On 23rd August last year, it was widely reported that “a substance similar to diesel or vegetable oil was poured onto the carriageways” that made up the A720 and A8 roads of Edinburgh.
As a result, protests took place where “hundreds of campaigners spent a week occupying the Gogarburn grounds of RBS’ headquarters protesting against what they believed were environmentally damaging investments”.
The Help Me Investigate investigation began with the legitimacy of the ‘oil slick’ claims, but eventually evolved, alongside The Guardian’s investigations, into the protests themselves.
Yet still, over four months later, Lothian & Borders Police have not released information relating to the costs of the protests, claiming Section 17 (information not found).
The first and second Freedom Of Information Requests were stalled, with Lothian & Borders Police originally claiming that “it will take some time before all costs (expenses etc) have been accounted for and I would therefore suggest that you re-apply for this information in about two month’s time”, and then, come October, announcing that “it is unlikely that this information will be fully collated until the end of October (at the very earliest) and I would therefore suggest that you re-apply after that time”.
The Guardian found similar roadblocks, and with this update last week, it seems that they are still no closer to finding any answers.
The Guardian tells us that “on three occasions since August we have used the Freedom of Information Act to ask the local police force to tell us the cost of policing the protests” but all have been refused.
The report also references the Help Me Investigate findings relating to traffic logs on the day of the alleged oil-spill.
The best quote to leave the story so far on is this:
“The Force Information Unit recommend you resubmit your FOI early in the New Year, as they hope to have a figure available in January.”
We’ll see.