Requests for enforcement of public rights of way

Vincent Aleck made this Freedom of Information request to Enfield Council This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

Enfield Council did not have the information requested.

Dear Enfield Council,

Can you please provide me with statistics relating to enforcement of public rights of way in the last 5 years (broken down by year)?
1 how many requests for enforcement action have been made by the public in the last 5 years?
2 how many distinct public rights of way have been identified in these requests?
3 what and how many enforcement actions have been taken in response to these requests, and how many distinct rights of way did these cover?
4 what and how many enforcement actions have been taken that did NOT originate from a request from the public, and how many distinct rights of way did these cover?
5 what is the current status of each of the enforcement actions listed in the 2 categories 3 and 4 above?

Yours faithfully,

Vincent Aleck

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 Response
Dear Sir / Madam

We acknowledge your request for information received on 07/09/2015 12.16
PM

Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate team or service holding
the information and that team will respond to your request and contact you
where required.

If the information you are seeking exists, and we are not prevented from
releasing it by an exemption, the Council aim to provide you with the
information within 20 working days from receipt of your request.

Yours Sincerely
Enfield Council

Dear Sir / Madam

We acknowledge your request for information received on 07/09/2015 12.16
PM

Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate team or service holding
the information and that team will respond to your request and contact you
where required.

If the information you are seeking exists, and we are not prevented from
releasing it by an exemption, the Council aim to provide you with the
information within 20 working days from receipt of your request.

Yours Sincerely
Enfield Council

Thank you for your question. Please take a look at these Answers from our
knowledge base that might answer your question.

If no Answers are shown this means we do not currently have any
information regarding this subject matter within our knowledge base.
 Discussion Thread
 Customer By Email (Vincent Aleck) 07/09/2015 12.16 PM
Dear Enfield Council,

Can you please provide me with statistics relating to enforcement of
public rights of way in the last 5 years (broken down by year)?
1 how many requests for enforcement action have been made by the public in
the last 5 years?
2 how many distinct public rights of way have been identified in these
requests?
3 what and how many enforcement actions have been taken in response to
these requests, and how many distinct rights of way did these cover?
4 what and how many enforcement actions have been taken that did NOT
originate from a request from the public, and how many distinct rights of
way did these cover?
5 what is the current status of each of the enforcement actions listed in
the 2 categories 3 and 4 above?

Yours faithfully,

Vincent Aleck

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 Question Reference No150907-000055
Subject :  Your Council (Benefit,Registrars)
Subject Level 2:  Freedom of Information
Date Created:  07/09/2015 12.16 PM
Last Updated:  07/09/2015 12.16 PM
Status:  Correspondence team
 

[---001:002619:64536---]

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 Response
Dear Sir / Madam

We acknowledge your request for information received on 07/09/2015 12.16
PM

Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate team or service holding
the information and that team will respond to your request and contact you
where required.

If the information you are seeking exists, and we are not prevented from
releasing it by an exemption, the Council aim to provide you with the
information within 20 working days from receipt of your request.

Yours Sincerely
Enfield Council

Thank you for your question. Please take a look at these Answers from our
knowledge base that might answer your question.

If no Answers are shown this means we do not currently have any
information regarding this subject matter within our knowledge base.
 Discussion Thread
 Response 07/09/2015 12.16 PM
Dear Sir / Madam

We acknowledge your request for information received on 07/09/2015 12.16
PM

Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate team or service holding
the information and that team will respond to your request and contact you
where required.

If the information you are seeking exists, and we are not prevented from
releasing it by an exemption, the Council aim to provide you with the
information within 20 working days from receipt of your request.

Yours Sincerely
Enfield Council

Dear Sir / Madam

We acknowledge your request for information received on 07/09/2015 12.16
PM

Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate team or service holding
the information and that team will respond to your request and contact you
where required.

If the information you are seeking exists, and we are not prevented from
releasing it by an exemption, the Council aim to provide you with the
information within 20 working days from receipt of your request.

Yours Sincerely
Enfield Council

Thank you for your question. Please take a look at these Answers from our
knowledge base that might answer your question.

If no Answers are shown this means we do not currently have any
information regarding this subject matter within our knowledge base.
 
