Traffic Regulation Order and correspondance , Peter Street Manchester

The request was partially successful.

Dear Manchester City Council,

Under the freedom of information act please could you provide details of any traffic regulation order (TRO) that is in place on Peter Street Manchester M2 5 regarding Parking/no loading dual purpose bays.
Please also provide any internal correspondance or works orders regarding signage of these dual purpose bays.

Where possible please provide in electronic form.

Yours faithfully,
Paul F Hope

Daniel Blewitt, Manchester City Council

Dear Mr Hope,

Thank you for your request for information, which was received by
Manchester City Council on 23 February 2011.

It may take up to 20 working days (approximately 4 weeks) for the Council
to consider your request and to provide a formal response.

If this timescale needs to be extended to consider an exemption you will
be notified and kept informed.

Please be advised that there may be a charge for your request. You will be
advised of this in due course.

Yours sincerely,

Daniel

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Dawn Gill, Manchester City Council

[Subject only] Request for Information - (80) NBH/8EDCPA

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Dear Dawn Gill,

What does the response [Subject only] Request for Information - (80) NBH/8EDCPA MEAN

ponse

Yours sincerely,

Paul F Hope

Dawn Gill, Manchester City Council

Sorry Paul

Please see e-mail below, feel free to ring me should you wish to discuss
further.

Dear Mr Hope

Thank you for your request for information, which was received by
Manchester City Council on 23 February 2011.

Unfortunately from the details you have provided to date, I have been
unable to identify the information you have requested.

In order that your request may be progressed, please can you provide
additional details and clarification with regards to internal
correspondence or works orders, we would expressly need to know what
period your are referring to.

Please be advised that there may be a charge for your request. You will be
advised of this in due course.

If you have any queries or require any further advice or assistance in
making your request, please contact me on the number below.

If I do not hear from you within 1 months of this date, I will assume that
you do not wish to pursue your request for information and I will close my
file.

Yours sincerely

Dawn Gill
Customer Services Manager
Highway Services
Universal Square
Internal Tel: 860 - 7768
External Tel: 0161- 600 7768

email: [email address]
Our vision is to achieve a highway network that is safe, sustainable and
accessible for all

Paul F Hope To Dawn Gill
<[FOI #63254 email]> <[email address]>
cc
22/03/2011 15:39 Subject Re: Request for
Information - (80)
NBH/8EDCPA

Dear Dawn Gill,
What does the response [Subject only] Request for Information -
(80) NBH/8EDCPA MEAN

ponse
Yours sincerely,
Paul F Hope

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Dear Dawn Gill,

Let me see if I can make my request clearer.

In order that the council can legally restrict parking they have to acquire a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO). I have searched Manchester City Councils TRO’s with regard to dual purpose parking and no loading bays on Peter Street outside Brannigan’s Bar M2 5 without success. Therefore I am asking you under the freedom of information act for ANY traffic regulation orders that the council have in relation to these bays.

In the event that Manchester City Council has applied for a TRO relating to these bays then please provide any internal correspondence or works orders regarding signage of these dual purpose bays from the date of the TRO to present. I cannot believe that Manchester City Council does not keep copies of works orders or internal correspondence for road works and signage erection.

In the event that you cannot find a TRO relating to these dual purpose bays on Peter Street outside Brannigan’s Bar, am I to assume that Manchester City Council has not applied for one or that there is not a TRO in force?

Paul Hope

Yours sincerely,

Paul F Hope

Dear Dawn Gill,

The following was sent on the 23rd March...

Let me see if I can make my request clearer.

In order that the council can legally restrict parking they have to
acquire a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO). I have searched
Manchester City Councils TRO’s with regard to dual purpose parking
and no loading bays on Peter Street outside Brannigan’s Bar M2 5
without success. Therefore I am asking you under the freedom of
information act for ANY traffic regulation orders that the council
have in relation to these bays.

In the event that Manchester City Council has applied for a TRO
relating to these bays then please provide any internal
correspondence or works orders regarding signage of these dual
purpose bays from the date of the TRO to present. I cannot believe
that Manchester City Council does not keep copies of works orders
or internal correspondence for road works and signage erection.

In the event that you cannot find a TRO relating to these dual
purpose bays on Peter Street outside Brannigan’s Bar, am I to
assume that Manchester City Council has not applied for one or that
there is not a TRO in force?

Yours sincerely,

Paul F Hope

Dawn Gill, Manchester City Council

I will be out of the office starting 25/03/2011 and will not return until
28/03/2011.

If you have anything urgent please contact Clare Lunn 600 7760

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Dear Dawn Gill,

I am still waiting for an answer will you be in a position to reply?

Yours sincerely,

Paul F Hope

Dawn Gill, Manchester City Council

Dear Mr Hope

Thank you for the email below.

Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in responding to you, I
do however, expect to provide you with a response within the next 14
working days.

Should you wish to discuss this further please do not hesitate to contact
me on the below number.

Once again please accept my apologies for the delay.

