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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
About the Act

The Freedom Of Information Act requires all public bodies in the UK (such as the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership) to provide a general right of access to the information they hold. January 1, 2005 was the date on which the general right of access became effective.
The Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership is committed to being open and transparent wherever possible and providing information to the public proactively. We already publish lots of information about who we are and what we do via—
  • our website
  • local newspapers, radio stations and TV
  • specialist publications and supplements
  • information campaigns
  • public opinion polls, surveys and market research
  • advertising
  • driver education initiatives
  • special events and exhibitions
It is our intention to publish information that the public has an interest in viewing. However, as we are committed to protecting the communities we serve through the prevention and detection of speeding, it must be recognised that it is not in the public interest to release certain information—for instance, information concerning ongoing police investigations. Intelligence and the use of related operational techniques must be protected. These are central to maintaining an effective enforcement programme.
In this respect, the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership will, when appropriate and reasonable, apply the exemptions afforded under the Freedom Of Information Act, particularly Section 30 “Investigation and proceedings conducted by public authorities” and Section 31 “Law enforcement”.

2. Exemptions:

While 40 countries worldwide have implemented Freedom of Information legislation, the FOI Act is new to the UK. The Act will run alongside the Data Protection Act 1988.
Requests for information must be made in writing.
Public bodies, including the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership, have a statutory duty to respond to requests and provide information within 20 working days of receipt of the query.
All information that is held by public bodies will be provided to the public except for that which qualifies for exemptions – exemptions are decided mainly on whether disclosing the information is in the public interest or not.
Areas of Exemption:
  • Information that is reasonably accessible by the public in that it is already in the public domain is exempt under Section 21. This includes information provided by Partnerships on websites or in other publicity materials.
  • Most personal information will continue to be subject to the Data Protection Act 1998.
  • Certain information that relates to commercial activities may be exempt because the Act facilitates an exemption for Commercial Interests.
  • The specific exemptions contained in the Act that may be relevant to information held by Safety Camera Partnerships are:
    o Section 30 - Investigations
    o Section 31 - Law Enforcement
    o Section 36 - Prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs
    o Section 38 - Health and Safety
    o Section 43 - Commercial Interests.
Two specific categories of information are of particular concern to Safety Camera Partnerships. These are a) details of enforcement thresholds and b) information that could be used to deduce enforcement activity at specific sites or routes. In September 2004 ACPO applied the public interest test to evaluate whether withholding such information from the public better served the interests of the public than releasing it, and agreed that the benefit of disclosing such information was outweighed by the potential consequences to law enforcement and to the impact on road safety. As such, their guidance is that these two categories of information qualify for exemptions under Section 31 of the Act.
  • Exemptions may also be applied to a third category of concern - information that could jeopardise the safety or security of Partnership staff or assets – where Partnerships have a well-founded concern about the safety or security of their staff or assets. These exemptions will be made on an individual basis.
  • Information that is held by a public body with a view to its publication at a later stage may also be exempt under Section 22.
Generally, all other information held by the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership will be made available.
The following categories of information are exempt because they could jeopardise the operational effectiveness of camera enforcement, and thus fall under the Exemption as outlined in Section 31 of the FOI Act - Law Enforcement – Section A and B:

i. Specific enforcement thresholds applied by a Partnership.
This category of information will be exempted nationally because of the concern that the information contains working practices that, if known, would have an impact on operational policing." Following application of the public interest test in September 2004 ACPO concluded that: "It is considered that the public interest in disclosing site specific data at this level is outweighed by the potential consequences to law enforcement and the impact of such a release on road safety measures."

ii. Site specific information that includes:
  • the level of use of a single site – e.g. Numbers of offences detected at a single site, hours of enforcement time at a site, revenue generated on a site-specific basis;
  • Operational programme of fixed camera sites, and prioritisation of all sites
  • Detailed programme for mobile camera routes (regular programmes may be released by those Partnerships that hold this information but this should not be too detailed or it could jeopardise casualty reduction).
The Exemption applicable is again Section 31 Law Enforcement (Section A and B). The concern is that the information contains working practices that, if known, would have an impact on operational policing. The ACPO decision reads as follows:
"It is considered that the public interest in disclosing Force speeding thresholds is outweighed by the potential consequences to law enforcement and the impact of such a release on road safety measures and consequently the safety of the public at large."
The following categories of information will generally be exempt because they fall under the Data Protection Act 1998:

i. Personal data, including actual salaries of individual staff members

ii. Information relating to other peoples’ offences.
Certain other types of information may be exempt because they fall under other exemptions provided for in the FOI Act: This includes:

i. information that is relevant to an ongoing police investigation or to legal action (exempt under Section 30, Investigations);

ii. information which is reasonably accessible to the applicant elsewhere or by other means (Section 21)

iii. Information that may endanger the safety of members of the Partnership or threaten the security of its assets (Section 38 – Health and Safety).

Information that is due to be published by a Partnership in the future may be exempt under the conditions laid out in Section 22 of the Act.
Look out for further updates on the Freedom Of Information Act.
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