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Auckland Road Bus Gate

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Dear Croydon Borough Council,

Please can you advise the number of times motorised vehicles have driven through the bus gate on Auckland Road since it was installed, by day, both as a total but also broken down into the following categories:

A) a vehicle being used for fire brigade, ambulance or police purposes;
B) anything done with the permission of a police constable in uniform or a
civil enforcement officer;
C) a vehicle being used for the purposes of a statutory undertaker in an
emergency, such as the loss of supplies of gas, electricity or water to
premises in the area, which necessitates the bringing of vehicles into a
section of road to which the order applies;
D) buses allowed as indicated by traffic signs
E) vehicles operated by or on behalf of Croydon council (including refuse collection, highways maintenance etc)
F) Other vehicles

For each category, please can you also provide the number of:
PCNs issued
PCNs paid without challenge
PCNs informally challenged successfully
PCNs informally challenged unsuccessfully
PCNs formally appealed successfully
PCNs formally appealed unsuccessfully
PCNs sent to the adjudicator where they were cancelled
PCNs sent to the adjudicator where they were upheld

Yours faithfully,

Mr Smith

Croydon Council, Croydon Borough Council

FOI/EIR request
Our reference: 3033965

show quoted sections

Croydon Council, Croydon Borough Council

1 Attachment

FOI/EIR request
Our reference: 3033965

show quoted sections

Dear Croydon Borough Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Croydon Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Auckland Road Bus Gate'.

You have claimed an exemption under section 22 (1)(a)(b) of the FOI Act (Information intended for future publication). You have applied this exemption as you claim the requested information will be published at a future date in the Council's Traffic Management Accounts for 2020/21.

However, I have reviewed the Traffic Management Accounts published at https://www.croydon.gov.uk/transportands... over the past few years, and all of the reports are high level, borough-wide statistics, without giving the breakdowns I requested or giving any detail for an individual location. So, whilst the statistics from the Auckland Road bus gate may contribute to the overall borough statistics you intend to publish, I do not believe you actually intend to publish the specific information I have requested. I refer you to the ICO guidance on this exemption at https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio... , specifically paragraphs 9 and 10.

You also claim to have considered the public interest and have decided the information cannot be provided as it is not yet completed. However, the information I have requested is completed. The vehicles have driven through the bus gate already, those instances have been recorded in a database and in some instances have resulted in PCNs being issued, appealed etc. None of the information I have requested requires auditing prior to providing me with the information I have requested. If there were any doubt over the accuracy of the camera then it would surely require auditing prior to issuing or deciding not to issue a PCN for each vehicle driving through the bus gate.

I understand you may need to audit your accounts before they are published, but I have not requested your accounts, your accounts do not contain the specific information I am requesting and I therefore do not agree there is any need to delay.

Even if your application of this exemption is correct, which I do not believe to be the case, I note that the latest published accounts are for 2018/19. No accounts have been published for 2019/20 yet, so one must suppose that we're at least a year away from you publishing 2020/21 accounts. Given the length of time it will be before you do publish your accounts, I would argue it is not in the public interest to apply this exemption.

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

Yours faithfully,

Mr Smith

Croydon Council, Croydon Borough Council

FOI/EIR request
Our reference: 3033965

show quoted sections

Passman, Howard, Croydon Borough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Smith,

 

Thank you for your email dated 10 February 2021 in which you requested an
Internal Review of the Council’s response to your request for information.

 

I have been asked to conduct an Internal Review of the Council's response
to your request for information, and will endeavour to provide a response
within the statutory timescales; that is no later than 11 March 2021. 
However, if for any reason there is a need to extend the time for the
review, I will contact you before that date.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Howard Passman

020 8726 6000 ext. 62318

 

Information Management and Governance Co-ordinator

 

[1]cid:995D36CC-63D9-452C-921A-47E295D9BC0F

Resources Department

Legal Services

7th Floor Zone C
Bernard Weatherill House

8 Mint Walk

Croydon CR0 1EA

 

To allow us to deal with the disruption caused by Coronavirus /COVID-19
please communicate with us only by email and not by post. Our lawyers and
support colleagues may be working from different locations. Legal Services
will communicate electronically only. We do not have a fax in our service.
We will accept service of court proceedings for the Council by email on
any business day between the hours of 9am and 4.30pm. Any email received
after 4.30pm will be deemed to be served on us the next business day. The
email address for service is [2][email address]

 

Council services, online, 24/7 www.croydon.gov.uk/myaccount.

Please use this web site address to view the council's e-mail disclaimer -
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References

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Dear Mr Passman,

On 23rd February you wrote to advise you would respond to my request for an internal review by 11th March. We have now passed that date. Please can you advise when I can expect your response?

Yours sincerely,

Mr Smith

Passman, Howard, Croydon Borough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Smith,

 

Further to your email dated 10 February 2021, in which you requested an
Internal Review of the Council’s response to your request for information,
considered under the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA), I have now
concluded this review and I am able to reply as follows.  Please accept my
apologies for the delay in replying.

 

In your request for Internal Review, you asked the Council to reconsider
your request as you believed that you had not been provided with the
information requested.

