Information relating to culvert on Welkin Road Stockport

The request was partially successful.

Dear Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council,
Please provide the following information:
-Is Stockport Council the owner of the land located to the south of Welkin Mill. This land includes a wooded area, a drainage brook/stream leading to a culvert and fields used for grazing purposes. If not, who is the owner?
-Is Stockport Council the owner of the aforementioned culvert on this land? If not, who is the owner?
-Is Stockport Council responsible for the maintenance of the aforementioned culvert on this land? If not, who is responsible?
-Please provide dates and details of all recent maintenance and inspections carried out on this culvert.

Yours faithfully,

Matt Butler

FOI Officer, Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council

Environmental Information Request

Reference: EIR 5891879

 

Dear Mr Butler,

 

We have received and logged your information request which will be treated
as a request made under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR)
2004. Please quote your reference number in any correspondence.

 

We aim to provide final responses to EIR requests by no later than 20
working days after the day of receipt of a valid request.

 

If payment of a fee is required for providing the requested information,
we will notify you within the above-mentioned 20 working day period,
however such fees are usually waived if they amount to less than £10.

 

Documents held by Stockport Council may fall under the Re-Use of Public
Sector Information Regulations 2015. If you receive a Council document and
you wish to use that document for a new purpose, please identify the
document in question and describe how you intend to re-use it. We will aim
to respond to that request by no later than 20 working days.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Robert McCarten

CSS Officer – Information Governance

Stockport Council

Tel: 0161 474 3319

[1]https://www.stockport.gov.uk/

 

 

show quoted sections

FOI Officer, Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council

Environmental Information Request 

Reference: EIR 5891879 

 

Dear Mr Butler, 

 

I am contacting you regarding your information request which was logged
under the above reference number. 

 

Your request is being processed, however I regret to inform you we
will not be able to provide a final response within the targeted 20
working days.  

 

I would like to take this opportunity to apologise on behalf of Stockport
Council for this delay and for any inconvenience this may cause. 

 

We will endeavour to provide a response to you as soon as possible. 

 

Kindest regards,

 

Daniel Adshead

CSS Officer – Information Governance

+:Stockport Council | 1^st Floor South Stopford House | Stockport | SK1
3XE

(:

*:[1][email address]

::[2]http://www.stockport.gov.uk

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It is important to keep yourself and others safe from coronavirus - keep 2
metres away, wash or sanitise your hands regularly and wear a face
covering - [3]www.stockport.gov.uk/coronavirus
Confidentiality:- This email, its contents and any attachments are
intended only for the above named. As the email may contain confidential
or legally privileged information, if you are not, or suspect that you are
not, the above named or the person responsible for delivery of the message
to the above named, please delete or destroy the email and any attachments
immediately and inform the sender of the error.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.stockport.gov.uk/
3. https://www.stockport.gov.uk/showcase/co...

Dear Mr Adshead,

Environmental Information Request

Reference: EIR 5891879

Thank you for your email. I would be grateful if you could provide a new target date by which I can expect to receive the requested information.

Please note that this matter has been referred to the Information Commissioner's office for review.

Yours sincerely,

Matt Butler

Dear FOI Officer,

Environmental Information Request

Reference: EIR 5891879

I would be grateful if you could urgently provide me with a new target date by when I can expect to receive a response to this request.

Many thanks

Yours sincerely,

Matt Butler

Dear FOI Officer,

Environmental Information Request

Reference: EIR 5891879

I would be grateful if you could urgently provide me with a new target date by when I can expect to receive a response to this request.

Yours sincerely,

Matt Butler

Dear FOI Officer,

Environmental Information Request

Reference: EIR 5891879

By law, a response should now have been provided.

I would be grateful if you could urgently provide me with a new target date by when I can expect to receive a response to this request.

Yours sincerely,

Matt Butler

Dear FOI Officer,

Environmental Information Request

Reference: EIR 5891879

Follow up

I would be grateful if you could urgently provide me with a new target date by when I can expect to receive a response to this request.

