Request ID: FOI-1390-2122 Date published: 27 October 2021
You asked
Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act, please may I request the following:
- Total financial compensation TfL has received from water companies (notably Thames Water) due to disruption each year over the past 10 years and the reasons given for this (if any).
We answered
Our Ref: FOI-1390-2122
Thank you for your request received on 30 September 2021 asking for information about compensation received from water companies. 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 we hold some of 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. This is calculated at £25 per hour for every hour spent on the activities described. We have estimated that it would cost over £450 to provide a response to your current request. This is because it is estimated that it would take in excess of 18 working hours to retrieve and compile the information you have requested. When damage is incurred to our properties that is not insured (usually due to the level of damage being below the policy deductible / excess), and that has been caused by an identifiable third party, the matter will be dealt with by our external claims handlers. They do not record claims by compensator so would need to conduct a manual search of their files. They do not hold information older than four years. As they do not record ‘disruption costs’ separately from damage repair costs it may be difficult, even if a narrower time frame were provided, to extract these costs. Please note, while we unable to provide the requested information, you may be interested in the following press release which relates to Thames Water: https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2021/october/thames-water-fined-100-000-for-unsafe-street-work-practices We do issue fixed penalty notices to utility companies for several reasons, including a lack of traffic management around their works, damaged barriers etc. However we would not record this as ‘compensation’. If, however, you require information on fixed penalty notices then please let me know as we may be able to provide some information on this. To help bring the cost of responding to your request within the £450 limit, you may wish to consider narrowing its scope so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the information you are seeking. If you want to refine your request or make a Freedom of Information Act request in future, please bear in mind that the Freedom of Information Act allows you to request recorded information held by us. You should identify the information that you want as clearly and concisely as you can, specifying the types of document that you are looking for. you might consider limiting your request to a narrower period of time or geographical area. Although your request can take the form of a question, rather than a request for specific documents, we do not have to answer your question if it would require the creation of new information or the provision of a judgement, explanation, advice or opinion that was not already recorded at the time of your request. Please note that we will not be taking further action until we receive your revised request. In the meantime, if you have any queries or would like to discuss your request, please do not hesitate to contact me. Yours sincerely
Gemma Jacob Senior FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
