Request ID: FOI-0908-2223 Date published: 16 August 2022
You asked
TfL Request ID: FOI-0110-2021 which was publish in May 2020 confirmed since 10 March the cost of the requests for laptops has been £401,614.81 and mobiles £181,023.18. To support home working and to ensure staff had the tools and technology to do their job safely, Technology & Data (T&D) secured some extra budget in 2020 to provide further essential IT equipment where needed.
1. Please confirm the date in 2020 when Technology & Data secured extra budge for the purpose to provide further essential IT equipment to help staff continue to work from home
2. Since 10 March 2020, please confirm how much has been spent on laptops
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3. On 24th August 2020, for staff that were working from home because of the pandemic, if they did not have their own personal tools necessary to do the job from home, i.e. specifically their own personal laptop, did the ability to continue to work from home rely on staff having their own personal tools necessary to do the job?
4. On 24th August 2020, for staff that were working from home because of the pandemic, if they did not have their own personal tools necessary to do the job from home, i.e. specifically their own personal laptop, did a B4 manager (or higher) need to approve requests first before any staff member could travel to a TfL location that had been risk assessed and determined to be “Covid safe”?
5. Please confirm the date that Endeavour Square was risked assessed and determined to be Covid safe.
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-0908-2223
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 14 July 2022, asking about home working during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
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. Specifically you asked:
Please confirm the date in 2020 when Technology & Data secured extra budge for the purpose to provide further essential IT equipment to help staff continue to work from home
The Standard Home Office Equipment (SHOE) project, which provided colleagues working from home with the necessary IT hardware, laptops and some peripherals (headsets, screens, keyboards, mice etc), was approved by the TfL Financial Commitment Oversight group in August 2020.
Since 10 March 2020, please confirm how much has been spent on laptops
Since 10 March 2020, spend on laptops has been £3,492,344.53 across TfL.
On 24th August 2020, for staff that were working from home because of the pandemic, if they did not have their own personal tools necessary to do the job from home, i.e. specifically their own personal laptop, did the ability to continue to work from home rely on staff having their own personal tools necessary to do the job?
Via either the SHOE project and/or via the standard Service Request processes, all employees working from home had the ability to obtain appropriate IT equipment from TfL.
On 24th August 2020, for staff that were working from home because of the pandemic, if they did not have their own personal tools necessary to do the job from home, i.e. specifically their own personal laptop, did a B4 manager (or higher) need to approve requests first before any staff member could travel to a TfL location that had been risk assessed and determined to be “Covid safe”?
We are not aware of any persons that had this issue. The Technology & Data team mostly dealt with people asking to come into the office, which required Band 4 approval.
Please confirm the date that Endeavour Square was risked assessed and determined to be Covid safe.
During the pandemic, we restricted use to a number of TfL buildings to essential use only, including Endeavour Square. We ensured that each building that was occupied had all the necessary control measures to ensure they were COVID-19 secure (in line with the Government’s guidelines). Endeavour Square remained open throughout albeit with very low occupancy and was assessed as Covid secure. The attached TfL COVID-19 Risk Assessment, dated June 2020, was updated at the time to reflect the controls in place at Endeavour Square at the time.
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
