Request ID: FOI-0736-2324 Date published: 04 July 2023
You asked
1) Please provide (a) the budget allocated for roads in general (including repairs, resurfacing and traffic lights and (b) the budget allocated specifically for pothole and road repairs for each of the following financial years: 2018/2019; 2019/2020; 2020/2021; 2021/2022 and 2022/2023.
2) For each of these annual budgets, please provide a figure for how much of the sum was funded by the council and how much is provided by central government funding.
3) For each of these annual budgets for both (a) roads in general and (b) potholes and similar road repairs, please provide a figure for how much was spent on pothole and road repairs.
4) For each of these annual budgets for both (a) roads in general and (b) potholes and similar road repairs, please provide a figure for how much was spent on road resurfacing.
5) For each of these annual budgets for both (a) roads in general and (b) potholes and similar road repairs, please provide a figure for how much was spent on non-road related spending and a brief summary of what this was – ie care.
For each of these annual budgets for both (a) roads in general and (b) potholes and similar road repairs, please provide a figure for how much money is or was left over by the end of the financial year
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-0736-2324 Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 7th June 2023 asking for information about TfL spending on roads. Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. Specifically you asked: “1) Please provide (a) the budget allocated for roads in general (including repairs, resurfacing and traffic lights and (b) the budget allocated specifically for pothole and road repairs for each of the following financial years: 2018/2019; 2019/2020; 2020/2021; 2021/2022 and 2022/2023. 2) For each of these annual budgets, please provide a figure for how much of the sum was funded by the council and how much is provided by central government funding. 3) For each of these annual budgets for both (a) roads in general and (b) potholes and similar road repairs, please provide a figure for how much was spent on pothole and road repairs. 4) For each of these annual budgets for both (a) roads in general and (b) potholes and similar road repairs, please provide a figure for how much was spent on road resurfacing. 5) For each of these annual budgets for both (a) roads in general and (b) potholes and similar road repairs, please provide a figure for how much was spent on non-road related spending and a brief summary of what this was – ie care. For each of these annual budgets for both (a) roads in general and (b) potholes and similar road repairs, please provide a figure for how much money is or was left over by the end of the financial year.” I can confirm that we hold the information you require. However, I am afraid that it is not possible to source the data to answer all of your questions 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 costs 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. The exemption applies in this instance because the information has not been collated before and there is no quick or efficient way of doing so. We do not break down our road maintenance budget and spending into categories such as “pothole repairs”, and therefore to source the requested information (such as how much has been spent on specific activities such as pothole repairs) would require a trawl of individual records. It is not possible to do this for the 5 years in question without considerably exceeding the costs limit. In order to bring your request within the costs limit you may wish to reframe it to narrow its scope - for example, by asking about our overall road maintenance budget and spending more generally. 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
