This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request 'Great Western Route Modernisation Benefits Paper - Paper 76/20'.


 
 
 
 
Network Rail  
Freedom of Information 
The Quadrant  
Elder Gate 
Milton Keynes  
MK9 1EN 
 
E
 xxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xx.xx  
 
 
Mr Noel Dolphin 
 
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx 
 
 
 
16 February 2021 
 
Dear Mr Dolphin 
 
Information request  
Reference numberFOI2021/00046 
 
Thank you for your email of 13 January 2021, in which you requested the following 
information: 
 
At the Network Rail Board meeting held on Thursday 22 October 2020, the meeting 
reviewed Paper 76/20 summarising the post-completion project benefits of Great Western 
Route Modernisation.  
 
Minutes publicly available on Network rail's website: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/wp-

content/uploads/2020/12/2020-10-22-October-Board-Minutes-for-publication-with-text-
redacted.pdf 
 
Can I obtain a copy of this board paper presented on the 22nd October 2020: Paper 76/20. 

 
I have processed your request under the Environmental Information Regulations 
2004 (EIR) as this type of information is environmental according to the definition in 
regulation 2(1)(c) of the EIRs; in this case a paper presented at one of our board meetings 
related to a recently completed project, which when in production would have affected 
elements of the environment.1 
 
 
1 Section 39 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) exempts environmental information from the FOIA 
and requires us to consider it under the EIR. Regulation 2(1)(c) refers to information requested on measures 
(including administrative measures), such as policies, legislation, plans, programmes, environmental 
agreements, and activities affecting or likely to affect the elements and factors referred to in (a) and (b) as well 
as measures or activities designed to protect those elements.
 
Network Rail Infrastructure Limited Registered Office: Network Rail, One Eversholt Street, London, NW1 2DN Registered in England and Wales No. 2904587 www.networkrail.co.uk 
 

 
I can confirm that we hold the information you requested. However, I am withholding the 
board paper from disclosure under regulation 12(4)(d) (materials in the course of 
completion); I will explain this exception and how it applies to this information in the 
remainder of this letter.  
 
However, while we are withholding the board paper itself, in the interests of transparency I 
am disclosing two of the appendices which were attached to paper 76/20, summary of the 
post-completion project benefits review of the Great Western Electrification programme 
(GWEP).
 I will explain this later in the response.  
 
Regulation 12(4)(d) – materials in the course of completion  

 
Regulation 12(4)(d) of the EIRs can be applied when the request relates to material which 
is still in the course of completion, unfinished documents or incomplete data. 
 
The Information Commissioner’s guidance explains that examples of incomplete or 
unfinished documents can include the following: 
 
‘Material which is still in the course of completion can include 
information created as part of the process of formulating and 
developing policy, where the process is not complete. 
 
Draft documents are unfinished even if the final version has 

been produced.’ 
 
The references to “information created as part of the process of formulating and 
developing policy, where the process is not complete” are particularly relevant in this 
instance because the purpose of presenting papers at board meetings is to assist in the 
development of policy and decision making.  
 
This paper has been shared with only a very limited range of people: the Network Rail 
executive present at the board meeting and a very limited number of officials within the 
Department for Transport (DfT). The experts who put together the paper did not do so in 
contemplation of the information being shared any more widely than this. 
 
The public disclosure of this paper would make ongoing policy development of the 
matters that they discuss more difficult since it would mean that decision makers were 
denied the safe space to make impartial, evidence-based decisions. Perhaps more 
importantly there is a broader principle associated with disclosure, namely that other 
Network Rail experts asked to produce papers for the board will need to take into account 
the possibility of public disclosure. This is likely to have a stifling effect on those experts 
meaning that they will be less frank when providing advice and presenting views to our 
executive and board.  
 
Network Rail Infrastructure Limited Registered Office: Network Rail, One Eversholt Street, London, NW1 2DN Registered in England and Wales No. 2904587 www.networkrail.co.uk 
 

 
On this basis, I am content that the information constitutes material that is in the course 
of completion and that regulation 12(4)(d) applies. 
 
The public interest test 
 
Whilst I believe I have demonstrated that this exception is engaged, in order to withhold 
the information, I must also demonstrate that the public interest does not favour 
disclosure. I have considered the issue and set out my findings below. 
 
There is always presumption in favour of disclosure under the EIR. This presumption is 
heightened in this instance because the information concerns executive decision making 
about changes to the railways which will direct affect people’s daily lives (how they get to 
work, the value of property, opportunities for commercial enterprise, etc.)  
 
