Amenity Pesticide Usage

The request was successful.

Dear City of Edinburgh Council,

I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information.

1. Please provide the following information on amenity pesticide usage:
a. A list of the pesticides you use (brand name, and active ingredient), this should include insecticides, fungicides, molluscicides and herbicides.
b. The COSHH assessment form for each of the pesticides you use.
c. Where these chemicals are used, i.e parks, road verges, pavements, tree bases etc.
d. Annual quantities of each pesticide used over the past 5 years. Please include the total amount of each used both by the council internally and externally through contractors.
e. Please also confirm the concentrations of each pesticide used at application.

2. What strategies does the council have in place to reduce the use of these pesticides? Please provide detail on these efforts including dates and costings where possible.

3. How much has the council spent on purchasing and spraying amenity pesticides over the past 5 years? Please include staff costs of people employed to undertake this (either contractors or council staff), personal protective equipment, safety training, spray equipment, hazard signs, etc.

If it is not possible to provide the information requested above for any reason, I would be grateful for any further advice or assistance as to how I can refine my request. If any of this information is already in the public domain, please can you direct me to it, with page references and URLs as necessary.

If you have any queries please don’t hesitate to contact me via email or phone and I will be very happy to clarify what I am asking for and discuss the request.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to your response.

Yours faithfully,
Kate Basley

City of Edinburgh Council

Kate Basley

Our ref: 28946

Dear Kate Basley

Acknowledgement of Request

Subject: Amenity Pesticide Usage

Thank you for your request for information which was received on 11/08/2020. In your request you asked for the following;

1. Please provide the following information on amenity pesticide usage:
a. A list of the pesticides you use (brand name, and active ingredient), this should include insecticides, fungicides, molluscicides and herbicides.
b. The COSHH assessment form for each of the pesticides you use.
c. Where these chemicals are used, i.e parks, road verges, pavements, tree bases etc.
d. Annual quantities of each pesticide used over the past 5 years. Please include the total amount of each used both by the council internally and externally through contractors.
e. Please also confirm the concentrations of each pesticide used at application.

2. What strategies does the council have in place to reduce the use of these pesticides? Please provide detail on these efforts including dates and costings where possible.

3. How much has the council spent on purchasing and spraying amenity pesticides over the past 5 years? Please include staff costs of people employed to undertake this (either contractors or council staff), personal protective equipment, safety training, spray equipment, hazard signs, etc.

I can confirm that your request will be processed under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, Environmental Information Regulations (Scotland) 2004, or the INSPIRE (Scotland) Regulations 2009.

You will receive the information requested within 20 working days unless the Council does not hold the information, or there is a reason for it to be withheld. We will write to you in any event. This means we have until 08/09/2020 to respond to your request.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case we will let you know.

If you have any requirements regarding the format any information should be supplied in, e.g. the language to be used, audio, large print and so on, then please let me know.

If you have any queries or concerns, do not hesitate to get in touch. Please quote the reference number above in any future communications.

To promote transparency and accountability, please note it is the Council’s policy to publish all request details and responses made under the freedom of information legislation. This information will be made available through the Council’s website and will not include your personal details. The disclosure log is available at the following link: http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/homepage/175....

Further information about your rights and accessing information is available on our website at: www.edinburgh.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

Information Governance Unit
Level 2:1, Waverley Court, Edinburgh EH8 8BG Tel 0131 200 2340
[Edinburgh City Council request email] www.edinburgh.gov.uk

Information Rights Officer 2, City of Edinburgh Council

1 Attachment

Link: [1]File-List

Kate Basley

 

[FOI #683769 email]

 

Our ref: 28946

 

Dear Kate Basley

 

Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 - Release of
Information

 

Subject: Amenity Pesticide Usage

 

Thank you for your request for information of 11/08/2020 which has been
processed and considered under the Environmental Information (Scotland)
Regulations 2004 (EIRs). Unfortunately, we only hold part of the
information you requested and this is provided below.

 

Where I have advised that we do not hold the information you requested,
the Council is relying on the exception under regulation 10(4)(a) of the
EIRs and this constitutes a formal notice under regulation 13.

 

1. Please provide the following information on amenity pesticide usage:

 

a. A list of the pesticides you use (brand name, and active ingredient),
this should include insecticides, fungicides, molluscicides and
herbicides.

 

Currently we use the following chemicals

Nomix Dual - Glyphosate

Roundup pro bio - Glyphosate

Rosate 360 – Glyphosate

New Way – Acetic acid

 

b. The COSHH assessment form for each of the pesticides you use.

