FOI request detail

EIR 2004 / FOIA 2000 Request

Request ID: FOI-0207-1920
Date published: 13 June 2019

You asked

Dear Sir or Madam: This is a request under the Environmental Information Regulation 2004 / Freedom of Information Act 2000. I request that a copy of the following documents or documents containing the following information of the listed schemes be provided to me: 1. Estimate of Costs for a Transport and Works Act Order application. 2. Timescale (i.e., milestone/schedule) which was made up within one year of your application for a TWAO. If Timescale is not available, please provide Factsheets which summarise key information from the TWAO documents. 3. Actual completion date. If the completion date of a scheme has not reached, please provide the up to date estimate of completion date of the scheme. 4. Up to date outturn cost. If possible, a breakdown of the total cost as split in the Estimate of Costs for a TWAO application I understand that I am entitled to a response within 20 working days of your receipt of this request. Some parts of the request may be easier to answer than others. Should this be the case, I request that you release information as soon as possible. If my request is denied in whole or in part, I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions. I will also expect you to release all non-exempt material. I reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to charge excessive fees. In addition to the Government's transparency policy on the major project data, I bring the following decisions to your attention. Under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, unlike under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, there is no appropriate costs limit above which public authorities are not required to deal with requests for information. This was confirmed in a decision of the Information Commissioner's Office. In the Information Commissioner's Office decision notice FS50121519, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform had originally refused the request under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. When the Commissioner alerted the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to the fact that some of the information requested was environmental information, the public authority suggested that if this were the case, the request should still be refused under regulation 12(4)(b) as manifestly unreasonable. The public authority suggested that, in effect, regulation 12(4)(b) was the equivalent of section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore, as responding to the request would have exceeded the appropriate limit detailed in the fees regulations, it could be refused under regulation 12(4)(b). The Commissioner rejected this argument, clarifying that the fact that responding to a request for environmental information would exceed the appropriate limit if it were dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, is not straightforward grounds for classing a request as manifestly unreasonable. In addition to this, the Commissioner considered how proportionate the burden created by the request would be and whether complying with the request would involve an unreasonable diversion of resources from the provision of public services. Given that the size of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (incomparably smaller than the Department for Transport) and the resources available to it, the Commissioner made the judgement that dealing with this request would not interrupt its normal activities and responsibilities in any significant way. The Commissioner was satisfied that in these circumstances the request was not manifestly unreasonable, despite the fact that the costs of responding would have exceeded the appropriate limit under the FOIA fees regulations. The Information Commissioner's Office further noted that public authorities may be required to accept a greater burden in providing environmental information than other information. This was confirmed in a preliminary decision of the Information Tribunal in the case of Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform vs the Information Commissioner and Platform. In this case, the tribunal considered the relevance of regulation 7(1) and commented as follows: “We surmise from this that Parliament intended to treat environmental information differently and to require its disclosure in circumstances where information may not have to be disclosed under FOIA. This is evident also in the fact that the EIR contains an express presumption in favour of disclosure, which FOIA does not. It may be that the public policy imperative underpinning the EIR is regarded as justifying a greater deployment of resources. We note that recital 9 of the Directive calls for disclosure of environmental information to be “to the widest extent possible”. Whatever the reasons may be, the effect is that public authorities may be required to accept a greater burden in providing environmental information than other information.” I would prefer to receive the information electronically. If you require any clarification or find any aspect of this request problematic, I expect you to contact me to provide advice and assistance. Please acknowledge receipt of this request. I look forward to receiving the information in the near future. List of Projects Bond Street: Station Upgrade Contactless Ticketing on All Modes Excluding Cycle Hire Delivery of 800 New Routemaster Buses Finsbury Park: Station Upgrade Future Upgrades Including Paddington (Bakerloo Line) Growth Station Schemes Including Elephant and Castle, Woolwich and Tottenham Hale London Overground Capacity Improvement Project: Five Car New Growth Funding Including Tottenham Hale Station Upgrade Northern Line Upgrade Sub-Surface Railway Upgrade Tottenham Court Road: Station Upgrade Tramlink Improvements: Four Additional Trams and Wimbledon Platform Works Victoria and Jubilee Line Capacity Increases Victoria: Station Upgrade

We answered

TfL Ref: 0207-1920

Thank you for your email received by us on 18 April 2019 asking for information about Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) applications for various transport schemes.

