly-created illegal pollution levels on Hollow Way and St Clements (near where I live).

2) I am asking for data (unverified pollution data) that is not intended for publication, and that section 22 does not apply.

I note your offer for the Air Quality Officer to provide me with the data on an ad-hoc basis. If you refuse my appeal, I will take up that offer (but please also now send me the October and November 2022 data too, and June 2022 data as well). However, in the first instance, I would like to appeal your refusal on the grounds stated above.

Richard Parnham

Dear Freedom Of Information,

I have previously asked for an internal review of your refusal to disclosure the above information (FOI 11496), but have had no acknowledgment of my request for an internal review - still less an actual reviewed response.

When might I receive one?

Yours sincerely,

Richard Parnham

Freedom Of Information, Oxford City Council

Dear Richard Parnham

Please accept our apologies for the delay in replying to your email received on 11 December 2022 requesting a review of the Council's handling of your Freedom of Information request regarding air quality data.

In our response to your request we advised that we would be asking our Air Quality Data officer to email you directly regarding this data. Please could you email the Freedom of Information team with a contact email address and we will forward this to him as a priority.

As What Do They Know does not show email address I have provided the web-link where you can find our email address (bottom of the page) https://www.oxford.gov.uk/info/20048/fre...

Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information Team | Law and Governance | Oxford City Council | Town Hall | St Aldate’s | Oxford | OX1 1BX

Website: www.oxford.gov.uk | Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/OxfordCity | Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/OxfordCityCouncil

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