Our Ref:         FOI-1168-2021

Thank you for your request received on 25 September 2020 asking for further information about the Cockfosters Development Consultation Results.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we do hold the information you require.

As per our previous response, in accordance with TfL’s obligations under Data Protection legislation, the information requested has been withheld as required by section 40(2) of the FOI Act. We have to regard disclosure of this information as a disclosure to ‘the public at large’. We believe that there is a possibility that if this data were released to include the disability data then some people would be identifiable to others in the neighbourhood. A total of 400 people responded to the survey and some may be known to each other. Providing the specific disability information combined with the other data presents a very real risk of reidentification. For example, if wheelchair users of the same age range were discussing the planned changes, and both found they had answered the consultation, they would know what the other had said.

When participating in any such surveys there is a fair and reasonable expectation that any publication of results would remove information that might identify someone. Further detail on our Privacy Policy for consultations can be found on our website: https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/privacy_policy/. We do not believe that disclosure of raw data in this instance would be fair.

If you were able to specify the data you wanted then we might be able to provide a one off report – e.g. the proportion of disabled people who supported the various options or the overall numbers of disabled people who answered the survey. However, providing the data would be a breach of trust and therefore unfair under Article 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation.

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.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely

Gemma Jacob
Senior FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London

[email protected]