Request ID: FOI-1125-2223 Date published: 24 August 2022
You asked
In each of financial year so far 22/23 and also 21/22 and 20/21, how many of each type of ambassadors are there and what has been the cost of their payments in cash, time and or vouchers in each year. How many ambassadors are there.
How many management or support staff are there to manage them and what is that cost.
What is the cost of any training that is required for the roles?
How many ambassadors are present on the competence management system.
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-1125-2223
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 4th August 2022 asking for information about TfL ambassadors.
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. Your questions are answered in turn below, to the extent that we can:
Question 1: In each of financial year so far 22/23 and also 21/22 and 20/21, how many of each type of ambassadors are there and what has been the cost of their payments in cash, time and or vouchers in each year.
Answer: There are currently 558 Licensed TfL Ambassadors, 755 Pending-Licensed TfL Ambassadors, and 1043 Non-Licensed TfL Ambassadors (data correct as of 9th August 2022). We do not hold a record of how many types of TfL Ambassadors were registered in previous years, as this data is overwritten by the current data.
In 2020/21 £3,350.00 worth of e-vouchers were issued and £2,090.00 worth of payments were issued. It is not certain was is meant by their ‘payments in time’ or whether / how this would be measured. If you can clarify the meaning we can consider the question further.
In 2021/22 £11,650.00 worth of e-vouchers were issued and £345,487.45 worth of payments were issued.
So far in 2022/23, £27,825.00 worth of e-vouchers have been issued and £340,894.15 worth of payments have been issued.
Question 2: How many ambassadors are there?
Answer: See the first part of the answer to Question 1 above.
Question 3: How many management or support staff are there to manage them and what is that cost?
Answer: There is one Ambassador Manager and one additional member of their team. There is also currently one vacancy. No record is kept of the cost of managing ambassadors and it is not certain how this could be measured / calculated.
Question 4: What is the cost of any training that is required for the roles?
Answer: Training constitutes a 2 day training course and the completion of online assessments (Rules and Procedures once a year and Fire once every two years). Training is led by the London Underground Skills and Development team, amongst its other work. A record is not kept of the cost of ambassador training, and it is not certain exactly how such a figure could be calculated.
Question 5: How many ambassadors are present on the competence management system?
Answer: This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act, TfL is not obliged to provide information if it would cost more than £450 to determine if the information is held, and to then locate, retrireve or extract that information from elsewhere. The performance of ambassadors is not recorded on the Competence Management System, although ambassadors may be on the system in connection with their day to day roles. The only way to determine which ambassadors are on the system in connection with their day to day role would be to search for the names of all ambassadors individually against the names on the system. Given the numbers involved, this would not be possible within the costs limit.
If this is not the information you are looking for 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,
David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
