Amenity Pesticide Use

The request was partially successful.

Dear Aberdeen City 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

Foi Enquiries, Aberdeen City Council

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Basley,

 

Information enquiry reference EIR-20-0787.

 

Many thanks for your recent clarification of your information request,
which we received on 11 August 2020.

 

The scheduled date for our response to your request for information is on
or before 08 September 2020.

 

While Aberdeen City Council are prioritising resources to support
vulnerable citizens and essential services, we remain committed to provide
responses to requests as soon as we can.

 

Please refer to [1]FOISA reviews & appeals and [2]Your Data for more
information about your rights under the Freedom of Information Scotland
Act (FOISA).

 

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any queries in the
meantime.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

[3]ACC_Crest_for Salomeh Kheyri Rad | Access to Information Officer
mac email
Aberdeen City Council | Access to Information Team |
Customer Feedback |Customer

Marischal College | Business Hub 6 | 1^st Floor  | Broad
Street | Aberdeen | AB10 1AB

 

Dial: 01224 522166

[4]www.aberdeencity.gov.uk | Twitter: @AberdeenCC |
Facebook.com/AberdeenCC

 

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This e-mail (including any attachment to it) is
confidential, protected by copyright and may be privileged. The
information contained in it should be used for its intended purposes only.
If you receive this email in error, notify the sender by reply email,
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References

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1. https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/services...
2. https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/your-dat...
4. http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/

Foi Enquiries, Aberdeen City Council

3 Attachments

Dear Ms Basley,

 

Thank you for your information request of 11 August 2020. Aberdeen City
Council (ACC) has completed the necessary search for the information
requested. Our response is now detailed below.

 

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.

Round-Up Pro Vantage – Glyphosate

Round-Up Amenity – Glyphosate

Chikara – Flazasulfuron

 

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

Please see attached.

 

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

Within Aberdeen City Council owned street verges, pavements, open spaces,
parks, schools and amenity areas.

 

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.

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Chemical |2015 |2016 |2017      |2018      |2019 |
|-----------------------+-------+-------+------------+------------+------|
|Roundup Amenity (l) |  |1995 |2166 |2016 |2205 |
|-----------------------+-------+-------+------------+------------+------|
|Roundup Pro Vantage (l)|1265 |735 |1430 |1380 |1400 |
| | | | | | |
| |  | |  | | |
|-----------------------+-------+-------+------------+------------+------|
|Chikara (g) |2900 |3150 |5450 |5250 |4550 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

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

Round-Up Amenity 2% Concentration

Round-Up Pro Vantage 200ml per 15l H20

Chikara 10g per 15l H20

 

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.

ACC does not currently have a formal strategy in place to reduce the use
of pesticides. Services react and adapt as necessary to all changes in
legislation and best practise guidance

 

We are unable to provide you with information on strategies the council
have in place to reduce the use of these pesticides as it is not held by
the Council.  In order to comply with our obligations under the terms of
Regulation 10(4)(a) - Information Not Held - of the EIRs, we hereby give
notice that this information is not held by us.  We are required by
Regulation 10(1)(b) of the EIRs to inform you as to why in all the
circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining this
exception outweighs the public interest in disclosing this information to
you.  We are satisfied that we do not hold this information and consider
that, as there is no information held, the public interest lies with the
exception.

 

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.

£3,316,657.03

 

We hope this helps with your request.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Grant Webster

Access to Information Officer

 

INFORMATION ABOUT THE HANDLING OF YOUR REQUEST

 

As the information which you requested is environmental information, as
defined under Regulation 2(1) of the Environmental Information (Scotland)
Regulations 2004 (the EIRs), we considered that it was exempt from release
through FOISA, and must therefore give you notice that we are refusing 
your request under Section 39(2) of FOISA (Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act 2002).  However, you have a separate right to access the
information which you have requested under Regulation 5 of the EIRs, under
which we have handled your request. Please refer to [1]FOISA reviews &
appeals and [2]Your Data for more information about your rights under the
EIRs.

 

 

[3]ACC_Crest_for Grant Webster | Access to Information Officer
mac email
Aberdeen City Council | Access to Information Team |
Customer Feedback |Customer

Marischal College | Business Hub 6 | 1^st Floor  | Broad
Street | Aberdeen | AB10 1AB

 

Dial: 01224 522166

[4]www.aberdeencity.gov.uk | Twitter: @AberdeenCC |
Facebook.com/AberdeenCC

 

 

[5]COVID-19

COVID-19

COVID-19

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This e-mail (including any attachment to it) is
confidential, protected by copyright and may be privileged. The
information contained in it should be used for its intended purposes only.
If you receive this email in error, notify the sender by reply email,
delete the received email and do not make use of, disclose or copy it.
Whilst we take reasonable precautions to ensure that our emails are free
from viruses, we cannot be responsible for any viruses transmitted with
this email and recommend that you subject any incoming email to your own
virus checking procedures. Unless related to Council business, the
opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and they do not
necessarily constitute those of Aberdeen City Council. Unless we expressly
say otherwise in this email or its attachments, neither this email nor its
attachments create, form part of or vary any contractual or unilateral
obligation. Aberdeen City Council's incoming and outgoing email is subject
to regular monitoring.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/services...
2. https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/your-dat...
4. http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/
5. https://postimg.cc/kDxFrXny

Dear Mr Webster,

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

Best wishes,
Kate