Expenditure clearing roads and ditches as a result of run off each year from 2020
Case reference FOI2025/00432
Received 2 March 2025
Published 19 March 2025
Last amended 21 March 2025
Request
I wish to know how much money and time has been spent by Herefordshire Council clearing roads and ditches as a result of run off each year from 2020.
I also wish to know how much money has been recovered from the landowners responsible for the run off over the same time period.
Response
I wish to know how much money and time has been spent by Herefordshire Council clearing roads and ditches as a result of run off each year from 2020.
I also wish to know how much money has been recovered from the landowners responsible for the run off over the same time period.
Answer: The information for the second question is not held in a form that would enable it to be located, retrieved and extracted within the Appropriate Time Limit which equates to 18 hours as defined by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limits and Fees) Regulations 2004.
Our electronic reporting systems are unable to run a report for this information. To ascertain the data requested, officers would need to manually check individual files for this information. An initial search has shown that 476 files would need to be checked for this information, and it is estimated that it would take 5 minutes to check each file. Once the details had been identified this would need to be noted and once all files had been checked in this way, the total figures requested could be calculated.
This would at a conservative estimate take at least 39.66 hours to complete. Where the Limit is exceeded Public Authorities are not obliged to supply the information requested by virtue of S12 of the Act. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act.
With regards to the first question, we do not hold the information as requested above. Balfour Beatty hold budgets for these services and do not capture costs or times for each job completed for clearing roads and ditches as a result of run off each year.
However, within the 18 hour limit, we can provide the number of ditching jobs or road cleaning jobs in the area for each year from 2020, however please be advised other exemptions may be applicable. Please let us know if this is something you require.
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.