1. How many of TFL and the Mayor’s Office resources dealing with FOI Requests and Applications for Residents Congestion Charge Discount have been furloughed? 2. What measures have been taken to enable FOI Requests and Residents Congestion Charge Discount resources to undertake there responsibilities either at their work place or from home? 3. When will both functions/organisations be able to, or plan to, resume A performant service?

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Our ref: FOI-1157-2021/GH

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 22 September 2020 asking for information about FOI Requests and Residents Congestion Charge Discount resources.

Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy. I can confirm that we do hold some of the information you require.

1. How many of TFL and the Mayor’s Office resources dealing with FOI Requests and Applications for Residents Congestion Charge Discount have been furloughed?
2. What measures have been taken to enable FOI Requests and Residents Congestion Charge Discount resources to undertake there responsibilities either at their work place or from home?
3. When will both functions/organisations be able to, or plan to, resume A performant service?

During the last few months TfL has continued to respond to FOI requests within the constraints imposed on us by the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, like many organisations, TfL has had to make major adjustments to the way it works in response to Covid-19. For a period from March onwards, TfL was focussed entirely on ensuring the safe operation of our services while implementing Government’s requirement for public transport use to be restricted to essential journeys only. Subsequently, we have made unprecedented changes to London’s transport network to support the city’s recovery, at a time when our revenue (which is dependent on passenger demand) and financial reserves evaporated.

This situation has affected our access to premises, equipment and data, as well as having a severe effect on our resources and finances, with our office buildings largely closed, around 7,000, or 25%, (at its highest) of our colleagues furloughed and a reduction of around 90 per cent in our operating income. Across the organisation, staff have had to prioritise all activity on supporting the safe operation of our services which has meant that response times may have been affected in some instances.

Despite these issues, we are continuing to process each and every FOI request received in accordance with the legislation. Of the requests received this financial year, we have responded on time to every single one (100%) of the FOI/EIR requests which have reached their statutory deadline to date.

We do not hold information regarding the number of people in the Mayor’s Office that were furloughed. If you require this information you should refer this question to the GLA.

Applications for Residents Congestion Charge Discount are handled by Capita on TfL’s behalf. We do not hold information regarding Capita’s resources, however as previously explained, the suspension of the resident discount has nothing to do with resources.

If this is not the information you are looking for, please do not hesitate to contact me.

If you are considering submitting a further FOI request please think carefully about whether the request is essential at this current time, as answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. Where requests are made, please note that our response time may be impacted by the current situation.

If you are not satisfied with this response please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely

Graham Hurt

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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