Request ID: FOI-1212-2425 Date published: 15 August 2024
You asked
Dear Transport for London,
I am researching sign making, please can I receive the following information:
Budget and expenditure:
Total annual budget allocated for sign making over the past 5 years Breakdown of expenditure on different types of signs (road signs, public information signs, etc.)
Yours faithfully,
[Clarified 22 July 2024]: I am looking for data that correlates to:
A breakdown of expenditure for printed sign writing / making
A) Promotional banners / Signs - Things such as temporary signage for events, promotions etc.
B) Wayfinding signs - Signage to help people navigate
C) Informational signage - Tourist information, signs that convey information about travel updates etc.
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-1212-2425
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on15 July 2024 asking for information about the cost of signage across TfL.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we do hold the information you require.
Unfortunately, to provide the information you have requested would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with a request if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, locating and retrieving it and extracting it from other information would exceed the appropriate limit.
We have estimated that it would take in excess of 18 hours to locate and compile the information you have requested which, calculated at £25 per hour for every hour spent on the activities described, exceeds the ‘appropriate limit’.We do not hold a central record of the budget costs and expenditure you have requested. To gather the requested information, a significant amount of time and resources would be required to identify and locate several teams within the organisation, ascertain whether they hold the requested information, and then extract and compile any relevant information that falls within the requested five-year timeframe.
To help bring the cost of responding to your request within the £450 limit, you may wish to narrow its scope to focus on matters that are of most importance to you so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the information you are seeking.You should identify the information that you want as clearly and concisely as you can. You might also consider limiting your request to a particular period of time, and specific departments of the organisation.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely,
Mary Abidakun FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
