Highways England annual assessment

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Dear Office of Rail and Road,

In your latest annual assessment of Highways England you report that Highways England has underspent its air quality budget - Spent £37m of £75m. As the previous year you reported this as £7m spend of £75m this is not credible.

As you are an independent regulator, can you confirm that you have independently checked this figure and whether the additional £30m was actually spent on air quality, and if so, what?

Yours faithfully,

Jack Pease

CCT Contact, Office of Rail and Road

2 Attachments

Dear Mr. Pease,

 

Thank you for your request, dated 28^th July for information as to whether
the figures in Highways England’s Annual Assessment on air quality spend
are correct.

 

We are handling your request under the terms of the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 (the Act).  Under the terms of the Act, you are entitled to a
response within 20 working days of receipt. We therefore aim to provide a
response no later than 25^th August 2020. If we cannot meet this deadline
we will let you know the reason and also tell you when you can expect a
response.

 

If you have any query about this email please contact the Customer
Correspondence Team quoting the above reference.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

On behalf of the Customer Correspondence Team

 

Angela Palmer

Interim Senior Executive

 

 

 

  [2]Description: Customer
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[1]cid:image001.png@01D65698.554BFF70 Team Manager
25 Cabot
Square,

London

E14  4QZ

0207 282 2000

Web:
ORR.gov.uk 
Follow us on
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[3]@railandroad

 

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From: Jack Pease <[FOI #680214 email]>
Sent: 28 July 2020 11:11
To: CCT Contact <[ORR request email]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Highways England annual
assessment

 

Dear Office of Rail and Road,

In your latest annual assessment of Highways England you report that
Highways England has underspent its air quality budget - Spent £37m of
£75m. As the previous year you reported this as £7m spend of £75m this is
not credible.

As you are an independent regulator, can you confirm that you have
independently checked this figure and whether the additional £30m was
actually spent on air quality, and if so, what?

Yours faithfully,

Jack Pease

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show quoted sections

CCT Contact, Office of Rail and Road

2 Attachments

Dear Mr. Pease,
 
I write in response to your request for information dated 28^th July 2020,
regarding the accuracy of the air quality spend figures in Highways
England’s Annual Assessment report, which  has been considered under the
terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI Act)
 
We can confirm that Highways England spent £38.7m in RP1 of their Air
Quality fund, which is 52% of their funding of £75m.  The figures
originate from Highways England’s performance monitoring statements, which
are internally audited and signed-off by Highways England’s Board:
[1]http://assets.highwaysengland.co.uk/Corp...
 
On Tab ‘F1’, line 23 columns C to G show the total spend on Air Quality
within RP1 was £38.7m.
 
Examples of the projects delivered through this fund as stated on Page 45,
Figure 3.12 of our Annual Assessment (linked here:
[2]https://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_fil...
) include:
•             A schemes to encourage business to switch to electric vans
(initially in partnership with Leeds City Council)
•             Trials of air quality barriers
•             Rolling out a network of 60 automatic air quality monitoring
stations
 
Should you have any further queries regarding your request please contact
the Customer Correspondence Team (CCT) quoting the above reference.
 
Your rights of appeal under FOI Act
 
If you are not satisfied with the way in which your request has been
handled, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review
requests should be submitted within two months of the date of this email,
and should be addressed to the Board Secretariat at:
 
Office of Rail and Road
25 Cabot Square
London
E14 4QZ
 
Email: [3][email address]
 
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you may
apply directly to the Information Commissioner (IC) for a decision.
Generally the IC cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the
complaints procedure provided by ORR. The IC can be contacted at:
 
The Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
 
Tel: 0303 123 1113
Email: [4][email address]
Website: [5]https://ico.org.uk/
 
Yours sincerely,
 
On behalf of the Customer Correspondence Team
 
Juliet Hyatt 
 

Customer
Correspondence
Team
25 Cabot
Square,
  London
[6][IMG] E14  4QZ
0207 282 2000
Web:
[7]ORR.gov.uk 
Follow us on
twitter
[8]@railandroad

 
Our Privacy Notice:
[9]http://orr.gov.uk/about-orr/corporate-da...
ORR staff are working normally, but from home, during COVID 19
 
 
From: Jack Pease <[FOI #680214 email]>
Sent: 28 July 2020 11:11
To: CCT Contact <[ORR request email]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Highways England annual
assessment
 
Dear Office of Rail and Road,

In your latest annual assessment of Highways England you report that
Highways England has underspent its air quality budget - Spent £37m of
£75m. As the previous year you reported this as £7m spend of £75m this is
not credible.

As you are an independent regulator, can you confirm that you have
independently checked this figure and whether the additional £30m was
actually spent on air quality, and if so, what?

Yours faithfully,

Jack Pease

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[10][FOI #680214 email]

Is [11][ORR request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Office of Rail and Road? If so, please contact us using this
form:
[12]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/change_re...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[13]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[14]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

show quoted sections