Kind regards

Dawn Gill
Customer Services Manager
Highway Services
Universal Square
Internal Tel: 860 - 7768
External Tel: 0161- 600 7768

email: [email address]
Our vision is to achieve a highway network that is safe, sustainable and
accessible for all

Paul F Hope To Dawn Gill
<[FOI #63254 email]> <[email address]>
cc
31/03/2011 12:17 Subject Re: Dawn Gill/Ops
Services/MCC is out of the
office.

Dear Dawn Gill,
I am still waiting for an answer will you be in a position to
reply?

Yours sincerely,
Paul F Hope

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Dawn Gill, Manchester City Council

Dear Mr Hope

I refer to your request for information with regards to dual purpose bays
on Peter Street.  Unfortunately I am not in a position to respond fully to
your request, as I am not in receipt of all the requested information.

As soon as I am in receipt of the required information I will respond to
you fully.

Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay.

Kind regards  

Dawn Gill
Customer Services Manager
Highway Services
Universal Square
Internal Tel: 860 - 7768
External Tel: 0161- 600 7768

email: [email address]
Our vision is to achieve a highway network that is safe, sustainable and
accessible for all

 

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Dear Dawn Gill,

I am aware from a telephone call to your office that the information that I have requested is with your legal team.
I must point out that we first applied for this information in February 2011, 4 months ago and the time this is taking is well over the time required for a response under the freedom of information act.

Yours sincerely,

Paul F Hope

Dear Dawn Gill,

I understand from my telephone call to your office that information I requested is with your legal team.

May I respectfully point out that you have a duty under the Freedom of Information Act to inform me whether or not you hold the requested information.

As information is being looked at by your legal team I should be informed what that information is.

Yours sincerely,

Paul F Hope

Dear Manchester City Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Manchester City Council's handling of my FOI request 'Traffic Regulation Order and correspondence , Peter Street Manchester'.

I first requested information under The Freedom of Information Act on the 23rd February 2011. I have not had a satisfactory explanation why this information has not been released or even what information has been identified.

I am aware that information has been collected because your office has informed me that it is being looked at by your legal office.

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

Yours faithfully,

Paul F Hope

Clare Lunn, Manchester City Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Hope

Freedom of Information request Ref (80) NBH/8EDCPA

Thank you for your request for information, which was received by
Manchester City Council on 23 February 2011 and has been considered under
the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FoIA) and or
Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR).  Please accept my
apologies for delay in responding to you.

You have requested the following information:

Under the freedom of information act please could you provide details of
any traffic regulation order(TRO) that is in place on Peter Street
Manchester M2 regarding Parking/no loading dual purpose bays. Please also
provide any internal correspondence or works orders regarding signage of
these dual purpose bays.
   
Where possible please provide in electronic form.

Please find my response below:

Please find attached an extract from the relevant permanent Controlled
Parking Zone Order.

Whilst  temporary orders were made in relation to this location,  none
were validly in force at the time of your request.

With regards to providing internal correspondence or works orders
regarding signage of these dual bays:

Under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act a public authority is
relieved of the obligation to comply with a request for information where
the estimated time required to locate, review and extract the information
exceeds a certain threshold set out in Regulations. The Freedom of
Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations
2004 (SI 2004/3244) set out the rules in relation to the cost limit
(otherwise called the “appropriate limit”). These Regulations are
published by the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) and are
viewable on their web site from this link:  
[1]http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2004/uksi_20...
 
The Regulations set out the cost limit for Government departments and for
other public authorities. For local government, Regulation 3 states that
the cost limit is £450 and Regulation 4(4) states that the prescribed
hourly rate is £25. This rate is fixed by these regulations irrespective
of an employee’s paid hourly rate. Regulation 4(4) further provides that
where the local authority estimates the time taken to gather the
information would exceed this limit (which based on the prescribed hourly
rate, equates to 18 officer hours), it may refuse the request under
section 12 of FoIA.

Where the requested information is considered to be environmental
information, there is no fixed cost limit under the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004, however, Regulation 12(4)(b) provides that a
request may be refused to the extent that providing the information would
be manifestly unreasonable. For the purposes of consistency, the FoIA cost
limit has been treated as the criteria for determining what is considered
to be ‘manifestly unreasonable’. This approach is consistent with the
Council’s Fees and Charges policy published on the Council’s web site and
viewable at this link
[2]http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/script...
 
For the purposes of this request for information in respect of
correspondence or works orders relating to dual purpose bays on Peter
Street, I have considered the amount of time it would take to locate,
retrieve and extract the requested breakdown you have requested to
determine whether this exceeds the cost limit criteria.
There is no single place where officers store correspondence for such
schemes, therefore, It is not possible within the 18 hour time period to
identify each piece of internal correspondence relating to signage or
works orders.  It would take more than 18 hours of officer time to go
through all correspondence to try to locate and extract the requested
information

As all the requested information is not held in one central place I
understand that it is not possible for any of the requested information to
be provided within the 18 hour time limit and that this is why Manchester
City Council has not advised what part of this requested information it
would be possible for us to supply within cost limits.

I am therefore satisfied that the cost limit is engaged and that it is
appropriate for this exemption/exception to be claimed under the FoIA
and/or the EIR.

