Springholm A75 Road Safety Campaign: EIR release

Information requested

1. We wish to have a copy of Transport Scotland's document which we understand is called "Road Assessment Guidance - National Strategy for 20mph" prepared circa. June 2022 and was apparently sent to all Scottish Local Authorities. If this has been subsequently amended we also wish to have the revised guidance.

2. We wish to know whether and, if so, to what extent, Transport Scotland will be applying the aforementioned guidance and its "place criteria" to 30mph roads/streets under its own direct and exclusive traffic management.

3. Have Transport Scotland drawn up a list of 30mph roads under its own direct and exclusive traffic management for consideration under the aforementioned guidance or any equivalent? If so we wish to have a copy of this list of 30mph roads/streets.

4. Has Transport Scotland assessed the unbypassed A75 communities of Crocketford and Springholm against "place criteria" in the aforementioned guidance and if so what was the outcome? If not yet scored why not given that we understand that all Scottish local authorities (excepting those like Scottish Borders already with "blanket" 20mph limits) are being required by Transport Scotland to do this for 30mph roads under their traffic management at this time?

5. We wish to have a copy of the communication sent to Dumfries and Galloway Council announcing and presumably also requiring the Council to act upon the aforementioned guidance.

6. Was 31st March 2023 the required date for a response from Dumfries and Galloway Council setting out its list of assessed 30mph roads/streets scored for potential inclusion in the 2025 20mph roll out per the aforementioned place criteria?

7. We wish to know if Dumfries and Galloway Council has submitted its required roads/streets list to Transport Scotland and, if so, to have a copy thereof.

8. Since communicating the aforementioned guidance and request for a list of assessed roads/streets thereunder to Councils has Transport Scotland provided them with any further guidance, information on funding and timetable for implementation?

9. Are Scottish Councils in fact still free to create post 2025 national inconsistency and considerable delays in implementing 20mph limits or indeed to fail altogether to implement many such limits otherwise eligible per the aforementioned guidance by in addition to the national place criteria, and funding hurdles, also adding a layer of extensive consultation with Police Scotland, ward members, community councils, creating a potential veto of 20 mph and adding a desktop study of each and every location including the road environment, existing speed limits/extents, accident history, population size and type of transport route, conducting temporary traffic data surveys to determine mean speeds, traffic volumes and % of HGVs through settlements on the basis this additional work will assist in deciding whether speed reduction measures/20mph speed limit would be suitable for the particular roads/streets? As village road safety campaigners if Councils , in fact retain this lattitude and are not well disposed toward 20mph limits there will be no national consistency and many vulnerable road stakeholders anticipating the considerable added safety margin of 20mph will be left disappointed and traffic endangered because local pressure and politics of vested interest in preserving fast travel have overridden the place criteria and any notion of reverse discrimination for the vulnerable in harm's way with most to lose. This local Council discretion, if understood correctly, looks very unlikely to achieve a national Vision Zero result anything like as comprehensive and consistent as in Wales. We can see the physics of collision and relative resilience of the human body up to 20mph but declining very sharply thereafter continuing to be ignored by road managers including Transport Scotland itself with respect to its own 30mph street estate which has been anything but a model of safe speed management practice in our own trunk route village.

10. We wish to have the summarised identity redacted results and report recommendations arising from the Amey Consulting Springholm Traffic Speed Management Public Opinion Survey invitation dated 10th August 2023.

11. Has Transport Scotland conducted any Crocketford Traffic Speed Management Public Opinion Survey following the HGV pile up there in November 2022 and the second run off collision to destroy the pedestrian crossing signals and controller?

12. Why in the ensuing 9 months has Transport Scotland not yet permanently reinstated the pedestrian crossing apparatus in Crocketford destroyed in the aforementioned HGV crash?

Response

As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

To aid with my response I have retained the numbering from the request above:

1. We wish to have a copy of Transport Scotland's document which we understand is called "Road Assessment Guidance - National Strategy for 20mph" prepared circa. June 2022 and was apparently sent to all Scottish Local Authorities. If this has been subsequently amended we also wish to have the revised guidance.

A. Please see Annex A for a copy of the National Strategy for 20mph which was prepared in June 2022. There has been no amended or revised versions since issue.

An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.

2. We wish to know whether and, if so, to what extent, Transport Scotland will be applying the aforementioned guidance and its "place criteria" to 30mph roads/streets under its own direct and exclusive traffic management.

A. Transport Scotland has undertaken an assessment of 104 locations on the Scottish Trunk Road Network where a permanent 30mph speed limit is in force using the Road Assessment Guidance.

3. Have Transport Scotland drawn up a list of 30mph roads under its own direct and exclusive traffic management for consideration under the aforementioned guidance or any equivalent? If so we wish to have a copy of this list of 30mph roads/streets.

A. Please see Annex B to this response for a copy of the list of 104 locations highlighted for consideration under the Road Assessment Guidance. Note that there may be more than one 30mph speed limit in some locations, and these are denoted by 1, 2, etc. after the name.