Yours sincerely,

Matt Butler

Dear FOI Officer,

RE: Environmental Information Request Reference: EIR 5891879

I would be grateful if you could urgently provide me with a new target date by when I can expect to receive a response to this request.

Yours sincerely,

Matt Butler

Dear FOI Officer,

RE: Environmental Information Request Reference: EIR 5891879

Further to my previous message, I would be grateful if you could urgently provide me with a new target date by when I can expect to receive a response to this request.

Yours sincerely,

Matt Butler

FOI Officer, Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council

Environmental Information Request

Reference: EIR 5891879

 

Dear Mr Butler,

Please consider this as our formal response to your information request
which was logged under the above reference number and has been treated as
a request made under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004.
Under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004, members of the
public are entitled to request environmental information from public
authorities. The Regulations cover any recorded information held by a
public authority. It is not limited to official documents, it can include
everything from drafts, emails, telephone recordings and notes. This list
is not exhaustive. Equally, the Regulations do not solely cover
information we create, they can incorporate any information which we have
in our possession.

However, the EIR does not cover information in someone’s head. We are
under no obligation to provide information that we do not already hold in
a recorded form, additionally, we are not required to create new
information to respond to an environmental information request or find the
answer to a question from a council employee who may just happen to know
it.

You can find more information on the Environmental Information Regulations
by visiting the [1]Information Commissioner's Office website or
[2]legislation.gov.uk.

Please find our response to your information request below:

-Is Stockport Council the owner of the land located to the south of
Welkin Mill. This land includes a wooded area, a drainage brook/stream
leading to a culvert and fields used for grazing purposes. If not, who is
the owner?

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council is the owner of the land.

However, we hold no recorded information regarding the ownership of the
drainage brook. Under Regulation 12 (4)(a) of the Environmental
Information Regulations (EIR) 2004, a public authority may refuse to
disclose information to the extent that it does not hold that information
when an applicant’s request is received. Therefore, we consider it
appropriate to apply this exception to our duty to comply with your
information request as this information is not held by the council.

Under Regulation 10 (1)(b) of the EIR, where a public authority that
receives a request for environmental information does not hold the
information requested but believes that another public authority holds
the information, the public authority shall supply the applicant with the
name and address of that authority. We believe that this information may
be held by Highways England who can be contacted using the details below:

Highways England
National Traffic Operations Centre
3 Ridgeway
Quinton Business Park
Birmingham
B32 1AF
United Kingdom

Email- [3][email address]

Telephone - 0300 123 5000

-Is Stockport Council the owner of the aforementioned culvert on this
land? If not, who is the owner?

This information is not held by Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council.
Under Regulation 12 (4)(a) of the Environmental Information Regulations
(EIR) 2004, a public authority may refuse to disclose information to the
extent that it does not hold that information when an applicant’s request
is received. Therefore, we consider it appropriate to apply this exception
to our duty to comply with your information request as this information is
not held by the council.

Under Regulation 10 (1)(b) of the EIR, where a public authority that
receives a request for environmental information does not hold the
information requested but believes that another public authority holds the
information, the public authority shall supply the applicant with the name
and address of that authority. We believe that this information may be
held by Highways England who can be contacted using the details above.

 

-Is Stockport Council responsible for the maintenance of the
aforementioned culvert on this land? If not, who is responsible?

This information is not held by Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council.
Under Regulation 12 (4)(a) of the Environmental Information Regulations
(EIR) 2004, a public authority may refuse to disclose information to the
extent that it does not hold that information when an applicant’s request
is received. Therefore, we consider it appropriate to apply this exception
to our duty to comply with your information request as this information is
not held by the council.

Under Regulation 10 (1)(b) of the EIR, where a public authority that
receives a request for environmental information does not hold the
information requested but believes that another public authority holds the
information, the public authority shall supply the applicant with the name
and address of that authority. We believe that this information may be
held by Highways England who can be contacted using the details above.

-Please provide dates and details of all recent maintenance and
inspections carried out on this culvert.

