Request ID: FOI-1285-2122 Date published: 04 October 2021
You asked
TfL's website and conditions of carriage state that a face covering is (still) required on all TfL services and that this will be enforced. However, since the national mandate to wear face covering was lifted: (a) most (if not all) posters and signs on the TfL network relating to face coverings have been removed (but those relating to washing hands and the cleaning of trains have not); and (b) anecdotally, the proportion of passengers on TfL services wearing face coverings has dropped considerably.
This begs the following questions: (1) Why has TfL removed and not replaced signage to inform passengers as to the (ongoing) requirement to wear a face covering; and (2) Is TfL actually enforcing its own policy?
My request is for information/data available directed at these questions. Specifically, that concerning TfL's internal poster campaign(s) (for stations and on board services) concerning educating passengers about face covering policy over the last 12 months, showing any changes to those campaigns from before to after July 2021.
Such information/data will likely include: management/other meeting minutes detailing decisions relating to the promotion of the face covering policy including decisions to remove and not replace signage present before July 2021; and data as to the face covering postering campaigns (e.g. number and type of posters, reach across the network) on a monthly/changes made basis over the last 12 months.
Further, this request is also for information as to instructions given to station staff in relation to face covering policy (and any changes to those instructions) over the last 12 months.
Further, this request is also for data as to the enforcement of TfL's conditions of carriage in respect of the wearing of face coverings to detail number of enforcement staff tasked to this activity and number of passenger interventions (whether denied boarding or educated) summarised monthly for the last 12 months.
Clarification received 20/09/2021: 1) Exact number of all posters / signs / displays explaining/advertising TfLs face covering policy (not to be confused or counted with the hand washing or service sanitisation messaging) summarised monthly and by location and service type (e.g. tube platform, bus stop, tube service, bus service, TfL rail etc) from August 2020 to August 2021.
2) Exact number of passenger interventions (whether resulting in refused service or not).
3) Minutes from all management meetings from August 2020 to August 2021 that concern either (a) the policy of advertising of TfL’s face covering policy across the network (and any changes thereto); or (b) the policy of enforcing TfL’s face covering policy (and any changes thereto).
4) All written policies and/or instructions to staff in relation to (a) publicity of the face covering policy and (b) enforcement of the face covering policy created between August 2020 and August 2021.
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-1285-2122
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 15th September 2021, and clarified on 20th September 2021, asking for information about TfL’s face covering policy.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
Specifically you asked to know:
“1) Exact number of all posters / signs / displays explaining/advertising TfLs face covering policy (not to be confused or counted with the hand washing or service sanitisation messaging) summarised monthly and by location and service type (e.g. tube platform, bus stop, tube service, bus service, TfL rail etc) from August 2020 to August 2021.
2) Exact number of passenger interventions (whether resulting in refused service or not).
3) Minutes from all management meetings from August 2020 to August 2021 that concern either (a) the policy of advertising of TfL’s face covering policy across the network (and any changes thereto); or (b) the policy of enforcing TfL’s face covering policy (and any changes thereto).
4) All written policies and/or instructions to staff in relation to (a) publicity of the face covering policy and (b) enforcement of the face covering policy created between August 2020 and August 2021.”
It may help if I first set some context around our current policy. We are mindful of the fact that Covid is still with us and that we all have a role to play in doing the right thing and keeping each other safe. Despite the Government removing the national requirement to wear a face coverings on public transport, wearing a face covering on our services and in our stations is still required under TfL’s condition of carriage. Given that fines or prosecution are no longer possible, it is not practical at this time to record the total number of interventions with customers about face coverings. However, our 500 uniformed enforcement officers continue to ask customers to comply with the rules of our network. Since the national rules ceased to apply on 19 July, we have refused entry to 223 people and asked 53 to leave our services. We are also handing out more face coverings to help our customers do the right thing and keep each other safe. Anybody who does not comply may be refused entry to our services.
Turning to your specific questions, I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. However, there is no quick or efficient way to source it all to answer your questions. Your request is therefore being refused under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act. Under section 12, a public authority such as TfL is not obliged to provide information if it would cost more than £450 to determine if that information is held, and to then locate, retrieve or extract that information from elsewhere. This is calculated at a rate of one person working at £25 per hour, equivalent to 18 hours work. As an example of the difficulty involved, your question number 1 asks for information that is not collated centrally. The display of stickers, posters and signs is managed at the local level by station / depot managers. In order to find out how much of this information has been recorded and, where it has been, to find out what the answers are, we would need to contact each local station / depot individually. Given the range and number of services operating under the TfL banner (which includes the London Underground, London Overground, TfL Rail, buses, trams, the Docklands Light Railway and Dial-A ride, comprising hundreds of stations and thousands of vehicles) we believe that to answer this question alone would exceed the costs limit.
In order to bring your request within the costs limit you may wish to narrow its scope to focus on the information that is of most importance to you. However, before doing so I would advise that you review the information that is already published on our website. For example, you can access all previous FOI requests and responses here:
The search function will allow you to filter the cases by specific keyword - for example, you could search “mask” or “Covid” to see information that has already been published in response to FOIs on those subjects.
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
