Department for Transport
Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road
London
SW1P 4DR
Tel: 0300 330 3000
Web Site: www.gov.uk/dft
Reference: P0017744
DATE: 18th September 2019
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Dear Mr Hewitt,
I am writing in response to the Freedom of Information request you submitted on 23rd August
relating to a data collection undertaken in April and May 2018 at several locations along the
A200 in Southwark and Rotherhithe Old Road.
Although Intelligent Data Collection are one of the suppliers that carry out surveys for our
National Road Traffic Census (NRTC), the data collection you refer to along the A200 in
April/May 2018 was not conducted on behalf of DfT and so I am unable to provide any
further information about these. Hopefully it will be held by one of the other 3 organisations
you have already contacted.
You reference that you have used our Road traffic website to access data for the
Rotherhithe Old Road in 2017 and 2018. I can confirm that all of the count data that we
hold for 2017 and 2018 are published on the web site. We do not hold any other traffic data
for these years for these locations.
In 2019, we have counts scheduled at the following sites in Southwark:
Count Point
Road Number
Road Name
OS Grid Reference
70194
A200
St Thomas Street
532950
180040
28387
A200
Druid Street
533400
179860
38440
A200
Druid Street
533600
179700
28510
A200
Tooley Street
533653
179808
46805
A215
Herne Hill
532440
175000
38179
A2198
Long Lane
533324
179393
8095
A2198
Long Lane
533000
179520
36916
A300
Southwark Bridge Road
532260
180000
942776
ILDERTON ROAD
535225
178045
811119
*
OTTO STREET
531722
177778
810985
*
CHANDLER WAY
533542
177123
810983
*
RED POST HILL
532851
174575
811082
*
PORLOCK STREET
532841
179764
811164
*
B215
TRAFALGAR AVENUE
533819
178016
811005
*
TIMBER POND ROAD
535966
180101
811161
*
UNDERHILL ROAD
534616
173811
811122
*
B216
PECKHAM PARK ROAD
534240
177277
It is not guaranteed that all of the above counts will be successfully completed, due to
practical constraints such as roadworks and road traffic accidents. It is our intention to
publish the results for all 2019 counts that have been successfully completed, along with
updated estimates for all the other sites in our network, once the validation and processing
of the data is completed, as part of our next annual Road Traffic Statistics release in June
2020. The sites marked with an asterisk are part of a special exercise which will require
additional analysis, so it is possible they may have to be published separately at a later date.
The data will be released on the following web sites:
https://roadtraffic.dft.gov.uk
https://roadtraffic.dft.gov.uk/downloads
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/road-traffic-statistics
A regularly updated calendar of scheduled release dates is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-transport/about/statistics
For any questions you may have in future on our road traffic estimates please contact our
team directly at
xxxxxxxxx.xxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx The information for 2019 being withheld falls under the exemption in section 22 of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 which relates to ‘information intended for future publication’
(the full text of the exemption is attached at Annex A).
In applying this exemption we have had to balance the public interest in withholding the
information against the public interest in disclosure. There is a clear public interest in traffic
data and statistics being put into the public domain. However, it is also important that
National Statistics are released in compliance with the relevant legislation (the Statistics and
Registration Service Act 2007) and in an orderly manner that promotes public confidence in
their objectivity and integrity, as per th
e Official Code of Practice from the UK Statistics
Authority that states “access to statistics before their public release should be limited to
those involved in the production of the statistics and the preparation of the release, and for
quality assurance and operational purposes”.
If you are unhappy with the way the Department has handled your request or with the
decisions made in relation to your request you may complain within two calendar months of
the date of this letter by writing to the Department’s FOI Advice Team at:
Zone D/04
Ashdown House
Sedlescombe Road North
Hastings
East Sussex TN37 7GA
E-mail: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xxx.xx
Please send or copy any follow-up correspondence relating specifically to the handling of
this request to the FOI Advice Team to help ensure that it receives prompt attention. Please
also remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.
Please see attached details of DfT’s complaints procedure and your right to complain to the
Information Commissioner.
Yours sincerely,
Jeremy Grove
Road Traffic Statistics Team, Statistics Road and Freight, Department for Transport
xxxxxxxxx.xxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
Your right to complain to DfT and the Information
Commissioner
You have the right to complain within two calendar months of the date of this letter about the
way in which your request for information was handled and/or about the decision not to
disclose all or part of the information requested. In addition a complaint can be made that DfT
has not complied with its FOI publication scheme.
Your complaint will be acknowledged and you will be advised of a target date by which to
expect a response. Initially your complaint will be re-considered by the official who dealt with
your request for information. If, after careful consideration, that official decides that his/her
decision was correct, your complaint will automatically be referred to a senior independent
official who will conduct a further review. You will be advised of the outcome of your complaint
and if a decision is taken to disclose information originally withheld this will be done as soon
as possible.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can
be contacted at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Annex A
FOIA Section 22 Exemption in full
(1) Information is exempt information if
(a) the information is held by the public authority with a view to its publication, by the
authority or any other person, at some future date (whether determined or not),
(b) the information was already held with a view to such publication at the time when
the request for information was made, and
(c) it is reasonable in all the circumstances that the information should be withheld
from disclosure until the date referred to in paragraph (a).
(2) The duty to confirm or deny does not arise if, or to the extent that, compliance with
section 1(1)(a) would involve the disclosure of any information (whether or not already
recorded) which falls within subsection (1).
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