Flood at the Olde School, Kirkurd

2024592

27/05/2024

EIR

In respect of a flood incident which occurred on or around 20/09/2023 at the Olde School, Kirkurd, EH46 7AH we request the disclosure of the following information: 1. The Incident Report.
2. Any and all maintenance and/or repair records in respect of (i) the sewer systems; (ii) the drainage systems; and, (iii) the ditches located in or around the Loss Address.
3. Any and all complaints and/or reports regarding drainage issues, blockages and/or flooding in the area in or around the Loss Address.
4. Detailed plans and/or maps of the local drainage systems, including any indication of public and private drainage connections connected to the Loss Address.
5. Any and all Incident Logs of any reported incidents of flooding and/or drainage issues in the vicinity of the Loss Address.
6. Any and all records of any authorisation and/or approvals given by the Scottish Borders Council for drainage modification and/or constructions for any neighbouring properties to the Loss Address.
7. Any and all minutes from council meetings where flooding, drainage and/or related environmental issues were discussed regarding the vicinity of the Loss Address.
8. Any and all other correspondence and/or documentation related to the Insured and the Loss Address.

Firstly, I would like to apologise for the delay in responding. This delay was due to searches being undertaken and follow up conversations with relevant staff to help inform the Council s response.
Questions 1-6 Relevant searches have been undertaken within the following teams: * Roads Operations * Roads Assets * Flood Team The Council confirms that no information is held in relation to a flood incident which occurred on or around 20/09/2023 at the Olde School, Kirkurd, EH46 7AH . For the avoidance of doubt, each team checked their records for any recorded information held immediately before and after the date provided. As the information requested is not held, the Council advise that regulation 10(4)(a) of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulation 2004 applies.
Questions 7 and 8 The Council has interpreted the above questions to be seeking information wider than any recorded information which may be held regarding a flood incident which occurred on or around 20/09/2023 at the Olde School, Kirkurd, EH46 7AH . If this interpretation is incorrect, the Council would like to advise that no information is held in relation to the incident referred to.
If the Councils interpretation is correct and the questions (7 and 8) are looking for information which is within a wider scope, we can advise that a Scottish public authority may refuse to make environmental information available to the extent that the request for information is manifestly unreasonable. In considering this part of your request, the Council concludes that regulation 10(4)(b) applies as it would impose a significant burden on the Council to try and respond to the questions and is therefore refusing this part of your request. The Council accepts that information is held and considering the mandate received we can confirm that a significant amount of correspondence is held between the insured and Council. The information requested is not held centrally. Searches would need to be undertaken by several teams, and for most teams by more than one team member, to identify any records held about the insured and their property. Teams / officers would require carrying out searches of physical and electronic records, including systems and within Outlook accounts and personal Outlook accounts / folders of team members. Further, I would like to highlight that the Council would not be able to disclose any personal data about the insured, or any other party, into the public domain however, this information would of course need to be considered and redacted appropriately. Any personal data about the insured would be withheld under regulation 11(1) and data pertaining to any other party under regulation 11(2). The Council has considered the public interest and believes that the burden of responding to this request would detrimentally impact its functions (within several teams), incur significant staff time, and cost well in excess of the 600 limit under FOISA. Whilst the Council understands the importance of being open and transparent, where possible, complying with this request would be an unreasonable diversion from compliance with other statutory responsibilities. These two questions are very broad (encompassing a very large volume of data held). The Council would be happy to consider a revised narrowed request. Lastly, I would like to inform you that the Council does not charge for information requested, as permitted under regulation 8 of the EIRs, as our policy is not to charge for information.

Flood at the Olde School, Kirkurd - Freedom of information requests