4. Has Transport Scotland assessed the un-bypassed A75 communities of Crocketford and Springholm against "place criteria" in the aforementioned guidance and if so what was the outcome? If not yet scored why not given that we understand that all Scottish local authorities (excepting those like Scottish Borders already with "blanket" 20mph limits) are being required by Transport Scotland to do this for 30mph roads under their traffic management at this time?

A. Springholm and Crocketford have been assessed as part of the 104 locations. The findings have shown that both locations can be considered for 20mph speed limits. Transport Scotland will engage with Dumfries and Galloway Council and Police Scotland in regards to these proposals to understand their views prior to confirming if a 20mph speed limit will be progressed at these two locations.

5. We wish to have a copy of the communication sent to Dumfries and Galloway Council announcing and presumably also requiring the Council to act upon the aforementioned guidance.

A. Please see Annex C to this response for a copy of the email issued to all 32 Local authorities including Dumfries and Galloway. There was no individual letter issued.

An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.

6. Was 31st March 2023 the required date for a response from Dumfries and Galloway Council setting out its list of assessed 30mph roads/streets scored for potential inclusion in the 2025 20mph roll out per the aforementioned place criteria?

A. March 2023 was the given date for return of the road assessment.

7. We wish to know if Dumfries and Galloway Council has submitted its required roads/streets list to Transport Scotland and, if so, to have a copy thereof.

A. Please see Annex D for a copy of Dumfries and Galloway Councils return. The information contained in the Dumfries and Galloway road assessment is part of an evidence gathering process, which will be used to decide the most effective route to implement 20mph. The roads which will be implemented as part of the national strategy for 20mph are still to be determined.

8. Since communicating the aforementioned guidance and request for a list of assessed roads/streets thereunder to Councils has Transport Scotland provided them with any further guidance, information on funding and timetable for implementation?

A. No, Due to resourcing issues in some local authority areas the road assessment response date was extended until July 2023. Once the assessments have been analysed, the findings will enable the task group to scope the next steps and options for implementation.

9. Are Scottish Councils in fact still free to create post 2025 national inconsistency and considerable delays in implementing 20mph limits or indeed to fail altogether to implement many such limits otherwise eligible per the aforementioned guidance by in addition to the national place criteria, and funding hurdles, also adding a layer of extensive consultation with Police Scotland, ward members, community councils, creating a potential veto of 20 mph and adding a desktop study of each and every location including the road environment, existing speed limits/extents, accident history, population size and type of transport route, conducting temporary traffic data surveys to determine mean speeds, traffic volumes and % of HGVs through settlements on the basis this additional work will assist in deciding whether speed reduction measures/20mph speed limit would be suitable for the particular roads/streets? As village road safety campaigners if Councils , in fact retain this lattitude and are not well disposed toward 20mph limits there will be no national consistency and many vulnerable road stakeholders anticipating the considerable added safety margin of 20mph will be left disappointed and traffic endangered because local pressure and politics of vested interest in preserving fast travel have overridden the place criteria and any notion of reverse discrimination for the vulnerable in harm's way with most to lose. This local Council discretion, if understood correctly, looks very unlikely to achieve a national Vision Zero result anything like as comprehensive and consistent as in Wales. We can see the physics of collision and relative resilience of the human body up to 20mph but declining very sharply thereafter continuing to be ignored by road managers including Transport Scotland itself with respect to its own 30mph street estate which has been anything but a model of safe speed management practice in our own trunk route village.

A. Following the completion of the road assessments, the 20 mph task group will meet to decide on the most effective route to implement reduced speed limits of 20mph. The National Strategy will then be published including guidance on implementation for local authorities.

10. We wish to have the summarised identity redacted results and report recommendations arising from the Amey Consulting Springholm Traffic Speed Management Public Opinion Survey invitation dated 10th August 2023.

A. Please see Annex E For a copy of the redacted results and report recommendations arising from the Amey Consulting Springholm Traffic Speed Management Public Opinion Survey invitation dated 10th August 2023. This survey has been carried out to inform the evaluation of the Reverse Speed Discrimination Signals. There are no recommendations from the survey itself.

An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.

11. Has Transport Scotland conducted any Crocketford Traffic Speed Management Public Opinion Survey following the HGV pile up there in November 2022 and the second run off collision to destroy the pedestrian crossing signals and controller?

A. No, Transport Scotland has not conducted a Crocketford Traffic Speed Management Public Opinion survey.

12. Why in the ensuing 9 months has Transport Scotland not yet permanently reinstated the pedestrian crossing apparatus in Crocketford destroyed in the aforementioned HGV crash?

A. The initial delay in carrying out this work was due to manufacturer issues in the supply chain in providing materials, which remains commonplace across the industry. The crossing has now been reinstated and was commissioned on 12 October 2023.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

EIR 202300376898 - Information released - Annex A, B, C, D and E

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