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 some of the information you require. You asked for:

a copy of the following documents or documents containing the following information of the listed schemes be provided to me:
1. Estimate of Costs for a Transport and Works Act Order application.
2. Timescale (i.e., milestone/schedule) which was made up within one year of your application for a TWAO. If Timescale is not available, please provide Factsheets which summarise key information from the TWAO documents.
3. Actual completion date. If the completion date of a scheme has not reached, please provide the up to date estimate of completion date of the scheme.
4. Up to date outturn cost. If possible, a breakdown of the total cost as split in the Estimate of Costs for a TWAO application

Bond Street: Station Upgrade

Tottenham Court Road: Station Upgrade

I can advise that for both Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road, consents were secured via the Crossrail Hybrid Bill, which were both were completed in 2017. These stations were completed with a final cost of £312m and £478m respectively, below what the programme authority granted at the start of these schemes.

Contactless Ticketing on All Modes Excluding Cycle Hire

Delivery of 800 New Routemaster Buses

TWAOs are not needed for contactless ticketing or the delivery of new Routemaster buses. Information on the type of infrastructure covered by TWAO’s can be found in the Department for Transport’s online Guide via: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/273359/twa-orders-summary-guide-2013.pdf

Details of suppliers and contract values for the provision of contactless ticketing can be found on our website here :http://content.tfl.gov.uk/tfl-contracts-greater-than-5k.pdf

Information on the tendering and contract processes of our bus services is also published on our website at: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/uploads/forms/lbsl-tendering-and-contracting.pdf

Finsbury Park: Station Upgrade

A TWAO does not apply. The accessibility and capacity works within the station did not require planning consent. The new station entrance received consent through a third party developer, City North. The accessibility works were completed earlier in 2019, whilst the new entrance will open later this year. The estimated final cost is £49m, which is in line with authority at the start of the project.

Future Upgrades Including Paddington (Bakerloo Line)

Again, a TWAO does not apply. Planning consents were secured by a third party, Great Western Developments and at their cost. Works have not yet commenced on site and are subject to formal agreement with the developer. Consequently, this will determine the costs to TfL, although this will be substantially third party funded.

Growth Station Schemes Including

Elephant and Castle,

A TWAO does not apply. Outline planning consent was secured by third party, Delancey. We will seek detailed planning consent for the station. Works have not yet commenced and are subject to agreement with the developer. This will determine costs to TfL.

Woolwich

We assume that you are referring to the future Crossrail station, which once complete will be referred to as part of the Elizabeth line. Information on the funding framework for Crossrail including publications of the Crossrail Act and Bills are published here: http://www.crossrail.co.uk/about-us/funding

New Growth Funding Including Tottenham Hale Station Upgrade

1. Estimate of Costs for a Transport and Works Act Order application.

The Tottenham Hale station upgrade did not go through a TWAO application. It was a Planning Application submission by TfL (on behalf of both Transport for London and Network Rail in December 2013), made under the Town & Country Planning Act 1990.

2. Timescale (i.e., milestone/schedule) which was made up within one year of your application for a TWAO. If Timescale is not available, please provide Factsheets which summarise key information from the TWAO documents.

As previously mentioned, this scheme did not require TWAO and is therefore not applicable.

3. Actual completion date. If the completion date of a scheme has not reached, please provide the up to date estimate of completion date of the scheme.

The Tottenham Hale Upgrade Scheme is still in delivery. The current published delivery timescale for the project is Winter 2019.

4. Up to date outturn cost. If possible, a breakdown of the total cost as split in the Estimate of Costs for a TWAO application

The current TfL budget for this upgrade is approximately £30.9m. The final Estimate of Costs will be made at the end of the project.

London Overground Capacity Improvement Project: Five Car

I can advise that no TWAO was applicable.

Northern Line Upgrade

The Northern line upgrade consisted of signalling that was introduced in 2014/15 without a TWAO. Furthermore, the Northern Line Upgrade 2 was cancelled as part of business planning .

Sub-Surface Railway Upgrade

No TWAO applies for the above upgrade. However, the Sub Surface Railway Upgrade outturn is expected at £5.3bn with completion in 2023.

Tramlink Improvements: Four Additional Trams and Wimbledon Platform Works

No TWAO was applicable.

Victoria and Jubilee Line Capacity Increases

Victoria and Jubilee line capacity, including the Northern line as part of the World Class Capacity Programme, has been culled as part of the business planning process and much reduced in terms of outcomes. Cancelling the additional trains saved £600m, therefore we are now forecasting the outturn at £205m with completion in 2021.

Victoria: Station Upgrade

The time taken for TWAOs varies considerably. The attached table sets out how long recent TfL TWAOs have taken. The cost of each TWAO is difficult to determine exactly and can vary depending on the overlaps with design progression and general project overhead costs. Each scheme has estimated that the TWAO is around £6-8m.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any 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.

Yours sincerely

Jasmine Howard
FOI Case Officer
Information Governance
Transport For London

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