This information is not held by Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council.
Under Regulation 12 (4)(a) of the Environmental Information Regulations
(EIR) 2004, a public authority may refuse to disclose information to the
extent that it does not hold that information when an applicant’s request
is received. Therefore, we consider it appropriate to apply this exception
to our duty to comply with your information request as this information is
not held by the council.

Under Regulation 10 (1)(b) of the EIR, where a public authority that
receives a request for environmental information does not hold the
information requested but believes that another public authority holds the
information, the public authority shall supply the applicant with the name
and address of that authority. We believe that this information may be
held by Highways England who can be contacted using the details above. As
previously explained, we are only required to provide recorded information
in response to an information request however, as matter of customer
service and context, emergency works were arranged verbally as an
immediate response following the flooding in January 2021 but as an urgent
response no recorded information is held in relation to this.

We would like to take this opportunity to apologise on behalf of Stockport
Metropolitan Borough Council for the delay in responding to your
information request and any inconvenience this may have caused.

 

Documents held by Stockport Council may fall under the Re-Use of Public
Sector Information Regulations 2015. If you receive a Council document and
you wish to use that document for a new purpose, please identify the
document in question and describe how you intend to re-use it. We will aim
to respond to that request by no later than 20 working days.

 

If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your request for
information, you can ask for an internal review, however you must do so
within 40 working days from the date of this response. Any internal review
will be carried out by an officer who was not involved with your original
request. To request an internal review, please contact
[4][email address] or call 0161 474 4299, quoting your
reference number.

Following completion of an internal review, if you are dissatisfied with
the outcome, you can appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
via the following contact points:

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

[5]www.ico.gov.uk

 

0303 123 1113

 

Kindest regards,

 

Daniel Adshead

CSS Officer – Information Governance

+:Stockport Council | 1^st Floor South Stopford House | Stockport | SK1
3XE

(:

*:[6][email address]

::[7]http://www.stockport.gov.uk

P Save Paper - Do you really need to print this e-mail?

 

 

 

It is important to keep yourself and others safe from coronavirus - keep 2
metres away, wash or sanitise your hands regularly and wear a face
covering - [8]www.stockport.gov.uk/coronavirus

Confidentiality:- This email, its contents and any attachments are
intended only for the above named. As the email may contain confidential
or legally privileged information, if you are not, or suspect that you are
not, the above named or the person responsible for delivery of the message
to the above named, please delete or destroy the email and any attachments
immediately and inform the sender of the error.

References

Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/
2. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2004...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[email address]
5. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
6. mailto:[email address]
7. http://www.stockport.gov.uk/
8. https://www.stockport.gov.uk/showcase/co...

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to request an internal review of my Environmental Information Request with Reference: EIR 5891879.

1) Firstly, this request was submitted on the 7th February 2021 and should have been responded to within 20 working days. On the 4th March 2021 an email was sent by Daniel Adshead stating that the council would “not be able to provide a final response within the targeted 20 working days”.
I subsequently sent follow up messages on 23rd March, 31st March, 7th April, 8th April, 9th April and 13th April requesting a new target date by when I could expect a response.
Please advise why the original due date was not met, why a replacement target date was not provided and why my multiple follow up emails were not replied to until the response was sent on 15th April.

2) Your response states “Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council is the owner of the land.
However, we hold no recorded information regarding the ownership of the
drainage brook.”

Please explain how it is possible that you are the owner of the land but do not know who owns the culvert/brook. It would appear to make logical sense that if you do own the land, and do not hold any information proving that the culvert/brook is owned by someone else, then the culvert/brook must be owned by you.
Additionally, please confirm the reason why you believe that this information may be held by Highways England.
It seems very difficult to comprehend that someone has either a) constructed a brook/culvert on land owned by Stockport Council and you have no records of it, or b) you have acquired land containing a brook/culvert and have no records of it being there.
2) My request stated:
“Please provide dates and details of all recent maintenance and
inspections carried out on this culvert.”
You responded: “This information is not held by Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council…. As
previously explained, we are only required to provide recorded information
in response to an information request however, as matter of customer
service and context, emergency works were arranged verbally as an
immediate response following the flooding in January 2021 but as an urgent
response no recorded information is held in relation to this.”

