A358 Taunton to Southfields scheme - DoT involvement?
Dear Department for Transport (DoT),
Highways England Ltd (HE Ltd) are currently in a paused consultation for a single preferred option for the A358 Taunton to Southfields scheme.
The 20 days for an FOI Act-compliant response will extend beyond the general election purdah, so I wish the Dept for Transport to start working on the disclosures for this FOI right away, please.
Q1. Did HE Ltd consult with or inform the DoT about running a consultation during a local election purdah for Somerset County Council elections in May? If so, what advice did the DoT provide? Did the DoT consult with the Cabinet Office at any time?
Q2. Were the DoT party to or informed of the decision by HE Ltd to consult only on one preferred option for this scheme? If so, please provide all details, correspondence, emails etc.
Q3. Do the DoT hold information on the basis for which the remaining 3 options in the Technical Assessment Report (TAR) were eliminated by HE Ltd for this scheme? If so, please provide all details, correspondence, emails etc.
Yours faithfully,
Dave Orr
Dear Dave Orr,
I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your request for information which
has been allocated reference number P0014876.
A response will be issued to you in due course.
Regards,
Ivan Pocock
Department for Transport
FOI Advice Team
Information & Security Division
Zone D/04
Ashdown House
Sedlescombe Road North
St Leonards on Sea
East Sussex
TN37 7GA
Dear Department for Transport,
This response is now flagged as late.
Please respond promptly (as per Cabinet Office guidelines and the FOI Act requirements).
Yours faithfully,
Dave Orr
Dear Department for Transport,
You are in clear breach of the FOI Act 20 working days for responding and you have ignored a polite reminder which is discourteous.
The consultation for HE Ltd for the A358 Southfields to Taunton scheme closes on Sunday the 19th of July and your tardiness in responding has prevented potentially relevant public information from being available.
Another failure to respond will result in a complaint to the Sec of State and my local MP and thereafter an ICO referral (once I 've initiated an Internal Review).
I would like the DoT to respond to this FOI now, please.
Yours faithfully,
Dave Orr
Dear Department for Transport,
I have left phone messages and contacted your call centre who have also left messages pointing out how overdue this FOI now is.
If I don't receive a reply soon, I will invoke the DfT formal complaint procedure.
Yours faithfully,
Dave Orr
Dear Mr Orr,
I apologise for the delay in replying to your FOI request. We are working on this and will respond as soon as possible.
Thank you.
Andrew Colski | Senior Programme Lead, Strategic Roads - Capital and Resource Delivery, Department for Transport
3/27 GMH | 020 7944 6170 | 079 1713 2998
Dear Mr Orr
Please see the response to your request for information, attached.
Thank you,
Andrew Colski | Senior Programme Lead, Strategic Roads - Capital and Resource Delivery, Department for Transport
3/27 GMH | 020 7944 6170 | 079 1713 2998
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