A pre-recorded announcement was made on the train in response to a man boarding the train who explained to passengers that he was homeless. This pre-recorded announcement told passengers that “[there are beggars and buskers operating on this train and not to encourage them]”. This message was repeated several times and is highly discriminatory, offensive and totally presumptive. The tube is a public place, regularly celebrated by Londoners and TFL as a place of connection, community and intersection in society. I was very distressed by this tube announcement as were other passengers and visibly, the person that this was clearly targeted at. If someone has bought a ticket to travel on the tube, they should be able to begin conversation with whomever they wish. In fact, it is everyone’s right to be able to communicate and speak freely in society. It may be the case that begging is illegal and it is possible that this person may have begun to beg, however, it is not the responsibility of tube passengers to fight petty crime, change their behaviour or surveil fellow citizens. The tehnique being employed by an announcement of this kind is deliberately divisive and goes clearly against the TFL equality and inclusion policy which states that: “Every person matters in keeping London moving, working and growing.” This announcement was designed to shame someone for being poor segregate them from fellow passengers and encourage them to leave. I would like to request a copy of any non-confidential information relating to the decision to record and implement this annoucement, for example, minutes of meetings, memos, and policy documentation.

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TfL Ref: FOI 1364-1718

Thank you for your email received on 12 August asking for information regarding train announcements. I apologise for the delay in replying to you.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our Information Access Policy. You asked:

A pre-recorded announcement was made on the train in response to a man boarding the train who explained to passengers that he was homeless. This pre-recorded announcement told passengers that “[there are beggars and buskers operating on this train and not to encourage them]”. This message was repeated several times and is highly discriminatory, offensive and totally presumptive.

I would like to request a copy of any non-confidential information relating to the decision to record and implement this announcement, for example, minutes of meetings, memos, and policy documentation.

We do not have any of the emails from when the messaging first went into place as the announcement has been in place for a significant amount of time.  What we have agreed, is that as part of our ongoing work around rough sleeping and begging we will review this message.

Transport for London (TfL) funds a dedicated homeless outreach team through Thamesreach, which works directly on our services, including buses and the tube. The team use reports from Streetlink and information from other sources such as staff logs and reports from drivers to direct their work. The team has already had great success in finding people accommodation and helping them off the streets. Feedback from drivers and other staff has been very positive about the benefits of having dedicated outreach workers engaging directly with rough sleepers on our services.

We have good relations with Charitable organisations such as Thamesreach and St Mungos, and are successfully working with these organisations to address rough sleeping taking place around stations in London.

As part of TfL’s commitments to safeguarding (that is protecting children or adults at risk coming to harm or being abused) we are developing further guidance for our teams on how to spot someone at risk (for whatever reason) and how they can best help. If our staff are aware that someone is hurt or unwell, they will always call the emergency services to ensure that person receives the urgent help they need. If we ever become aware of a child who seems to be sleeping rough we ask our teams to call the police to ensure those authorities responsible can intervene as a matter of urgency. There are numerous examples of our teams helping people who are vulnerable in this way – it happens every day across London across a range of complex problems including for example mental ill health, rough sleeping, runaway children and people at risk of suicide.

I hope this gives you some reassurance that we are taking action to address the concerns you’ve raised.

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

Yours sincerely

Melissa Nichols

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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