I believe that your statement in the previous paragraph is not true and is potentially misleading.
You state that “as an urgent response no recorded information is held in relation to this”
It seems very unlikely that the council has no records of having instructed a) a site visit by Graham the engineer, b) works carried out by George Cox and c) works carried out by Tree Station on behalf of Totally Local Company.
You must have records relating to the attendance on site of the three parties mentioned above and the fact that they will have been paid for their work, either on a one-off basis or as part of an ongoing contract. Since the two sub-contractors were engaged by the council, someone within the council must have communicated to them what the work you wished them to perform consisted of, and it seems very likely that this was done in a written format.
Additionally, please confirm the reason why you believe that the information requested may be held by Highways England, as both of the subcontractors mentioned were instructed by Stockport Council and there is no reason to believe that Highways England had any involvement.

Please urgently review the above points and I look forward to 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/i...

Yours faithfully,

Matt Butler

FOI Officer, Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council

Request Reference - EIR 5891879
Internal Review Reference - IR 5966147

Dear Mr Butler,

Thank you for your email.

I’m sorry to hear that you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your information request.

We have received your request for an internal review of the information request submitted under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004 which was logged under the above reference number.

In accordance with Regulation 11 of the EIR 2004, we will carry out an internal review of the request to determine whether we have complied with our requirements under the regulations.

We will aim to respond to you by no later than 40 working days from the day of receipt of your internal review request, in accordance with Chapter XII, Section 63 of the Code of Practice on the discharge of the obligations of public authorities under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

Kindest regards,

Daniel Adshead
CSS Officer – Information Governance
C:Stockport Council | 1st Floor South Stopford House | Stockport | SK1 3XE
:
:[email address]
d:http://www.stockport.gov.uk
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show quoted sections

FOI Officer, Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council

 

Dear Mr. Butler

 

Re: Internal Review request

 

As a member of staff who was not involved in your Environmental
Information Regulation (EIR) request, I have undertaken an internal review
of the Council’s response to your request.

 

I have considered your original request of the 07/02/2021 and your
correspondence of the 15/04/2021 in which you requested an internal
review.

 

I have discussed your request with staff involved in this matter.  I have
had discussions with staff in Information Governance and the Highways and
Transport team.

 

BACKGROUND

 

You submitted a FOI request to the Council on the 07/02/2021. This was in
relation to:

 

With reference EIR 5891879

 

Dear Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, Please provide the following
information:

-Is Stockport Council the owner of the land located to the south of Welkin
Mill. This land includes a wooded area, a drainage brook/stream leading to
a culvert and fields used for grazing purposes. If not, who is the owner?

-Is Stockport Council the owner of the aforementioned culvert on this
land? If not, who is the owner?

-Is Stockport Council responsible for the maintenance of the
aforementioned culvert on this land? If not, who is responsible?

-Please provide dates and details of all recent maintenance and
inspections carried out on this culvert.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Matt Butler

This request was acknowledged by the Council on the 08/02/2021.

Stockport Council responded to you on the 15/04/2021 as follows:

 

Our response

 

Environmental Information Request

Reference: EIR 5891879

 

Dear Mr. Butler,

Please consider this as our formal response to your information request
which was logged under the above reference number and has been treated as
a request made under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004.
Under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004, members of the
public are entitled to request environmental information from public
authorities. The Regulations cover any recorded information held by a
public authority. It is not limited to official documents, it can include
everything from drafts, emails, telephone recordings and notes. This list
is not exhaustive. Equally, the Regulations do not solely cover
information we create, they can incorporate any information which we have
in our possession.

However, the EIR does not cover information in someone’s head. We are
under no obligation to provide information that we do not already hold in
a recorded form, additionally, we are not required to create new
information to respond to an environmental information request or find the
answer to a question from a council employee who may just happen to know
it.