 

See attached

 

c. Where these chemicals are used, i.e parks, road verges, pavements, tree
bases etc.

 

Nomix Dual – Highway weed spraying, road verges, pavements, pathways

Roundup pro bio – Invasive weed treatment (Hogweed, Knotweed) Water of
Leith, anywhere within the city of Edinburgh that is council owned land,
preparation of meadows and wildflower bed

Rosate 360 - Highway weed spraying, road verges, pavements, pathways

New Way Acetic acid – Pathways and fence lines within parks

 

d. Annual quantities of each pesticide used over the past 5 years. Please
include the total amount of each used both by the council internally and
externally through contractors.

 

See attached chemical comparison

 

e. Please also confirm the concentrations of each pesticide used at
application.

 

Nomix Dual – Comes pre-mixed in 5 litre packs. No contact, mixing or
dilution required

Roundup pro bio – bought in 15 litre packs mixed at a ratio of 187.5ml to
15litres of water

Rosate 360 – bought in 20 litre tubs and mixed at a ratio of 1.6litres of
Rosate to 70 litres of water

New Way Acetic Acid – bought in 5 litre tubs and mixed at a ratio of
4litres new way to 10 litres of water

 

2. What strategies does the council have in place to reduce the use of
these pesticides?

Please provide detail on these efforts including dates and costings where
possible.

 

Spot treating of street weeds by operators using quad bike mounted
spraying equipment – (6 quad mounted spraying bikes)

Strimming, mulching and mechanical means of clearing edges of pathways and
fence lines within parks

Tractor mounted weed scrubbing brush

Deep cleansing by Waste and Cleansing teams by use of scrapers, brushing
and mechanical sweepers

 

We do not hold information on the dates nor do we calculate the costings.

 

3. How much has the council spent on purchasing and spraying amenity
pesticides over the past 5 years? Please include staff costs of people
employed to undertake this (either contractors or council staff), personal
protective equipment, safety training, spray equipment, hazard signs, etc.

 

We can only provide costs from 2017 and all costs given are made up of
chemical, personal protective equipment, safety training, spray equipment,
hazard signs, etc.

 

2017 – chemical costs £29,999.56

 

2018 – chemical costs £18,442.74 + additional costs of Hire 2018/2019 -
£240 Per Vehicle per Week.

We estimate that the total cost is £37,434 (around 25 weeks) – cost spread
between season 2018/2019

 

2019 – chemical costs £23,772. 21 + additional costs of Hire 2019/2020 -
£248 per vehicles per week. 

We estimate that the total cost is £35,216 (around 23 weeks) – cost spread
between season 2019/2020

 

2020 – chemical costs so far - £4770 + additional costs to purchase Quad
bikes: £49,500 (ex VAT)

 

To promote transparency and accountability, please note it is the
Council’s policy to publish all request details and responses made under
the freedom of information legislation. This information is normally
available through the Council’s website and will not include personal
details. Unfortunately, at the moment, the disclosure log is only partly
available. We hope to have this issue resolved in the near future, after
which time, the full response will be accessible via the following link:
https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/homepage/10....

 

Your right to seek a review

 

If you are unhappy with the way we have dealt with your request, you can
ask us to review our actions and decisions by writing to the:

 

Head of Strategy & Communications

The City of Edinburgh Council,

Waverley Court Business Centre 2:1,

4, East Market Street,

Edinburgh,

EH8 8BG or:

Email: [email address]

 

Please note that your request must be in a recordable format (email,
letter, audio tape etc.), and that you have 40 working days upon receipt
of this letter to ask for a review. You will receive a full response to
your review request within 20 working days of its receipt. Please remember
to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the review, you can ask the
Scottish Information Commissioner to review our decision. You must submit
your complaint to the Commissioner within 6 months of receiving our review
response. The Commissioner can be contacted at:

 

The Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner

Kinburn Castle

Doubledykes Road

St Andrews

Fife

KY16 9DS

Telephone: 01334 464610

Fax: 01334 464611

Website: www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal

Email: [email address]

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Sue Brown

Information Rights Officer

 

 

 

 

Information Governance Unit

Level 2:1, Waverley Court, Edinburgh EH8 8BG Tel 0131 200 2340

[Edinburgh City Council request email] www.edinburgh.gov.uk

 

 

 

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Dear Ms Brown,

Thank you very much for all the information you have sent across, it is greatly appreciated.

Best wishes,
Kate