TfL Ref: 0943-1718

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 19 July 2017 asking for information about taxi and private hire vacancy ref 022591 that was recently advertised.

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 some of the information you require as follows:

How many people applied for the role?

144 applications – the role was advertised internally only first from 16^th March – 29^th March 2017 – and then advertised externally (TfL website only) from 11^th April – 17^th April

How many people were shortlisted?

Three individuals from advertising it first time round and then five from second search – Total eight

Of those people shortlisted, how many are current TFL employees or contractors (including agency temps etc.)?

Four

What was the shortlisting criteria?

Skills, Knowledge & Experience

Please demonstrate how you meet the Skills, Knowledge and Experience requirements and giving examples where possible.
 
Note: Short listing is carried out on the basis of the information that you provide in this section. Please include ALL relevant information against the criteria, even if it is stated elsewhere in your application.

Knowledge:

• Educated to degree level or relevant experience (essential)
• Excellent understanding of communications/public relations techniques and best practice (essential)
• Good understanding of transport issues, in particular taxi and private hire (desirable)
• Good understanding of the public sector environment (desirable)
• Good knowledge of the political environment in which TfL operates (essential)

Skills:

• Excellent writing and communication skills (essential)
• Computer literate, including Microsoft Office packages (essential)
• Excellent ability to organise and prioritise work in a fast moving environment (essential)
• Ability to communicate confidently and credibly with a range of stakeholders (essential)
• Ability to draft high quality correspondence drawing on diverse sources of information (essential)
• Building excellent cross team relationships (essential)
• Good data management including analysis of correspondence performance (essential)

Experience:

• Experience in corporate/internal communications, PR and/or customer communications, preferably in the public sector (desirable)
• Experience of working in highly sensitive and political environment (essential)
• Experience in producing high quality, concise responses to politically and commercially sensitive enquiries (essential)
• Experience in managing VIP correspondence in a Government department or a comparable organisation is desirable

Has someone been appointed to the role?

There where two vacancies – one was filled internally and the other externally.

Can I have copies of the cover letters and cv's of those successfully shortlisted - no personal information required.

In accordance with the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply the information requested as it is subject to a statutory exemption to the right of access to information under section 40(2) – personal information.

In this instance the exemption has been applied as disclosure of the information you have requested would be a breach of the Data Protection Act (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’.

This exemption to the right of access to information is an absolute exemption and not subject to an assessment of whether the public interest favours use of the exemption.

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

Sara Thomas

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London