Beyond this there is a public benefit in promoting access to this type of information, since 
releasing it would allow for public debate on issues which affect the environment. This is 
one of the key drivers that lies behind the EIR and is powerful argument in favour of 
disclosure. 
 
Set against this, however, is the potential impact of lessening the quality of advice 
provided to our leaders. The public disclosure of what was intended to be confidential 
advice has the potential to “…affect the frankness and candour of officials. In a situation 
where the relevant issue is still under consideration it may be plausible that the frankness 

of ongoing discussions on that issue would be adversely affected.”2 
 
Moreover, our discussions with experts suggest that disclosure of the Board paper 
requested here could lead to future issues with projects and schemes Network Rail would 
seek to undertake in the future. A public disclosure through the EIR could lead to our 
experts being concerned that anything they say in a board meeting being, effectively, a 
public announcement. This as the ICO contends means that ‘…those producing them 
[board papers] will be less frank and candid in giving their views or presenting information 
in future, and so the quality of the advice and information in the drafts, and hence the 
quality of decision making, would suffer
.3 
 
It is this that is the fundamental concern. Network Rail as a company is responsible for 
delivering vital services and spending large sums of public money in order to do so. It is, 
therefore, essential that our executive and board makes the right decisions on the basis of 
the fullest and frankest evidence available. Diminishing the quality of that evidence by 
taking any step that could make our experts less candid could have a significant and 
 
2 https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisations/documents/1637/eir_material_in_the_course_of_completion.pdf  
3 https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisations/documents/1637/eir_material_in_the_course_of_completion.pdf 
 
Network Rail Infrastructure Limited Registered Office: Network Rail, One Eversholt Street, London, NW1 2DN Registered in England and Wales No. 2904587 www.networkrail.co.uk 
 

 
harmful effect on the decisions taken by our board, this self-evidently runs counter to the 
public’s best interests. 
 
In conclusion, we recognise the strength of the factors above which favour disclosure, 
however, this must be balanced against the strong public interest in protecting a safe 
space in which decisions makers and experts can seek and provide views and advice. It is 
our view that the public interest lies in maintaining the exception in order to protect the 
integrity of our meetings and opportunity to discuss the subjects of this and future papers 
without public scrutiny and external opinions. On balance, we believe that the public 
interest lies in withholding the information you are seeking. This view is in large part 
informed by the fact that we proactively publish our board minutes meaning that the 
output of our board meetings is open to public scrutiny and this largely satisfies the public 
interest in transparency in our policy and decision-making processes. 
 
While we are not able to disclose the actual board paper to you, the two appendices 
attached to paper 76/20, summary of the post-completion project benefits review of the 
Great Western Electrification programme (GWEP), were intended to be published more 
widely at some point and we think it is appropriate to provide them to you in response to 
your request; please find these papers attached, titled: 
 
•  Value of Great Western Route Modernisation (Our Electric Future) 
•  GWRM Interim Project Completion Report Oct 20 (Electric Future) 
 
I am sorry that I am unable to provide the board paper you are seeking on this occasion, 
but I hope the documents we were able to provide and the explanations set out above are 
helpful. If you have any enquiries about this response, please contact me in the first 
instance at xxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xx.xx. Details of your appeal rights are below. 
 
Please remember to quote the reference number at the top of this letter in all future 
communications. 
 
Yours sincerely 
 
Emma Meadows 

Information Officer 
 
The information supplied to you continues to be protected by copyright.  You are free to 
use it for your own purposes, including for private study and non-commercial research, and 
for any other purpose authorised by an exception in current copyright law.  Documents 
(except photographs) can also be used in the UK without requiring permission for the 
purposes of news reporting.  Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, would 
require the permission of the copyright holder. Please contact me if you wish to re-use the 
information and need to seek the permission of the copyright holder. 
 
Network Rail Infrastructure Limited Registered Office: Network Rail, One Eversholt Street, London, NW1 2DN Registered in England and Wales No. 2904587 www.networkrail.co.uk 
 

 
Appeal Rights 
If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled and wish to make a 
complaint or request a review of our decision, please write to the Head of Freedom of 
Information at Network Rail, Freedom of Information, The Quadrant, Elder Gate, Milton 
Keynes, MK9 1EN, or by email at xxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xx.xx. Your request must be submitted 
within 40 working days of receipt of this letter.   
 
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 
(ICO) can be contacted at Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water 
Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF or you can contact the ICO through the 'Make a 
Complaint' section of their website on this link: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/ 
 
The relevant section to select will be "Official or Public Information".  
 
 
 
 
 
Network Rail Infrastructure Limited Registered Office: Network Rail, One Eversholt Street, London, NW1 2DN Registered in England and Wales No. 2904587 www.networkrail.co.uk