Prioritisation process and impact assessment of B4063 Cycle Scheme
Dear Gloucestershire County Council,
The council has decided to focus almost all of its new cycle infrastructure budget into the B4063 scheme, and routinely cites in public meetings that this scheme has been assessed as the highest priority within the county, supported by reference to either the Highways England and/or the DfT Rapid Cycleway Prioritisation Tool (https://www.cyipt.bike/rapid/) that it delivers high necessity and value for money.
However, the rapid tool appears to only show the Tranche 1 section (already delivered) as being a high priority section, with no other sections of the route scoring in the top 20 potential upgrades for Gloucestershire. The Highways England assessment, and the council's decision making process on route prioritisation, are not currently published. There are also concerns the route will not deliver for the breadth of Gloucestershire residents, and could contribute to greater inequality in access to safe cycling facilities given its primary capability is to serve medium distance commuting, and not micromobility for families etc.
I would like to request;
1) The Highways England value for money assessment (including methodology and metrics used) cited by the council as supporting the high value of the scheme, and the council's interpretation and validation of the DfT Rapid Cycleway Prioritisation Tool.
2) Documentation of the prioritisation and decision process followed by the council to establish this as being the route that would receive the vast majority of investment.
3) The narrative and outcome of the equality impact assessment undertaken by the council to assure itself that the outcome of its prioritisation decision did not disproportionately affect groups with protected characteristics, for example by age, gender.
4) The number of users per day that the council has modelled in its decision making process who will use the route
Many thanks for your help in understanding the prioritisation decision the council has reached.
Yours faithfully,
Christopher Chiswell
Information request
Our reference: 20489396
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Christopher Chiswell
Request for Information (Reference: 20489396 )
Thank you for your request for information. .
Request summary:
1) The Highways England value for money assessment (including methodology
and metrics used) cited by the council as supporting the high value of the
scheme, and the council's interpretation and validation of the DfT Rapid
Cycleway Prioritisation Tool.
2) Documentation of the prioritisation and decision process followed by
the council to establish this as being the route that would receive the
vast majority of investment.
3) The narrative and outcome of the equality impact assessment undertaken
by the council to assure itself that the outcome of its prioritisation
decision did not disproportionately affect groups with protected
characteristics, for example by age, gender.
4) The number of users per day that the council has modelled in its
decision making process who will use the route
Due to the ongoing uncertainty of the full impact of COVID-19 there are
likely to be disruptions to our services. At the moment, we are focussing
on high priority work and the remainder will be subject to delays. We
appreciate your patience during these unprecedented times.
We aim to respond to your request no later than midnight on 25 February
2021 (the statutory timescale of 20 working days, starting on the working
day following receipt of your request). We may need to contact you if the
request needs to be clarified; this is to ensure we provide you with the
information you require.
If the information you have requested is held by another public authority,
we will inform you of this so that you can contact them directly.
Gloucestershire County Council is committed to the principles of
information disclosure and will, wherever possible, provide all
information requested. However, some information you have requested may
not be provided to you; this will only be information that can be withheld
by law, and, in most cases, the reason will be explained to you when we
send out any information that can be released. We will also inform you as
soon as possible if we do not hold the information you have requested.
Our response to your request may be published in our disclosure log, with
your personal details removed. Our new disclosure log can be found on our
website at: [1]www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/foi. In future, you may find
that the answer to your questions about the Council has already been
published.
Yours faithfully
Request Support Assistant
Information Management Services
01452 324000
References
Visible links
1. http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/foi
Information request
Our reference: 20489396
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Mr Chiswell,
I am pleased to provide a response to your request for information
submitted on 28 January 2021 :
1) The Highways England value for money assessment (including methodology
and metrics used) cited by the council as supporting the high value of the
scheme, and the council's interpretation and validation of the DfT Rapid
Cycleway Prioritisation Tool.
2) Documentation of the prioritisation and decision process followed by
the council to establish this as being the route that would receive the
vast majority of investment.
3) The narrative and outcome of the equality impact assessment undertaken
by the council to assure itself that the outcome of its prioritisation
decision did not disproportionately affect groups with protected
characteristics, for example by age, gender.
4) The number of users per day that the council has modelled in its
decision making process who will use the route
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 s1, I can confirm that
Gloucestershire County Council does hold relevant information.
Please find this information attached.
Gloucestershire County Council has not withheld any information in
relation to this request under the exemptions of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (FoIA)
The full procedure is on our website [1]here.
If you are unhappy with my response, you can complain or ask for a review
of your request by writing to us within 40 working days of receiving this
response. The full procedure is on our website at
[2]http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/foi. This should be addressed to:
Shire Hall
Westgate Street
Gloucester
GL1 2TG
[3][email address]
Yours faithfully,
Ethan Hawkins
Information Requests Officer
Information Management Service
01452 324000
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.
References
Visible links
1. http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/datapr....
2. http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/foi
3. mailto:[email address]
Dear Gloucestershire CC,
Thank you for the information. There aren't any units marked on the DfT uplift table.
Could I just clarify, is this scheme expected to increase the number of cyclists by around 50 per hour, or 50 per day? I think it's the latter, but just want to be sure that the scheme is being designed for around 400 users per day.
Yours faithfully,
Christopher Chiswell
Dear Mr Chiswell,
Thank you for your email.
I have forwarded your query to the relevant officer for clarification and
will keep you informed of any updates.
Yours sincerely,
Ethan Hawkins
Information Requests Officer
Information Management Service
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Gloucestershire CC,
Thank you for the information. There aren't any units marked on the DfT
uplift table.
Could I just clarify, is this scheme expected to increase the number of
cyclists by around 50 per hour, or 50 per day? I think it's the latter,
but just want to be sure that the scheme is being designed for around 400
users per day.
Yours faithfully,
Christopher Chiswell
Dear Mr Chiswell,
Thank you for your email.
I have since been informed by our Highways Commissioning Team that the
data within the table relates to the number of weekday cyclists.
If you are unhappy with my original response, you can complain or ask for
a review of your request by writing to us within 40 working days of
receiving it. The full procedure is on our website at
[1]http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/foi.
This should be addressed to:
Shire Hall
Westgate Street
Gloucester
GL1 2TG
[2][email address]
I will now close your case as of this date.
Yours sincerely,
Ethan Hawkins
Information Requests Officer
Information Management Service
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Gloucestershire CC,
Thank you for the information. There aren't any units marked on the DfT
uplift table.
Could I just clarify, is this scheme expected to increase the number of
cyclists by around 50 per hour, or 50 per day? I think it's the latter,
but just want to be sure that the scheme is being designed for around 400
users per day.
Yours faithfully,
Christopher Chiswell
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now