Our Ref:         FOI-0647-1920

Thank you for your request received on 3 June 2019 asking for information about the value of the media space and inventory on our estate featuring the name or photo of the incumbent Mayor at the time.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we do hold the information you require.

We have a number of customer information poster sites across our network not available to advertisers. We use these sites for our own campaigns, such as the promotion of our Off-Peak fares, or to notify drivers of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone. Some of these campaigns mention Mayor Sadiq Khan and will have mentioned Boris Johnson when he was the Mayor. We do not lose any revenue doing this.

In addition, the GLA has a long-standing agreement with TfL which means that a small number of information poster sites are offered to City Hall to make sure Londoners are aware of key initiatives and events in the capital which may also mention Mayor Sadiq Khan. These campaigns also feature on TfL’s own poster inventory to inform Londoners about travel information, meaning no revenue is lost. This arrangement with the GLA has been in place since December 2011.

Unfortunately, to provide the information you have requested would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.

Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with a request 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. This is calculated at £25 per hour for every hour spent on the activities described.

We have estimated that it would significantly exceed the cost limit to provide a response to your current request. This is because it is estimated that it would take over 18 working hours to retrieve and compile the information you have requested. We do not record our advertising revenue based on whether or not it includes the Mayor’s name or photo. In order to provide you with the values you are asking for, we would need to identify every advertisement that has included the Mayor’s name or photo since 2015 and then we would need to determine the value of the media space that advertisement appeared on.

To help bring the cost of responding to your request within the £450 limit, you may wish to consider narrowing its scope so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the information you are seeking. We have started recording this information separately from the start of the 2019/20 financial year so can provide this for April and May 2019.

If you want to refine your request or make a Freedom of Information Act request in future, please bear in mind that the Freedom of Information Act allows you to request recorded information held by us. You should identify the information that you want as clearly and concisely as you can, specifying the types of document that you are looking for. You might also consider limiting your request to a particular period of time, geographical area or specific departments of the organisation.

Although your request can take the form of a question, rather than a request for specific documents, we do 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.

Please note that we will not be taking further action until we receive your revised request.

In the meantime, if you have any queries or would like to discuss your request, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely

Gemma Jacob
Senior FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London

[email protected]