 
 Question Reference No150907-000055
Subject :  Your Council (Benefit,Registrars)
Subject Level 2:  Freedom of Information
Date Created:  07/09/2015 12.16 PM
Last Updated:  07/09/2015 12.54 PM
Status:  Solved
 

[---001:001900:64196---]

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Sarah Moore, Enfield Council

Classification: PROTECT

Dear Mr Aleck

 

I am in receipt of your request below.

 

In order for me to progress your enquiry, please can you clarify what you
mean by ‘enforcement of public rights of way’

 

Are you talking about enforcement action taken by the council in/on public
rights of way land, or enforcing/making a public right of way order or
similar process. Please give an example on the kind of information you are
seeking.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Sarah

 

Sarah Moore

Principal Environmental Protection Officer

Planning, Highways & Transportation

Regeneration & Environment Department

Civic Centre I Silver Street I Enfield I Middlesex I EN1 3XA

Email: [1][email address]

Website: [2]www.enfield.gov.uk

 

Enfield Council is committed to serving the whole borough fairly,
delivering excellent services and building strong communities

 

show quoted sections

Dear Sarah Moore,

I'm sorry if my request wasn't clear. I'm not an expert in the law in this area, just a walker who's frustrated from time to time by blocked paths.

In my request, I mean where the council has taken action to fulfill their responsibilities to ensure public right of way are available for use by the public, as listed at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/public-right... :
The highway authority must:
- keep the surface of a public right of way in a fit state to be used
- make sure obstructions are removed
- maintain some bridges over natural watercourses, including farm ditches
- provide at least 25% contribution (on completion of the work to a standard the highway authority is satisfied with) to any landowners’ costs in replacing and maintaining structures
- make sure there are no notices that prevent or discourage the use of a public right of way
- add signs where a public right of way leaves metalled roads
- make sure the public’s rights to use a public right of way are protected
- make sure landowners carry out their duties, and take action if they don’t

By "Enforcement action" i mean the last of these i.e. "make sure landowners carry out their duties, and take action if they don’t" - I'm assuming that the council doesn't need to take enforcement action themselves and that the council is fulfilling its obligations without taking itself to court! So i guess some examples might be about actions that the council has taken to do the following on public rights of way over private land:
- clear an obstruction
- enforce the provision of an "adequate surface"
- require other changes, such as replacing a fence with a gate, style etc.

Of course, my examples are not an exhaustive list - the request is to find out what you have done, and whether it was via a letter which was responded to, whether you needed to take legal action (court), were costs awarded etc.

Does this clarify my request?

Yours sincerely,

Vincent Aleck

Dominic Millen, Enfield Council

1 Attachment

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED

Mr Aleck

 

Please find attached a response to your Freedom of Information request of
07/09/15 which takes into account your further clarification of 10/07/15.

 

Regards

 

Dominic Millen

 

 

Group Leader – Transport Planning and Policy

Planning, Highways and Transportation | Environment Department | Enfield
Council

 

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED

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Dear Enfield Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Enfield Council's handling of my FOI request 'Requests for enforcement of public rights of way'.

I know of at least one request which has been made in the last 5 years as I made one on 21 August 2015 at 09:57, and received an automated acknowledgement from your email system. Therefore I'm not convinced that your response that there are "non recorded" is accurate. Kindly re-evaluate your response.

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

Yours faithfully,

Vincent Aleck

[1]Enfield Logo

 
 Response
Dear Sir / Madam

We acknowledge your request for information received on 01/10/2015 09.16
AM

Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate team or service holding
the information and that team will respond to your request and contact you
where required.

If the information you are seeking exists, and we are not prevented from
releasing it by an exemption, the Council aim to provide you with the
information within 20 working days from receipt of your request.

Yours Sincerely
Enfield Council

Dear Sir / Madam

We acknowledge your request for information received on 01/10/2015 09.16
AM

Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate team or service holding
the information and that team will respond to your request and contact you
where required.

If the information you are seeking exists, and we are not prevented from
releasing it by an exemption, the Council aim to provide you with the
information within 20 working days from receipt of your request.

Yours Sincerely
Enfield Council

Thank you for your question. Please take a look at these Answers from our
knowledge base that might answer your question.

If no Answers are shown this means we do not currently have any
information regarding this subject matter within our knowledge base.
 Discussion Thread
 Customer By Email (Vincent Aleck) 01/10/2015 09.16 AM
Dear Enfield Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Enfield Council's handling
of my FOI request 'Requests for enforcement of public rights of way'.

