Cofnod Datgeliadau

Cwestiwn

Despite reviewing the publicly available documentation, I have been unable to identify what happened to the recommended Capital Programme bid, whether the permanent protection works identified in 2009 were funded, whether Measure MBC M04 was completed, or through which governance arrangements the risk was being monitored immediately prior to the November 2024 collapse.

Accordingly, I request the following information:

1. Confirmation of whether a Capital Programme bid for the Pant Culvert permanent protection scheme was formally submitted following the October 2009 engineering report.

2. If submitted, please provide:

- Date of submission.

- Amount requested.

- Department and officer responsible.

- Business case and supporting documentation.

3. The outcome of the Capital Programme bid, including whether it was:

- Approved.

- Approved in part.

- Deferred.

- Rejected.

- Withdrawn.

4. Copies of all Cabinet, Council, Capital Programme Board or other committee reports, minutes or decisions where the Pant Culvert Capital Programme bid was considered between October 2009 and December 2015.

5. Copies of any Capital Programme schedules, appendices, monitoring reports or budget reports identifying Pant Culvert during that period.

6. Details of all funding allocated to Pant Culvert between October 2009 and December 2015, including:

- Funding source.

- Amount approved.

- Date approved.

- Date spent.

- Description of the works undertaken.

7. Please explain the difference between:

- The £140,000–£150,000 permanent protection scheme recommended in the October 2009 engineering report; and

- The expenditure of approximately £33,370.98 recorded within the 26 March 2012 Scrutiny report.

Please confirm whether the £33,370.98 represented:

- Emergency works only.

- Partial completion of the recommended protection scheme.

- Separate maintenance works.

- The total expenditure on Pant Culvert up to that date.

- Another category of expenditure.

8. Please confirm whether the permanent protection scheme recommended in October 2009 was:

- Fully completed.

- Partially completed.

- Not commenced.

- Cancelled.

- Deferred.

If completed, please provide the completion date, scope of works and final project cost.

9. Please provide copies of all six-monthly update reports requested by the Neighbourhood Services and Countryside Scrutiny Committee on 26 March 2012 relating to culvert management and Pant Culvert.

10. In relation to Measure MBC M04 within the Flood Risk Management Plan (2015), please provide:

- Confirmation whether Measure MBC M04 was fully implemented.

- Copies of all inspections, surveys and condition assessments undertaken.

- Copies of any hydraulic modelling.

- Copies of any engineering designs or flood alleviation proposals.

- Details of all funding allocated.

- Progress reports produced between 2016 and 2021.

- Details of all works completed.

- Reasons for any elements of Measure MBC M04 that were not undertaken.

- Details of any decisions to defer, amend or cancel the proposed works.

11. Please confirm whether Pant Culvert (Nant Morlais) was recorded on any:

- Corporate Risk Register.

- Operational Risk Register.

- Asset Management Register.

- Flood Risk Register.

- Highways Structures Register.

If so, please provide the relevant entries for the period 2009–2024.

12. Please confirm whether Pant Culvert (Nant Morlais) formed part of the work programme for the Neighbourhood Services, Countryside and Planning Scrutiny Committee prior to the meeting held on 29 April 2024.

13. If Pant Culvert or Nant Morlais was considered through any other committee, officer group, governance board or management forum between 2022 and November 2024, please provide copies of the relevant reports, agendas, minutes, briefing papers and decisions.

14. If Pant Culvert was not included within the published Scrutiny reports immediately prior to the November 2024 collapse, please explain through which governance arrangements, risk management process or asset management framework the identified risk was being monitored and managed at that time.

15. If no Capital Programme bid was submitted, or if the recommendation contained within the October 2009 engineering report was not progressed, please provide any reports, correspondence or records explaining why.

Ateb

I request the following information:

1. Confirmation of whether a Capital Programme bid for the Pant Culvert permanent protection scheme was formally submitted following the October 2009 engineering report.

The Council has undertaken searches of its current electronic and physical records. No information has been identified that would confirm whether a Capital Programme bid relating to the Pant Culvert permanent protection scheme was submitted or, if submitted, the outcome of any such bid. The Council therefore does not hold recorded information falling within the scope of this request.

2. If submitted, please provide

The Council has undertaken searches of its current electronic and physical records. No information has been identified that would confirm whether a Capital Programme bid relating to the Pant Culvert permanent protection scheme was submitted or, if submitted, the outcome of any such bid. The Council therefore does not hold recorded information falling within the scope of this request.

3. The outcome of the Capital Programme bid

The Council has undertaken searches of its current electronic and physical records. No information has been identified that would confirm whether a Capital Programme bid relating to the Pant Culvert permanent protection scheme was submitted or, if submitted, the outcome of any such bid. The Council therefore does not hold recorded information falling within the scope of this request.

4. Copies of all Cabinet, Council, Capital Programme Board or other committee reports, minutes or decisions where the Pant Culvert Capital Programme bid was considered between October 2009 and December 2015.

The Council does not hold a separate schedule identifying reports responsive to this request. Council reports, minutes and agendas for the relevant period are publicly available on the Council's website. To the extent that any responsive information is held, it is reasonably accessible to the applicant by other means and is therefore exempt from disclosure under Regulation 6(1)(b) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

Search decision-making documentation

5. Copies of any Capital Programme schedules, appendices, monitoring reports or budget reports identifying Pant Culvert during that period.

