Our ref: FOI-0398-1718/GH, FOI-0450/1/2/3/4-1718/GH, FOI-0530-1718/GH & FOI-0537-1718/GH
Thank you for your requests received by Transport for London (TfL) on 22, 26, 31 May and 1 June 2017 asking for information about Enforcement on Street Operations.
Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy.
I can confirm that we do hold the information you require. However, to provide the information you have requested in these requests would by far exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.
Our records show that you have made eight FOI requests to TfL about Enforcement on Street Operations in a continuous period of eight working days (excluding bank holidays) up to and including the date of your most recent request of 1 June 2017. Because of this we are now applying an aggregate cost limit.
Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with requests with a similar theme if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, locating and retrieving it and extracting it from other information would exceed the appropriate limit. In this instance, we estimate that it would take approximately 150 hours to answer these requests. The appropriate limit is 18 hours (calculated at £25 per hour - the rate stipulated by the Regulations).
For example you have asked for:
all information and communication using the word deterrent including “deterrent charges, deterrent fees, deterrent fines, deterrent factors” within the enforcement on street operations department at TfL.
Searching for ‘all information’ over an unspecified time period, would be a huge task and would on its own exceed the cost limit.
Similarly you have asked for:
all public advertising / publications by TfL using the word deterrent or are meant to have a deterrent effect such as fines, Penalty Charge Notices, Penalty Fare Notices etc.
This again is an extremely broad request over an unspecified time period, and would cost us over £450 to answer.
To help bring the cost of responding to your requests within the £450 limit, you may wish to prioritise the information you are requesting or consider narrowing the scope so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the information you are seeking. For example you may wish to reduce the amount of information requested by refining your request to concentrate on matters which are important to you, and if relevant to concentrate on a specific time period.
Although your request can take the form of a question, rather than a request for specific documents, TfL does not have to answer your question if it would require the creation of new information or the provision of a judgement, explanation, advice or opinion that was not already recorded at the time of your request. If you have specific questions relating to these topics we may be more easily able to respond to these than to a request for any information held.
If you are not satisfied with this response please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Graham Hurt
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
