Data request related to Service Requirement 6.38 and trees planted by Amey.

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Sheffield City Council should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Sheffield City Council,

I am seeking to ascertain the number of street trees that have been replaced pursuant to Service Requirement 6.38 of the Streets Ahead contract that had been planted by Amey after the contract started.

Please provide the following information:
1. How many street trees that have been replaced pursuant to Service Requirement 6.38 of the Streets Ahead contract?
2. Of the trees identified above, how many of these trees had been previously replaced pursuant to Service Requirement 6.38 of the Streets Ahead contract?
3. What monitoring mechanism is employed by the council to ensure that any trees planted by Amey that subsequently fail and are replaced do not contribute to the contractual obligation as defined in 6.38 of the contract?
4. How long does a replacement tree need to survive before being considered a replacement pursuant to 6.38 of the Streets Ahead contract?

Yours faithfully,

Mr. Buxton

FOI, Sheffield City Council

Dear Mr. Buxton,

 

Thank you for your recent request for information relating to Service
Requirement 6.38 and trees planted by Amey which we received on
22/11/2019.

 

This has been logged as a Freedom of Information Request, and will be
dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act.  The reference number for
your request can be found above.

 

The Freedom of Information Act states that we must respond to you within
20 working days, therefore, you should expect to hear a response from us
by 20/12/2019.

 

In the meantime, if you have any queries please, contact us at the email
address below.

 

Thank you.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Sheffield City Council

PO Box 1283

Sheffield, S1 1UJ

Email: [1][Sheffield City Council request email]

P Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to

 

 

From: Mr. Buxton [mailto:[FOI #622527 email]]
Sent: 22 November 2019 00:48
To: FOI
Subject: EIR - Service Requirement 6.38 and trees planted by Amey.

 

Dear Sheffield City Council,

 

I am seeking to ascertain the number of street trees that have been
replaced pursuant to Service Requirement 6.38 of the Streets Ahead
contract that had been planted by Amey after the contract started.

 

Please provide the following information:

1. How many street trees that have been replaced pursuant to Service
Requirement 6.38 of the Streets Ahead contract?

2. Of the trees identified above, how many of these trees had been
previously replaced pursuant to Service Requirement 6.38 of the Streets
Ahead contract?

3. What monitoring mechanism is employed by the council to ensure that any
trees planted by Amey that subsequently fail and are replaced do not
contribute to the contractual obligation as defined in 6.38 of the
contract?

4. How long does a replacement tree need to survive before being
considered a replacement pursuant to 6.38 of the Streets Ahead contract?

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Mr. Buxton

 

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FOI, Sheffield City Council

Dear Mr Buxton

 

Thank you for your recent request for information relating to Service
Requirement 6.38 and trees planted by Amey which we received on
22/11/2019.

 

Please find Sheffield City Council’s response to your request set out
below:

 

I am seeking to ascertain the number of street trees that have been
replaced pursuant to Service Requirement 6.38 of the Streets Ahead
contract that had been planted by Amey after the contract started.

 

Please provide the following information:

 

1. How many street trees that have been replaced pursuant to Service
Requirement 6.38 of the Streets Ahead contract?

 

We can advise that as at 12:04 on 4 December 2019, 5,454 trees have been
replaced since the start of the Streets Ahead contract.  Please note,
trees are approved for replacement via the Annual Tree Management
Programme and also via an Authority Approval process.  The figure of 5,454
is the total number of trees that have been approved using both of these
methods.  Please note that this figure does not include the replacement of
vandalised or failed newly planted trees.

 

2. Of the trees identified above, how many of these trees had been
previously replaced pursuant to Service Requirement 6.38 of the Streets
Ahead contract?

 

None.  The process of replacing failed or vandalised newly planted trees
is dealt with separately to and does not contribute towards the quantity
of trees that are replaced and referred to in Question 1 above.

 

3. What monitoring mechanism is employed by the council to ensure that any
trees planted by Amey that subsequently fail and are replaced do not
contribute to the contractual obligation as defined in 6.38 of the
contract?

