Old Military Road diversion and costs: EIR release

Information requested

1 - For how many days since 1st January 2024 has the Old Military Road been used as a diversion for the Rest and Be Thankful Road, when the latter was impassable, unsafe, or otherwise out of action?

2 - How much money has been paid to the landowner of the Old Military Road, for

a) Use of the road?

b) General repairs, maintenance, and upkeep?

3) How much money has been paid to BEAR Scotland, for

a) Use of the road?

b) General repairs, maintenance, and upkeep?

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 aide with my response I have retained the numbering from your request.

1 - For how many days since 1st January 2024 has the Old Military Road been used as a diversion for the Rest and Be Thankful Road, when the latter was impassable, unsafe, or otherwise out of action?

Since the 1st of January 2024, and up to the 26 September 2024, (the date of your request), the Old Military Road (OMR) has been used as the diversion route for Rest and Be Thankful, over a period of 29 calendar days.

2 - How much money has been paid to the landowner of the Old Military Road, for

a) Use of the road?

Since 2012, and up to the 26 September 2024 (the date of your request), £2,336,429.63 has been paid to the landowner for the use of the road. This figure includes payments for the use of the road, the road being in a state of readiness for use, stock movements and an annual payment.

b) General repairs, maintenance, and upkeep?

Since 2012, and up to the 26 September 2024 (the date of your request), £52486.12 has been paid to the landowner for general repairs, maintenance and upkeep.

3 - How much money has been paid to BEAR Scotland, for

a) Use of the road?

Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), Transport Scotland is not required to provide information which it does not have. We do not have some of the information you have requested because BEAR Scotland are not paid for the use of the OMR. Rather the costs for the use of the road are paid to the landowner of the OMR.

This exception 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 exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in the use of the OMR, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

b) General repairs, maintenance, and upkeep?

Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), Transport Scotland is not required to provide information which it does not have. We do not have some of the information you have requested because BEAR Scotland do not hold specific information for the traffic management & general management costs associated with the operation of the OMR only. This is combined with the costs associated with operating A83 traffic management.

This exception 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 exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in the management of the OMR, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

However I can confirm that BEAR Scotland has been paid £4,390,120.41 for the general repairs, maintenance, and upkeep of the Old Military Road. This figure is up to 26 September 2024 (the date of your request).

About FOI

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