 

In your request for information dated 15 January 2021, you requested the
following information:

 

“…the number of times motorised vehicles have driven through the bus gate
on Auckland Road since it was installed, by day, both as a total but also
broken down into the following categories:

 

A) a vehicle being used for fire brigade, ambulance or police purposes;

 

B) anything done with the permission of a police constable in uniform or a
civil enforcement officer;

 

C) a vehicle being used for the purposes of a statutory undertaker in an
emergency, such as the loss of supplies of gas, electricity or water to

premises in the area, which necessitates the bringing of vehicles into a
section of road to which the order applies;

 

D) buses allowed as indicated by traffic signs

 

E) vehicles operated by or on behalf of Croydon council (including refuse
collection, highways maintenance etc)

 

F) Other vehicles

 

For each category, please can you also provide the number of:

 

PCNs issued

PCNs paid without challenge

PCNs informally challenged successfully

PCNs informally challenged unsuccessfully

PCNs formally appealed successfully

PCNs formally appealed unsuccessfully

PCNs sent to the adjudicator where they were cancelled

PCNs sent to the adjudicator where they were upheld”

 

The Council responded to you on the 10 February 2021 and informed you that
the requested information could not be provided as enforcement at this
location commenced in October 2020 and records of the have yet to be
audited. Further the requested information would form part of the
Council’s Traffic Management Accounts for 2020/2021 and will be published,
following completion of the Audit.  As a result it was considered that the
requested information was exempt from disclosure under the exemption
provided for within Section 22 (1)(a)(b) of the FoIA, “Information
intended for future publication”, and that the balance of the public
interest supported this.

 

In your request for an Internal Review dated, 10 February 2021 you stated
the following:

 

“You have claimed an exemption under section 22 (1)(a)(b) of the FOI Act
(Information intended for future publication).

You have applied this exemption as you claim the requested information
will be published at a future date in the Council's Traffic Management
Accounts for 2020/21. However, I have reviewed the Traffic Management
Accounts published at
https://www.croydon.gov.uk/transportands... over the
past few years, and all of the reports are high level, borough-wide
statistics, without giving the breakdowns I requested or giving any detail
for an individual location.

 

So, whilst the statistics from the Auckland Road bus gate may contribute
to the overall borough statistics you intend to publish, I do not believe
you actually intend to publish the specific information I have requested.
I refer you to the ICO guidance on this exemption at
https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...

publication-and-research-information-sections-22-and-22a-foi.pdf,
specifically paragraphs 9 and 10.

 

You also claim to have considered the public interest and have decided the
information cannot be provided as it is not yet completed. However, the
information I have requested is completed. The vehicles have driven
through the bus gate already, those instances have been recorded in a
database and in some instances have resulted in PCNs being issued,
appealed etc. None of the information I have requested requires auditing
prior to providing me with the information I have requested. If there were
any doubt over the accuracy of the camera then it would surely require
auditing prior to issuing or deciding not to issue a PCN for each vehicle
driving through the bus gate.

 

I understand you may need to audit your accounts before they are
published, but I have not requested your accounts, your accounts do not
contain the specific information I am requesting and I therefore do not
agree there is any need to delay.

Even if your application of this exemption is correct, which I do not
believe to be the case, I note that the latest published accounts are for
2018/19. No accounts have been published for 2019/20 yet, so one must
suppose that we're at least a year away from you publishing 2020/21
accounts. Given the length of time it will be before you do publish your
accounts, I would argue it is not in the public interest to apply this
exemption.”

 

On receiving your request for an Internal Review, I contacted the Parking
Services who have provided additional information in answer to the issues
raised in your Internal Review.

 

I have been informed that to provide a breakdown of the information held,
will require a review of in excess of 1,000 records to locate, retrieve
and/or extract the requested information.

 

This process will require the viewing of images/files held for every PCN
issued at this location, reviewing any relevant correspondence, and then
recording the information so it could be provided to you.

 

It is estimated this would take 10-15 minutes per record/PCN.  On the
assumption that it would take 10 minutes per record/PCN, then the total
estimated time to complete this task would be in excess of the appropriate
limit.

As the Council considers that to provide you with the requested
information would exceed ‘appropriate limit’, and the requested
information is as a result, considered to be exempt from disclosure under
the exemption provided for in Section 12 of FoIA (Cost of Compliance
Exceeds Appropriate Limit.). The Freedom of Information and Data
Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulation sets the appropriate
limit at of £25 per person, per hour, £450, 18 hours work. The Council
estimates that to provide you with the requested information would exceed
this limit

While there is an obvious public interest in how the Council carries out
its enforcement processes and the in particular the number of PCNs issued,
in this particular instance this need to be balanced against the
disruption to the audit process, to provide the specific information you
are seeking, which has not been audited. The Council considers that it is
part of the effective conduct of public affairs, to enable the publication
of information to be carried out in as a planned and managed activity. To
enable all those interested to have access at the same time. Releasing
this information as requested, could result in this partial and incomplete
information leading to confusion and inaccurate picture of parking
enforcement and the issuing of PCNs.

 

As has been stated above, given the number of records and the time
required to review them, could only prove disruptive to Council’s ability
to undertake the necessary compliance work prior to the publication of the
Traffic Management Accounts.  Therefore it is not considered in the public
interest to provide you with the requested information.

 

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

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Howard Passman

020 8726 6000 ext. 62318

 

Information Management and Governance Co-ordinator

 

[1]cid:995D36CC-63D9-452C-921A-47E295D9BC0F

Resources Department

Legal Services

7th Floor Zone C
Bernard Weatherill House

8 Mint Walk

Croydon CR0 1EA

 

To allow us to deal with the disruption caused by Coronavirus /COVID-19
please communicate with us only by email and not by post. Our lawyers and
support colleagues may be working from different locations. Legal Services
will communicate electronically only. We do not have a fax in our service.
We will accept service of court proceedings for the Council by email on
any business day between the hours of 9am and 4.30pm. Any email received
after 4.30pm will be deemed to be served on us the next business day. The
email address for service is [2][email address]

 

Council services, online, 24/7 www.croydon.gov.uk/myaccount.

Please use this web site address to view the council's e-mail disclaimer -
http://www.croydon.gov.uk/email-disclaimer

References

Visible links
2. mailto:[email address]

We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Mr Smith please sign in and let everyone know.