Freedom of Information Act 2000

Our ref: 14844321 21 May 2020 Amy row ??? Account reference:[email protected] Freedom of Information Act 2000 Dear Amy row I can confirm that the information requested is held by Birmingham City Council. I have detailed below the information that is being released to you. Request Dear Birmingham City Council, Residents have heard but have not been consulted with about Gravelly Hill Tyburn and Aston being used as a test bed for driveless cars in the West Midlands. These are areas of deprivation with a high BAME community. Residents in these areas do not get the same level of meaninful consultation as the more affluent sides of the city. Can Birmingham City council please confirm whether the test bed for driverless cars will be in Gravelly Tyburn and Aston. Has any consultation been held with residents living along these roads and what information was provided. Will additional street furniture be brought into area, wifi boxes ,masks can you list what is likely to be installed if approved. Will a Equality impact assessment be carried out, or do you have one completed as you will be introducing a new danger into a already deprived community. Trees seem to be disappearing in these areas at a rapid pace and are failing to be replaced under Birminghams tree policy. Will trees be removed in the above areas for this test bed how many and were. Business and Customer Support Inclusive Growth Directorate PO BOX 28 1 Lancaster Circus Birmingham B1 1TU Can you explain if the testbed is going to be along those roads, why were those areas choosen. Yours faithfully, Response Dear Ms Row, The Connected Autonomous Vehicles (driverless vehicles) project is being led by Transport for West Midlands, so if you have further questions after reading this response, I recommend you contact them via [email protected]. Equipment has already been installed in several locations in Birmingham. In June, the project will be extended to additional roads, and equipment will be added at locations in Pype Hayes, Gravelly Hill and Aston wards. Ward Councillors have been notified of this already, and letters will be sent later this month to properties close to where equipment will be installed. The letters will be to inform people about the equipment, it is not necessary to carry out public consultation for the above. The equipment includes Closed Circuit TV cameras (CCTV), weather sensors and GPS location beacons that allow messages about the road condition and status to be sent directly to test vehicles and vice-versa. These will be installed on existing street furniture, such as lamp columns, and no trees will be removed. The equipment and project present’s no additional risk to people in the area: * None of the equipment will have a negative effect on mobile phone reception, satellite television reception or internet connections. * Privacy and security will be ensured by strictly controlling access to data from the equipment, which will not be intrusive; will not cover beyond the publicly adopted highway; and will not face towards properties. All personally identifiable information, such as people's faces and vehicle number plates, will be anonymised and the data will be handled in accordance with the General Data Protection regulations (GDPR) Act of 2018. * All test vehicles will have a human driver in addition to the driverless technology. Please quote the reference number 14844321 in any future communications. Business and Customer Support Inclusive Growth Directorate PO BOX 28 1 Lancaster Circus Birmingham B1 1TU If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within 40 working days from the date this authority issued its initial response to your original letter and should be addressed to: Corporate Information Governance Team PO Box 16366 Birmingham B2 2YY Email: [email protected] If you are still dissatisfied with the Council’s response after the internal review you have a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner at: The Information Commissioner's Office Website: www.ico.org.uk I will now close your request as of this date. Yours faithfully Leigh Mornington Business Support Co-ordinator Re Use of Public Sector Information Where Birmingham City Council is the copyright holder of any information that may be released, re-use for personal, educational or non-commercial purposes is permitted without further reference to the City Council. Where the re-use is for other purposes, such as commercial re-use, the applicant should notify the City Council in writing to seek approval or agree terms for re-use Business and Customer Support Inclusive Growth Directorate PO BOX 28 1 Lancaster Circus Birmingham B1 1TU .

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