I know of at least one request which has been made in the last 5 years as
I made one on 21 August 2015 at 09:57, and received an automated
acknowledgement from your email system. Therefore I'm not convinced that
your response that there are "non recorded" is accurate. Kindly
re-evaluate your response.

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

Yours faithfully,

Vincent Aleck

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[3][FOI #290335 email]

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

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manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
 Question Reference No151001-000004
Subject :  Your Council (Benefit,Registrars)
Subject Level 2:  Freedom of Information
Date Created:  01/10/2015 09.16 AM
Last Updated:  01/10/2015 09.16 AM
Status:  Correspondence team
 

[---001:002421:42818---]

References

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3. mailto:[FOI #290335 email]
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 Response
Dear Sir / Madam

We acknowledge your request for information received on 01/10/2015 09.16
AM

Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate team or service holding
the information and that team will respond to your request and contact you
where required.

If the information you are seeking exists, and we are not prevented from
releasing it by an exemption, the Council aim to provide you with the
information within 20 working days from receipt of your request.

Yours Sincerely
Enfield Council

Thank you for your question. Please take a look at these Answers from our
knowledge base that might answer your question.

If no Answers are shown this means we do not currently have any
information regarding this subject matter within our knowledge base.
 Discussion Thread
 Response 01/10/2015 09.16 AM
Dear Sir / Madam

We acknowledge your request for information received on 01/10/2015 09.16
AM

Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate team or service holding
the information and that team will respond to your request and contact you
where required.

If the information you are seeking exists, and we are not prevented from
releasing it by an exemption, the Council aim to provide you with the
information within 20 working days from receipt of your request.

Yours Sincerely
Enfield Council

Dear Sir / Madam

We acknowledge your request for information received on 01/10/2015 09.16
AM

Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate team or service holding
the information and that team will respond to your request and contact you
where required.

If the information you are seeking exists, and we are not prevented from
releasing it by an exemption, the Council aim to provide you with the
information within 20 working days from receipt of your request.

Yours Sincerely
Enfield Council

Thank you for your question. Please take a look at these Answers from our
knowledge base that might answer your question.

If no Answers are shown this means we do not currently have any
information regarding this subject matter within our knowledge base.
 
 
 Question Reference No151001-000004
Subject :  Your Council (Benefit,Registrars)
Subject Level 2:  Freedom of Information
Date Created:  01/10/2015 09.16 AM
Last Updated:  01/10/2015 09.57 AM
Status:  Solved
 

[---001:001900:64041---]

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Esg Complaints, Enfield Council

1 Attachment

Classification: PROTECT - Private and Confidential

Dear Mr Aleck

 

I refer to your further enquiry under the Freedom of Information Act, and
have some information for you from Dominic Millen, as below.

 

If you could provide further details about your enquiry of 21 August to
Dominic, he will look into your enquiry for you.

 

Regards

 

Stephen Malcolm

Correspondence & Complaints Officer

Regeneration and Environment Department

Enfield Council

Silver Street

Enfield

EN1 3XY

 

Email: [1][email address]

Website: [2]www.enfield.gov.uk

Protect the Environment - Think Before You Print

 

'Enfield Council is committed to serving the whole borough fairly,
delivering excellent services and building strong communities'

 

 

 

 

 

From: Dominic Millen
Sent: 02 October 2015 08:51
To: Esg Complaints
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information Review: 151001-000004 - RE FOI
17460/15 [SEC=PROTECT:Private and Confidential]

 

Classification: PROTECT - Private and Confidential

Stephen

 

Following up on the further request from Mr Aleck, while the Council has a
statutory duty regarding Public Rights of Way, there is no dedicated
resource available to deal with them.  Issues tend to be dealt with on an
ad hoc basis, for example an issue with a footpath would be dealt with
directly by highway services and would not be recorded as a Public Rights
of Way issue.  This means that Mr Aleck could have submitted a request but
it might not have been recorded as specifically relating to enforcement of
Public Rights of Way.

 

In addition there is not a central database for recording Public Rights of
Way issues because, as highlighted above, they are dealt with on an ad hoc
basis and the relatively low number of queries relating to adoption /
revocation does not justify separate monitoring.  However I have contacted
Highway Services and Environmental Protection and they have not recorded
any enforcement action specifically related to Public Rights of Way
issues.