You can find more information on the Environmental Information Regulations
by visiting the [1]Information Commissioner's Office website or
[2]legislation.gov.uk.

Please find our response to your information request below:

-Is Stockport Council the owner of the land located to the south of
Welkin Mill. This land includes a wooded area, a drainage brook/stream
leading to a culvert and fields used for grazing purposes. If not, who is
the owner?

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council is the owner of the land.

However, we hold no recorded information regarding the ownership of the
drainage brook. Under Regulation 12 (4)(a) of the Environmental
Information Regulations (EIR) 2004, a public authority may refuse to
disclose information to the extent that it does not hold that information
when an applicant’s request is received. Therefore, we consider it
appropriate to apply this exception to our duty to comply with your
information request as this information is not held by the council.

Under Regulation 10 (1)(b) of the EIR, where a public authority that
receives a request for environmental information does not hold the
information requested but believes that another public authority holds
the information, the public authority shall supply the applicant with the
name and address of that authority. We believe that this information may
be held by Highways England who can be contacted using the details below:

Highways England
National Traffic Operations Centre
3 Ridgeway
Quinton Business Park
Birmingham
B32 1AF
United Kingdom

Email- [3][email address]

Telephone - 0300 123 5000

-Is Stockport Council the owner of the aforementioned culvert on this
land? If not, who is the owner?

This information is not held by Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council.
Under Regulation 12 (4)(a) of the Environmental Information Regulations
(EIR) 2004, a public authority may refuse to disclose information to the
extent that it does not hold that information when an applicant’s request
is received. Therefore, we consider it appropriate to apply this exception
to our duty to comply with your information request as this information is
not held by the council.

Under Regulation 10 (1)(b) of the EIR, where a public authority that
receives a request for environmental information does not hold the
information requested but believes that another public authority holds the
information, the public authority shall supply the applicant with the name
and address of that authority. We believe that this information may be
held by Highways England who can be contacted using the details above.

 

-Is Stockport Council responsible for the maintenance of the
aforementioned culvert on this land? If not, who is responsible?

This information is not held by Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council.
Under Regulation 12 (4)(a) of the Environmental Information Regulations
(EIR) 2004, a public authority may refuse to disclose information to the
extent that it does not hold that information when an applicant’s request
is received. Therefore, we consider it appropriate to apply this exception
to our duty to comply with your information request as this information is
not held by the council.

Under Regulation 10 (1)(b) of the EIR, where a public authority that
receives a request for environmental information does not hold the
information requested but believes that another public authority holds the
information, the public authority shall supply the applicant with the name
and address of that authority. We believe that this information may be
held by Highways England who can be contacted using the details above.

-Please provide dates and details of all recent maintenance and
inspections carried out on this culvert.

This information is not held by Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council.
Under Regulation 12 (4)(a) of the Environmental Information Regulations
(EIR) 2004, a public authority may refuse to disclose information to the
extent that it does not hold that information when an applicant’s request
is received. Therefore, we consider it appropriate to apply this exception
to our duty to comply with your information request as this information is
not held by the council.

Under Regulation 10 (1)(b) of the EIR, where a public authority that
receives a request for environmental information does not hold the
information requested but believes that another public authority holds the
information, the public authority shall supply the applicant with the name
and address of that authority. We believe that this information may be
held by Highways England who can be contacted using the details above. As
previously explained, we are only required to provide recorded information
in response to an information request however, as matter of customer
service and context, emergency works were arranged verbally as an
immediate response following the flooding in January 2021 but as an urgent
response no recorded information is held in relation to this.

 

We would like to take this opportunity to apologise on behalf of Stockport
Metropolitan Borough Council for the delay in responding to your
information request and any inconvenience this may have caused.

 

Documents held by Stockport Council may fall under the Re-Use of Public
Sector Information Regulations 2015. If you receive a Council document and
you wish to use that document for a new purpose, please identify the
document in question and describe how you intend to re-use it. We will aim
to respond to that request by no later than 20 working days.

