Request ID: FOI-0560-2122 Date published: 13 July 2021
You asked
Service from London Fields, around a third of the passengers either had no mask at all or had their mask below their chins. I walked through the whole train but could nt finda section where everyone was masked. There were both announcements and electronic messaging about covering both nose and mouth which had no effect. I have seen no enforcement by transport staff or police on this line either on the train or at my local station Stamford Hill and I use this line quite frequently. Now that the weather is warm covering your nose and mouth is not always comfortable but given the higher rates of airborne transmission of the delta covid variant I was disappointed by low levels of compliance and absence of enforcement. Do you have any stats about how often this line and Stamford Hill station has had in person enforcement and how many fines and warnings have been given and how many people have been denied travel?
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-05602122
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 16 June 2021, asking about face masks enforcement on the London Overground.
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.
Face covering compliance and enforcement on the London Overground is primarily carried out by Arriva Rail London, who hold the concession, and by the British Transport Police (BTP). TfL’s Operations Officers only provide supplementary compliance and enforcement work, which are the figures below;
London Overground:
The number of deployments on the London Overground - 929
The number of passengers engaged with for face covering non-compliance - 2915
The number of fixed penalty notices issued – 36 (4 later cancelled due to mitigation)
We do not record the number of warnings. However, there would be a large number of verbal warnings issued as we endeavour to educate members of the public to gain compliance in the first instance and enforce only when necessary.
How often Stamford Hill station has had in person enforcementis subject to an exemption under section 31 of the FOI Act whereby we are not obliged to disclose details of the locations where we do and do not carry out enforcement activity. This information is subject to a statutory exemption to the right of access to information under section 31(1)(b) and Section 31(1)(g), which exempt from disclosure information which would, or would be likely to prejudice the apprehension or prosecution of offenders or the exercise of functions for the purpose of ascertaining whether any person has failed to comply with the law.
In this instance the exemption has been applied as to provide the information on where fines have been issued would give details of where our enforcement operations are being focused which would give potential offenders the opportunity to avoid this particular location to avoid receiving a fine for not wearing a face mask. The purpose of enforcement is to deter passengers from contravening restrictions that are in place and fines are issued accordingly. Disclosing information which reveals deployment locations of our enforcement operations would be likely to lead to a decrease in compliance at other locations, which would adversely affect the health, safety and comfort of other passengers travelling on the network and impact on TfL’s Network Management Duty.
This would also lead to a need to increase enforcement at those locations, which would mean increasing enforcement expenditure which would need to be paid for from public funds.
The use of this exemption is subject to an assessment of the public interest in relation to the disclosure of the information concerned. We recognise the need for openness and transparency by public authorities, but in this instance feel that balance lies in favour of withholding the information to ensure that we are able to continue to comply with our Network Management Duty and the safety of the travelling public on our network while making the best use of public funds.
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
Eva Hextall FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