 

It should also be noted that given that date of Mr Aleck’s email query
about a Public Rights of Way (21 August) it could be that it is still
being addressed and that it is yet to be recorded by the relevant team;
although even if it is recorded it will probably not be classed
specifically as Public Rights of Way enforcement.

 

For these reasons there is no update to the original response.

 

However if Mr Aleck would like to send his query of 21 August directly to
me I can look into it.

 

Dominic

 

 

 

 

DD: 020 8379 3398

[3]www.enfield.gov.uk

 

 

 

From: David Wearing
Sent: 01 October 2015 09:58
To: Esg Complaints
Cc: Mark Brincat
Subject: Freedom of Information Request: 151001-000004
[SEC=PROTECT:Private and Confidential]

 

Classification: PROTECT - Private and Confidential

Good Morning,

 

Please see attached in this email a FOI Request query regarding a previous
FOI Request.

 

This was numbered – 150907-000055 on the 7^th September 2015.

 

Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Requests for
enforcement of public rights of way
Discussion Thread
Response 01/10/2015 09.16 AM
Dear Sir / Madam

We acknowledge your request for information received on 01/10/2015 09.16
AM

Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate team or service holding
the information and that team will respond to your request and contact you
where required.

If the information you are seeking exists, and we are not prevented from
releasing it by an exemption, the Council aim to provide you with the
information within 20 working days from receipt of your request.

Yours Sincerely
Enfield Council

Dear Sir / Madam

We acknowledge your request for information received on 01/10/2015 09.16
AM

Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate team or service holding
the information and that team will respond to your request and contact you
where required.

If the information you are seeking exists, and we are not prevented from
releasing it by an exemption, the Council aim to provide you with the
information within 20 working days from receipt of your request.

Yours Sincerely
Enfield Council

Thank you for your question. Please take a look at these Answers from our
knowledge base that might answer your question.

If no Answers are shown this means we do not currently have any
information regarding this subject matter within our knowledge base.
Customer (Vincent Aleck) 01/10/2015 09.16 AM
Dear Enfield Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Enfield Council's handling
of my FOI request 'Requests for enforcement of public rights of way'.

I know of at least one request which has been made in the last 5 years as
I made one on 21 August 2015 at 09:57, and received an automated
acknowledgement from your email system. Therefore I'm not convinced that
your response that there are "non recorded" is accurate. Kindly
re-evaluate your response.

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

Yours faithfully,

Vincent Aleck

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[5][FOI #290335 email]

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[6]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

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manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

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Dear Esg Complaints,

I don't want you to investigate my personal request - i wouldn't use an FoI request for that. I want the information about how Enfield Council is discharging its duties. Please complete the internal review. If you want more information about the specific request i made so that you can (for example) figure out what's happening with requests and why they're not being logged (which would then enable you to properly report the data i requested) then I'd rather give that to you directly (to avoid e.g. my personal details being published online).

Yours sincerely,

Vincent Aleck

Dear Esg Complaints,

Sorry - i've just re-read Dominic Millen's response stating that the information is not recorded (and so not held). Please let me know how i can contact him directly.

Yours sincerely,

Vincent Aleck

Esg Complaints, Enfield Council

1 Attachment

  • Attachment

    RE Freedom of Information Review 151001 000004 RE FOI 17460 15 SEC PROTECT Private and Confidential.txt

    8K Download View as HTML

Classification: PROTECT - Private and Confidential
Dear Mr Aleck

Thank you for your emails. Dominic may be contacted directly at [email address]

Regards

Stephen Malcolm
Correspondence & Complaints Officer
Regeneration and Environment Department
Enfield Council
Silver Street
Enfield
EN1 3XY

Email: [email address]
Website: www.enfield.gov.uk
Protect the Environment - Think Before You Print

'Enfield Council is committed to serving the whole borough fairly, delivering excellent services and building strong communities'

show quoted sections

Richard Taylor left an annotation ()

The requester has been provided with the address of
Dominic.Millen at Enfield.gov.uk

We've suggested the requestor carefully consider if it would be best to carry the correspondence on in public via our site rather than taking it private.

Regards,

--

Richard - WhatDoTheyKnow.com volunteer