 

If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your request for
information, you can ask for an internal review, however you must do so
within 40 working days from the date of this response. Any internal review
will be carried out by an officer who was not involved with your original
request. To request an internal review, please contact
[4][email address] or call 0161 474 4299, quoting your
reference number.

Following completion of an internal review, if you are dissatisfied with
the outcome, you can appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
via the following contact points:

 

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

[5]www.ico.gov.uk

 

0303 123 1113

 

Kindest regards,

 

Daniel Adshead

 

 

You responded on the 15/04/2021 as follows:

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

I am writing to request an internal review of my Environmental Information
Request with Reference: EIR 5891879.

 

1) Firstly, this request was submitted on the 7th February 2021 and should
have been responded to within 20 working days. On the 4th March 2021 an
email was sent by Daniel Adshead stating that the council would “not be
able to provide a final response within the targeted 20 working days”.

 

I subsequently sent follow up messages on 23rd March, 31st March, 7th
April, 8th April, 9th April and 13th April requesting a new target date by
when I could expect a response.

 

Please advise why the original due date was not met, why a replacement
target date was not provided and why my multiple follow up emails were not
replied to until the response was sent on 15th April.

 

2) Your response states “Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council is the
owner of the land.

 

However, we hold no recorded information regarding the ownership of the
drainage brook.”

 

Please explain how it is possible that you are the owner of the land but
do not know who owns the culvert/brook. It would appear to make logical
sense that if you do own the land, and do not hold any information proving
that the culvert/brook is owned by someone else, then the culvert/brook
must be owned by you.

 

Additionally, please confirm the reason why you believe that this
information may be held by Highways England.

 

It seems very difficult to comprehend that someone has either a)
constructed a brook/culvert on land owned by Stockport Council and you
have no records of it, or b) you have acquired land containing a
brook/culvert and have no records of it being there.

 

2) My request stated:

 

“Please provide dates and details of all recent maintenance and
inspections carried out on this culvert.”

 

You responded: “This information is not held by Stockport Metropolitan
Borough Council…. As previously explained, we are only required to provide
recorded information in response to an information request however, as
matter of customer

service and context, emergency works were arranged verbally as an
immediate response following the flooding in January 2021 but as an urgent
response no recorded information is held in relation to this.”

 

I believe that your statement in the previous paragraph is not true and is
potentially misleading.

 

You state that “as an urgent response no recorded information is held in
relation to this”

 

It seems very unlikely that the council has no records of having
instructed a) a site visit by Graham the engineer, b) works carried out by
George Cox and c) works carried out by Tree Station on behalf of Totally
Local Company.

 

You must have records relating to the attendance on site of the three
parties mentioned above and the fact that they will have been paid for
their work, either on a one-off basis or as part of an ongoing contract.
Since the two sub-contractors were engaged by the council, someone within
the council must have communicated to them what the work you wished them
to perform consisted of, and it seems very likely that this was done in a
written format.

 

Additionally, please confirm the reason why you believe that the
information requested may be held by Highways England, as both of the
subcontractors mentioned were instructed by Stockport Council and there is
no reason to believe that Highways England had any involvement.

 

Please urgently review the above points and I look forward to your
response.

 

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address:
[6]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

 

Yours faithfully

 

Matt Butler

 

MY INVESTIGATION

 

My investigation looked at two aspects: the timeliness of the Council
response and the information provided to you.

 

The Council has 20 days to respond to FOI/EIR queries; your request was
dated the 07/02/2021 and acknowledged by the Council on the 08/02/2021

The Council failed to respond to your FOI/EIR request which was not within
the 20 day deadline. I wish to sincerely apologise for the delay in
responding to you.

 

Secondly, the information provided to you.

 

I met with Highways and Transport on the 26/04/2021 and also on the
01/06/2021 and gathered information pertaining to your requests at these
meetings. 