The Council does not hold a separate schedule identifying reports responsive to this request. Council reports, minutes and agendas for the relevant period are publicly available on the Council's website. To the extent that any responsive information is held, it is reasonably accessible to the applicant by other means and is therefore exempt from disclosure under Regulation 6(1)(b) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

Search decision-making documentation

6. Details of all funding allocated to Pant Culvert between October 2009 and December 2015, including:

2009

- Funding source. Capital

- Amount approved. £41,782.49

- Date approved. 14/10/09

- Date spent. Between 10/11/09 and 26/02/10

- Description of the works undertaken. Repair of washouts under playing fields. 4 voids filled with concrete.

2015

- Funding source. Land Drainage revenue budget

- Amount approved. £29,927

- Date approved. 6/07/2015

- Date spent. July 2015

- Description of the works undertaken. All identified defects in the culvert were repaired. Filling minor washouts with concrete and repointing open joints.

7. Please explain the difference between:

- The £140,000–£150,000 permanent protection scheme recommended in the October 2009 engineering report; and

- The expenditure of approximately £33,370.98 recorded within the 26 March 2012 Scrutiny report.

Please confirm whether the £33,370.98 represented:

- Emergency works only.

- Partial completion of the recommended protection scheme.

- Separate maintenance works.

- The total expenditure on Pant Culvert up to that date.

- Another category of expenditure.

The Council has undertaken searches of its current electronic and physical records. No information has been identified that would confirm whether a Capital Programme bid relating to the Pant Culvert permanent protection scheme was submitted or, if submitted, the outcome of any such bid. The Council therefore does not hold recorded information falling within the scope of this request.

8. Please confirm whether the permanent protection scheme recommended in October 2009 was:

- Fully completed.

- Partially completed.

- Not commenced.

- Cancelled.

- Deferred.

If completed, please provide the completion date, scope of works and final project cost.

The Council has undertaken searches of its current electronic and physical records. No information has been identified that would confirm whether a Capital Programme bid relating to the Pant Culvert permanent protection scheme was submitted or, if submitted, the outcome of any such bid. The Council therefore does not hold recorded information falling within the scope of this request.

9. Please provide copies of all six-monthly update reports requested by the Neighbourhood Services and Countryside Scrutiny Committee on 26 March 2012 relating to culvert management and Pant Culvert.

Searches have been undertaken for the six-monthly update reports referred to by the Scrutiny Committee on 26 March 2012. No such reports have been identified. The Council does not hold any recorded information responsive to this part of the request.

10. In relation to Measure MBC M04 within the Flood Risk Management Plan (2015), please provide:

- Confirmation whether Measure MBC M04 was fully implemented.

- Copies of all inspections, surveys and condition assessments undertaken.

- Copies of any hydraulic modelling.

- Copies of any engineering designs or flood alleviation proposals.

- Details of all funding allocated.

- Progress reports produced between 2016 and 2021.

- Details of all works completed.

- Reasons for any elements of Measure MBC M04 that were not undertaken.

- Details of any decisions to defer, amend or cancel the proposed works.

Compliance with this part of the request would require the Council to examine a substantial volume of records spanning multiple systems, locations and time periods in order to identify, retrieve and review any potentially relevant information. The burden involved would be manifestly unreasonable and the Council is therefore relying on Regulation 12(4)(b) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. In reaching this decision the Council has considered the public interest in disclosure and concluded that the public interest in maintaining the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

11. Please confirm whether Pant Culvert (Nant Morlais) was recorded on any:

- Corporate Risk Register. No

- Operational Risk Register. No

- Asset Management Register. No

- Flood Risk Register. Yes

- Highways Structures Register. No

If so, please provide the relevant entries for the period 2009–2024.

The duty to maintain a register of structures and features arose following the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. Council records indicate that the Pant Culvert was entered onto the relevant Flood Risk Register between 2010 and 2013. No entries have been identified on the Corporate Risk Register, Operational Risk Register, Asset Management Register or Highways Structures Register.

12. Please confirm whether Pant Culvert (Nant Morlais) formed part of the work programme for the Neighbourhood Services, Countryside and Planning Scrutiny Committee prior to the meeting held on 29 April 2024.

No

13. If Pant Culvert or Nant Morlais was considered through any other committee, officer group, governance board or management forum between 2022 and November 2024, please provide copies of the relevant reports, agendas, minutes, briefing papers and decisions.

Not applicable.

14. If Pant Culvert was not included within the published Scrutiny reports immediately prior to the November 2024 collapse, please explain through which governance arrangements, risk management process or asset management framework the identified risk was being monitored and managed at that time.

The Council does not hold recorded information indicating that Pant Culvert was being managed through a Corporate Risk Register, Operational Risk Register, Asset Management Register, Scrutiny work programme, governance board or management forum immediately prior to the November 2024 collapse. Furthermore, no recorded information has been identified indicating that the culvert was classified as a current risk requiring escalation through those governance arrangements at that time.

15. If no Capital Programme bid was submitted, or if the recommendation contained within the October 2009 engineering report was not progressed, please provide any reports, correspondence or records explaining why.

The Council has undertaken searches of its current electronic and physical records. No information has been identified that would confirm whether a Capital Programme bid relating to the Pant Culvert permanent protection scheme was submitted or, if submitted, the outcome of any such bid. The Council therefore does not hold recorded information falling within the scope of this request.

The events referred to in this request date back approximately 15 years. During that period there have been changes in staff, systems and record management arrangements. Reasonable searches have been undertaken of records currently held by the Council. However, no further recorded information has been identified that would enable the Council to confirm whether the recommended Capital Programme bid progressed, whether the permanent protection scheme was approved or the reasons why it may not have proceeded.