Email responses to Chiswick High Road consultation survey
Request ID: FOI-0264-2324 Date published: 23 May 2023
You asked
Please could you provide a count of the number of responses sent to the email address [email protected] in relation to the recent TfL consultation on "Chiswick High Road walking and cycling changes".
The count should include:
(1) The total number of email responses submitted in relation to the Chiswick High Road consultation between 3rd October 2022 and 3rd April 2023 (inclusive).
(2) The number of email responses matching the criteria in point (1) above which ALSO used the following subject line:
"Chiswick High Road consultation response"
(3) The number of email responses matching the criteria in point (1) above which also used ANY of the following phrases within the text of the response:
"What impact has the scheme had on the area"
"If you think the experimental scheme should be changed, please tell us"
"Tell us how you primarily travel in the area"
"Tell us who you are responding as"
For each of the three counts requested above, please provide a breakdown as follows:
(a) number of responses in favour of the scheme vs responses in opposition to the scheme
(b) number of responses where the respondent has identified themselves as a current resident of Chiswick OR supplied a W4 postcode with their response
Many thanks.
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-0264-2324
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 24th April 2023 asking for information about responses to the Chiswick High Road consultation survey.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
Specifically you asked:
“Please could you provide a count of the number of responses sent to the email address [email protected] in relation to the recent TfL consultation on "Chiswick High Road walking and cycling changes".
The count should include:
(1) The total number of email responses submitted in relation to the Chiswick High Road consultation between 3rd October 2022 and 3rd April 2023 (inclusive).
(2) The number of email responses matching the criteria in point (1) above which ALSO used the following subject line:
"Chiswick High Road consultation response"
(3) The number of email responses matching the criteria in point (1) above which also used ANY of the following phrases within the text of the response:
"What impact has the scheme had on the area" "If you think the experimental scheme should be changed, please tell us" "Tell us how you primarily travel in the area" "Tell us who you are responding as"
For each of the three counts requested above, please provide a breakdown as follows:
(a) number of responses in favour of the scheme vs responses in opposition to the scheme
(b) number of responses where the respondent has identified themselves as a current resident of Chiswick OR supplied a W4 postcode with their response.”
I can confirm that we hold the information you require. However, I am afraid that it is not possible to source all of the information requested within the costs limit for responding to FOI cases, as set out under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act. Under section 12, TfL is not required to provide information if it would cost more than £450 to determine if that information is held, and to then locate, retrieve or extract it from elsewhere. This is calculated at a rate of £25 per hour, equivalent to 18 hours work.
In this instance the exemption applies because there is no quick or efficient way of sourcing the information you have requested. We received 843 email responses to the Chiswick High Road consultation. In order to provide the further detail / breakdown you have requested we would have to manually review each email individually to extract that information. Even at a conservative estimate of two minutes per email this would take us over 28 hours, considerably in excess of the 18 hour limit.
In order to bring your request within the limit you may wish to reframe it to narrow its scope, focussing on the information that is of most importance to you. However, please be aware that any request that would require us to review each and every response received will invariably trigger the costs limit for the same reasons as set out above. Note further that our consultation report will be published once the London Borough of Hounslow has made a decision about how it wishes to proceed with the Chiswick High Road experimental scheme. This report will include a large amount of information about the outcomes of the consultation, including a comprehensive analysis of the issues raised in written comments and a map to show the location of respondents to the consultation who provided a valid postcode. You may therefore wish to wait to review that report before considering any revised request.
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,
David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
