TfL Ref: FOI-0781-1718

Thank you for your request received by
Transport for London (TfL) on 29 June 2017 asking for information about
meetings and correspondence.

Your request has been considered in
accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our
information access policy.

Please see the information you have
requested attached in relation to correspondence with Uber in relation to their
licence renewal. Please note that in accordance with TfL’s obligations under the
Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) some personal data has been removed, as required
by section 40(2) of the FOI Act. This is because disclosure of this personal
data would be a breach of the DPA, specifically the first principle of the DPA
which requires all processing of personal data to be fair and lawful. It would
not be fair to disclose this personal information when the individuals have no
expectation it would be disclosed and TfL has not satisfied one of the
conditions of Schedule 2 of the Data Protection Act which would make the
processing ‘fair’.

Additionally, in accordance with the FOI Act, we are not
obliged to supply any other information caught by your request, including the
letters referred to in the attached emails, as it is subject to a statutory
exemption to the right of access to information under section 30(2)(iii) as the information is held in
accordance with our statutory responsibility for regulating the private hire
trade in London. This information contains details which otherwise wouldn’t
have been made available to TfL and the exemption applies to protect our
ability to clarify and confirm details on specific issues.

 

This
benefits the public as it enables greater oversight of private hire operators
and better scrutiny of services by the regulator and because proactive
discussion avoids costly enforcement activity, delayed access to information
and increased bureaucracy.

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 that there is significant public interest in this matter, however we
feel the balance of the public interest supports the exemption in order to
enable the effective and timely sharing of information between ourselves and
the taxi and private hire trade.

Under section 43(3) we are not obliged to confirm or deny whether
we hold any information in relation to Via Transportation, as disclosure of any
information about applications by private companies which we may be considering
is likely to prejudice the commercial interests of those companies if it is
disclosed to the wider public, which would include business competitors.

The use of this exemption is subject to an assessment of the public interest in relation to
the disclosure of the information concerned. As already stated we
recognise that there is a public interest in this area. However we feel that
there is a greater public interest in ensuring that companies are able to
compete fairly and the balance of the public interest supports the exemption.

Lastly, some information would also be exempt under
section 41 of the FOI Act on the grounds that it was provided to us in
confidence. Since section 41 is an absolute exemption, we have not gone on to
consider the balance of the public interest in respect of this exemption.

If
this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access
it for some 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

Lee Hill

Senior FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London