Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government why National Highways has not provided the information requested by Mr Graeme Bickerdike in response to his Freedom of Information request made on 10 May regarding Great Musgrave Bridge (FOI/3614); what were the reasons for their public comments about the motives of Mr Bickerdike in making that request; and whether they will now supply the information requested.

The Freedom of Information (FoI) Act request submitted by Mr Bickerdike was dealt with by National Highways and deemed to be of a vexatious nature under the terms of the FoI Act and Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) guidance. National Highways has therefore refused to respond to further FoI requests regarding infilling from Mr Bickerdike.

An internal review of this refusal was requested by Mr Bickerdike and this was completed and issued by National Highways. The internal review has to be sent to the address that requested it, in this case Mr Bickerdike has made his requests via the ‘What Do They Know’ website which is a public forum accessible by anyone. National Highways therefore provided the response to the email address requested and this resulted in it being accessible to the public at large. As explained in the replies from National Highways, Mr Bickerdike can also refer the complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office for a decision.