Thank you for your email received on 19 April asking for information about topographical certificates.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our Information Access Policy. I can confirm that we hold the information you require. You asked for:
“How many topographical certificates have been accepted from August 2016 to the present moment and why have tfl made the same certificates illegal if sent in after 6th Feb 2017, are those certificates illegal and why are some illegal and why are some legal...Basically i want all information released as to why the policy change and what has triggered it and why have you accepted certificates from some candidates and from others you say are not accepted even though the topographical was done at the same time either before or after.”
From August 2016 to 8 May 2017, we accepted 12,045 topographical skills certificates as part of private hire driver licence applications.
As stated in our January 2017 notice to private hire applicants (ref:03/17), which can be viewed at: www.tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/notices-and-consultations, our decision to only accept certificates issued by Transport for London from 6 February 2017 forms part of our commitment to improve safety standards by introducing an enhanced topographical test for private hire drivers.
This initiative is also outlined in the Mayor’s Taxi and Private Hire Action Plan. The Plan, is published on our website: www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/taxi-and-private-hire. Please see Page 8, Enhancing Public Safety for further information.
In accordance with section 21 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply you with a copy of the requested information as it is already accessible to you elsewhere.
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for some reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for some reason, please do not hesitate to contact me
Yours sincerely
Jasmine Howard
FOI Case Officer
Information Governance
Transport For London
