We asked them to list the times and dates of apparent failures of the traffic camera on the A303 at Solstice Park, Amesbury, as it seemed that the camera was frequently out of service when the traffic levels on the A303 were greatest. Rather than raise this as an unfounded suspicion, we wanted to have factual information (as it turned out, our suspicions about camera failure were unfounded, but we haven't yet established if the camera is ever deliberately turned off!).
Imagine our surprise when we received the following response:
...I refer to your request under the above legislation for information about failure of traffic cameras on the A303.
I can confirm that we do not hold the information. We believe that, as this is a safety camera operated by Wiltshire Police, the information you require may be held by Wiltshire Police. If you have not already done so, you may wish to contact them...
Now, we knew that this was complete cock-and-bull, but we played the game and re-sent the FOIA request to Wiltshire Police, who responded as we expected, pointing out that the police unit responsible for static cameras closed in 2010. So, back to the Highways Agency we went and asked for an internal review of their original answer.
This time, we got the following response and somewhat half-hearted apology:
"...I am writing to confirm that I have now completed an internal review of our original response to you, which you requested on 30th May.
It appears that we were mistaken in our first response to you and that the Highways Agency has responsibility for the camera in question. Please accept my sincere apologies for the misinformation and any subsequent inconvenience this has caused..."
This isn't the first time that they have answered our FOIA's incorrectly - the level of incompetence for a Government Agency is simply astounding.
Over the last few days, in the run-up to Summer Solstice 2014, we at STAG have been monitoring traffic levels on the A303 and one of the strands of this is to monitor, when possible, the Solstice Park camera.
From midweek, the camera has been out of service and it was definitely out of service last night, showing the typical failure notice:
Imagine our surprise, when we awoke very early on Solstice morning, to see the following Twitter-feed from the Highways Agency:
Poetic, wonderful, atmospheric, the Amesbury webcam was clearly fixed in time for the Solstice dawn. We are sure the English Heretics would have been delighted by the plug.
Well, actually, no. The camera was still unavailable the second the tweet was published. So, are the Highways Agency lying through their teeth about watching the sunrise through the Amesbury webcam, or, are they are lying through their teeth about the camera being available and deliberately suppressing the feed?
Superficially, and in the greater scheme of things, if the Highways Agency are lying, this might seem a fairly trivial untruth. However, it is information, being put in the public domain on behalf of the Government. In effect, if true, it's the Government misleading the people. If they can't be trusted over something as trivial as a webcam feed, how can they be trusted when it comes to something more important regarding the A303 - the current feasibility study for improving it for instance?
Let's just say we are unhappy, a wee bit vexed.
Agencies like the Highways Agency should be answerable to the people and we hope that our MP, John Glen, will seek answers from the Highways Agency on our behalf.
1 comment:
Interesting article! By another route - observation and experience - I have drawn the same conclusion you have regarding the availability of the Solstice Park traffic camera. I travel the A303 every day on the work commute and have come to the conclusion that when the Solstice Park camera is unavailable the traffic level is such that the area should be avoided!
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