 

DECISION

 

Following my investigation, I have arrived at the following conclusions:

 

My conclusion is that the Council provided you with a response which
attempted to answer the questions so far as possible and advised you that
no records were held.

 

For clarity, please find responses to your Internal Review questions.

 

2) Your response states “Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council is the
owner of the land.

 

However, we hold no recorded information regarding the ownership of the
drainage brook.”

 

Please explain how it is possible that you are the owner of the land but
do not know who owns the culvert/brook. It would appear to make logical
sense that if you do own the land, and do not hold any information proving
that the culvert/brook is owned by someone else, then the culvert/brook
must be owned by you.

 

Additionally, please confirm the reason why you believe that this
information may be held by Highways England.

 

It seems very difficult to comprehend that someone has either a)
constructed a brook/culvert on land owned by Stockport Council and you
have no records of it, or b) you have acquired land containing a
brook/culvert and have no records of it being there.

 

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council is the owner of the land.

However, we hold no recorded information regarding the ownership of the
drainage brook. Under Regulation 12 (4)(a) of the Environmental
Information Regulations (EIR) 2004, a public authority may refuse to
disclose information to the extent that it does not hold that information
when an applicant’s request is received. Therefore, we consider it
appropriate to apply this exception to our duty to comply with your
information request as this information is not held by the council.

Under Regulation 10 (1)(b) of the EIR, where a public authority that
receives a request for environmental information does not hold the
information requested but believes that another public authority holds the
information, the public authority shall supply the applicant with the name
and address of that authority. We believe that this information may be
held by Highways England who can be contacted using the details below:

Highways England
National Traffic Operations Centre
3 Ridgeway
Quinton Business Park
Birmingham
B32 1AF
United Kingdom

Email- [7][email address]

Telephone - 0300 123 5000

 

2) My request stated:

 

“Please provide dates and details of all recent maintenance and
inspections carried out on this culvert.”

 

You responded: “This information is not held by Stockport Metropolitan
Borough Council…. As previously explained, we are only required to provide
recorded information in response to an information request however, as
matter of customer

service and context, emergency works were arranged verbally as an
immediate response following the flooding in January 2021 but as an urgent
response no recorded information is held in relation to this.”

 

I believe that your statement in the previous paragraph is not true and is
potentially misleading.

 

You state that “as an urgent response no recorded information is held in
relation to this”

 

It seems very unlikely that the council has no records of having
instructed a) a site visit by Graham the engineer, b) works carried out by
George Cox and c) works carried out by Tree Station on behalf of Totally
Local Company.

 

You must have records relating to the attendance on site of the three
parties mentioned above and the fact that they will have been paid for
their work, either on a one-off basis or as part of an ongoing contract.
Since the two sub-contractors were engaged by the council, someone within
the council must have communicated to them what the work you wished them
to perform consisted of, and it seems very likely that this was done in a
written format.

 

This information is not held by Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council.
Under Regulation 12 (4)(a) of the Environmental Information Regulations
(EIR) 2004, a public authority may refuse to disclose information to the
extent that it does not hold that information when an applicant’s request
is received. Therefore, we consider it appropriate to apply this exception
to our duty to comply with your information request as this information is
not held by the council.

Additionally, please confirm the reason why you believe that the
information requested may be held by Highways England, as both of the
subcontractors mentioned were instructed by Stockport Council and there is
no reason to believe that Highways England had any involvement.

 

Under Regulation 10 (1)(b) of the EIR, where a public authority that
receives a request for environmental information does not hold the
information requested but believes that another public authority holds the
information, the public authority shall supply the applicant with the name
and address of that authority. We believe that this information may be
held by Highways England who can be contacted using the details above.

 

 

NEXT STEPS

 

I hope that this internal review addresses your concerns.  However if you
are unhappy with the outcome of this internal review, you are entitled to
complain to the Information Commissioner. To do so, contact:

 

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

[8]www.ico.gov.uk

Tel: 01625 545 745

 

Yours sincerely

 

Tracey Webb

Senior Information Governance Officer

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council

 

 

 

 

 

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