Request ID: FOI-1179-2223 Date published: 08 September 2022
You asked
Under the Freedom of Information Act, please could I request the following information:
I am particularly interested in grants which I consider to be a fund given by an end entity, often a public body, to an individual or another entity for a specific purpose linked to public benefit. I am interested in all grants, which can be viewed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/654680/2017-09-27_Grant_Definitions.pdf
1. Please can you provide a list of all grants distributed between 2020/2021 and 2021/2022, including information on the following:
a. Name of grant
b. Type of grant
c. Grant value
d. Volume of grants awarded
The table below is an example of the information required:
Financial year Grant type Grant name Grant value Volume of Grants
2020/2021 E.g. Formula funding E.g. Dedicated School grant £x x
2. How many Full Time Equivalents (FTE’s) did you employ to administer and process grants, and what was the cost in 2020/2021 and 2021/2022?
3. What technology system/s do you use to administer/process grants, and how much was spent on this technology in 2020/2021 and 2021/2022?
4. What was the development time required to create your most recent grant product/scheme?
Please can you email the answers back and if you have any questions or need further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact me.
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-1179-2223
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 11th August 2022 asking for information about grants issued by TfL.
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. However, it is not possible to source all of it within the costs limit for responding to cases, as set out under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act. Under section 12, 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, retrieve or extract that information from elsewhere. This is calculated at a rate of £25 per hour, equivalent to 18 hours work. The exemption applies because not all of the information has been compiled before and there is no particularly quick or efficient way of doing so. Rather, we would have to interrogate multiple records across multiple teams, and this could only be achieved at disproportionate cost. That said, we can provide you with some of the answers where the information is more readily available. With this in mind, your questions are answered in the table below to the extent that we can:
1
Financial Year
2021/22
2020/21
Grant Type
Grant Name
Grant Value (£m)
Volume of Grants
Grant Value (£m)
Volume of Grants
Prior pandemic - Schemes contained Standard Funding Formula . Post pandemic due to landscape dependent on government deal, funding envelope is based on Prioritisation, Deliverability and Affordability Review in line with Mayor's strategy
Local Implementation Plan
40.45
Part of s12 costs exemption. Information is not held centrally and would have to be collected from different business areas across TfL.
43.02
Part of s12 costs exemption. Information is not held centrally and would have to be collected from different business areas across TfL.
Taxicard - London Councils Ltd
8.23
0.00
Safety schemes
0.00
5.33
Cycling & Cycle Parking
8.05
0.00
Bus stop accessibility
0.00
6.33
Bus Priority
8.70
5.47
Crossrail Complementary Measures
0.92
0.24
Lane rental Governance Committee (LRGC - S159)
3.58
4.01
Liveable Neighbourhoods
-0.58
4.69
Urban design London
0.14
0.14
London Streetspace (LSP)
11.45
39.04
Education & Training
0.04
0.21
Other
Total all other <£100k
0.92
0.02
81.87
108.51
2
How many Full Time Equivalents (FTE’s) did you employ to administer and process grants, and what was the cost in 2020/2021 and 2021/2022?
Part of s12 costs exemption. The role of administering the grant is carried out within several teams, each with its own broader remit, with no one person or job being dedicated only to grants. There is no simple way of determining how many hours were actually spent dealing with the grants, and hence no simple way of determining costs.
3a
What technology system/s do you use to administer/process grants?
The main programme is through the ‘Borough Portal’. However this has interfaces with other systems - for example ‘SAP R3’ (our main accounting system) where data is exported to.
3b
How much was spent on technology used?
And;
Part of the s12 costs exemption. The information has not been collated before and would require a substantial amount of time to determine.
4
What was the development time required to create your most recent grant product/scheme?
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