 

The Streets Ahead Contract is a self-monitoring contract and Amey carry
out inspections as a part of this.  The newly planted trees are inspected
by Amey’s Arboricultural teams within a few days of being planted.  If the
planting is not up to standard then any problems are rectified. 

 

The Council undertakes proactive data analysis of Amey’s activity via the
Management Information System and hold regular meetings with Amey
Arboricultural staff to discuss technical elements of the service. These
discussions include replanting success percentages, watering programme
progress and trend analysis on vandalism.

4. How long does a replacement tree need to survive before being
considered a replacement pursuant to 6.38 of the Streets Ahead contract?

 

We can advise that replacement trees are categorised as “New Plantings”
until they are established and no longer require staking and watering. 
This typically lasts for 2 years.

 

If you have any queries about this response, please do not hesitate to
contact us.

 

If you are unhappy with the response you have received in relation to your
request, you are entitled to have this reviewed.  You can ask for an
internal review by either writing to the above address or by emailing
[1][Sheffield City Council request email].  Internal review requests should be submitted
within 40 working days from the date of this response.

 

If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of your internal review, you
can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office. The Information
Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, telephone 0303
123 1113, or for further details see their website [2]www.ico.org.uk

 

Kind regards

 

Robert Jackson

Access to Information Officer

Information Management Team

Business Change and Information Solutions (BCIS)

Resources Portfolio

Sheffield City Council

PO Box 1283, Sheffield S1 1UJ

0114 273 4906

[3][Sheffield City Council request email]

[4]www.sheffield.gov.uk

 

 

 

 

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Dear FOI,

Thank you for your response I above I received on 20th December.

This is not a request for an internal review. Please do not treat it as such.

Further to your response to question 2, you replied:
"The process of replacing failed or vandalised newly planted trees is dealt with separately to and does not contribute towards the quantity of trees that are replaced and referred to in Question 1 above."

With reference to your legislative duty to "assist", please can you identify and specify what the 'separate process' is that deals with replacing newly planted trees that have failed for any reason. No such process is visible in any of the published contract, hence the rationale for my question.

You will appreciate that a clear response would be in the interest of transparency and adhere to the spirit of the relevant law.

Yours sincerely,

Mr. Buxton

FOI, Sheffield City Council

Dear Mr Buxton,

We classify the replacement of vandalised and failed new plantings in our Management Information System in a way which distinguishes them from existing established trees that are being replaced. The use of the word ‘process’ in the response did not refer to a contract process; it was referring to the different process used for recording work on such trees in such a way as distinguishes them from work on other trees.

Kind regards
Holly

Holly McCready
Access to Information Officer
Information Management Team
Business Change and Information Solutions (BCIS)
Resources Portfolio, Sheffield City Council
Email: [email address]
Postal Address: Sheffield City Council, PO Box 1283, Sheffield S1 1UJ

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Dear FOI,

Please can you check the figure quoted of 5,454. Data that SCC has previously released would indicate that 'failed new plantings' are actually included in this figure.

I'm sure the significance of this request for clarification is recognised with regards to potential fraud.

Yours sincerely,

Mr. Buxton

Dear Holly,

Please could you ensure I receive a response to my email above, dated 3rd February, by return.

Many thanks and kind regards.

Mr. Buxton

FOI, Sheffield City Council

Dear Mr Buxton

Thank you for your email of 3 February asking us to confirm the accuracy of our response. Please accept our apologies for the delay in our reply. Our response is set out below.

We confirm that (as at 12:04 on 4 December 2019) the figure of 5,454 which was stated in answer to question 1 in our response to FOI 1277 is correct. We also confirm that this figure does not include failed new plantings.

If you are unhappy with the response you have received in relation to your request, you are entitled to have this reviewed. You can ask for an internal review by either writing to the above address or by emailing [Sheffield City Council request email]. Internal review requests should be submitted within 40 working days from the date of this response.

If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of your internal review, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office. Please see www.ico.org.uk for further details.

Kind regards

Robert Jackson
Access to Information Officer
Information Management Team
Business Change and Information Solutions
Resources Portfolio
Sheffield City Council

Email: [email address]; [Sheffield City Council request email];
[email address]; [email address]

Postal Address: Sheffield City Council, PO Box 1283 Sheffield S1 1UJ

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