Please note if you are not satisfied with this response you may ask for an
internal review. If you wish to complain you should contact Lynn Evans,
Information Compliance Officer ([Manchester City Council request email])
in the first instance. Your complaint will be considered by a senior
officer who has not already been involved with this response. If you
require more information about the Council’s access to information
complaints procedure this can be downloaded from
http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/script...

If you remain dissatisfied after an internal review has been undertaken,
you have a right to apply to the Information Commissioner (IC) for a
decision. The IC will normally expect you to exhaust our complaints
machinery before considering your complaint.  

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

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

Yours sincerely,

Clare Lunn.

 

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2004/uksi_20...
2. http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/script...

Dear Clare Lunn,
Freedom of Information request Ref (80) NBH/8EDCPA

You are obviously aware that there was an invalid TRO therefore so I don't understand why at the very least you couldn't you have supplied its details?

Frankly I do not believe that it would take the time you have estimated to supply the details of works orders and internal correspondence requested as The New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 (NRSWA), supported by relevant Regulations and Codes of Practice, requires authorities to maintain a electronic Register of Works.

Furthermore under various acts the authority is required to investigate representations and challenges to parking fines. Your excuse states it would take an excessive amount of time to obtain correspondence, works orders and a TRO, therefore, are you suggesting that that Manchester City Council cannot furfill its statutory obligation both to maintain a register and to investigate representations and challenges when it involves road works and signage?

Graham Marsh your Parking Manager has categorically maintained that:
1. Manchester City Council was unaware that the TRO was invalid
2. That signage was non standard in relation to these dual bays.
3. That the non valid TRO’s were made at the request of the police.
4. That a traffic officer who re-worded the original TRO made a mistake.

Therefore contrary to your contention that it would take an excessive length of time to produce the relevant information requested, it seems the information has been already compiled for your Parking Manager, Graham Marsh.

I have already made a request for an internal review regarding the excessive length of time it has taken you to inform me that you couldn’t provide the information because it would take an excessive length of time to compile it.

Therefore I would value your response before I make another request for an internal review in relation to the council’s inability to provide information that should be on a register and are contained in Graham Marsh’s emails.

Yours sincerely,

Paul F Hope

Manchester City Council

Dear Mr Hope

Re: Request for Information - Internal Review - Reference No: NBH/
8EDCPA/1

Thank you for your email dated 27th June 2011 regarding the recent response
to your request for information.

Your email will be treated as a request for internal review of that
original decision and will be dealt with in accordance with the Council’s
Access to Information Complaint Procedure. The procedure is available on
the Council’s web site at
http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/script...

Please note your request will be handled as speedily as possible.

Yours sincerely

Cath Cryer
Information Compliance Unit
Democratic Services
PO Box 532
Town Hall
Albert Square
Manchester
M60 2LA

Email: [Manchester City Council request email]
Website: www.manchester.gov.uk

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Dear Manchester City Council,

I am concerned that I have not been notified regarding the internal review request.

Yours faithfully,

Paul F Hope

Dear Manchester City Council,

Further to my telephone call and letter of 30th August 2012 to Cath Cryer where I have apprised you that I requested an internal review of Manchester City Council’s response for information under The Freedom of Information Act on the 27th June 2011. The request for a review was acknowledged by you on 1st July 2011 and I requested information on the internal review on 18th November 2011.

Since that date I have received no communication from Manchester City Council and therefore I consider that you have not complied with The Freedom of Information Act.

Considering the length of time this matter has taken, unless I receive information regarding the internal review within the next 7 days I will refer this matter to the Information Commissioner's Office.

Yours faithfully,

Paul F Hope

Manchester City Council

Dear Mr Hope

Thank you for your email.

Please accept our apologies for the delay in providing a response to your
internal review. I will make enquiries with the department providing the
information to establish when the Council will be able to issue you with a
response.

Yours sincerely

Cath Cryer
Information Compliance Unit
Democratic Services
PO Box 532
Town Hall
Albert Square
Manchester
M60 2LA

Email: [Manchester City Council request email]
Website: www.manchester.gov.uk

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Manchester City Council

17 Attachments

Dear Mr Hope

Request for an internal review - reference number NBH/8EDCPA/1

Please find attached the response to your request for an internal review
and related documents.

(See attached file: response.pdf)(See attached file: email no13.pdf)(See
attached file: email no1.pdf)(See attached file: email no2.pdf)(See
attached file: email no3.pdf)(See attached file: email no4.pdf)(See
attached file: email no5.pdf)
(See attached file: email no6.pdf)(See attached file: email no7.pdf)(See
attached file: email no8.pdf)(See attached file: email no9.pdf)(See
attached file: email no10.pdf)(See attached file: email no11.pdf)(See
attached file: email no12.pdf)
(See attached file: TTRO 2009.pdf)(See attached file: 2 emails from
2008.pdf)(See attached file: TTRO 2006.pdf)

Please accept our apologies for the delay in providing a response to this
request.

Yours sincerely

Catherine Spencer
Information Compliance Unit
Democratic Services
PO Box 532
Town Hall
Albert Square
Manchester
M60 2LA

Email: [Manchester City Council request email]
Website: www.manchester.gov.uk

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