Our Ref:         FOI-1432-1920

Thank you for your request received on 10 August 2019 asking for information about London Underground and TfL staff.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we do hold the information you require. You asked:

1. When Mayor Sadiq Khan entered office in May 2016, what were the total amount of London Underground Ltd and Transport for London employees on Permanent and Fixed Term Contracts (in all grades) across the combine?

Headcount (as at 6 May 2016) Employee Fixed Term Total
London Rail 279 5 284
London Underground 19002 55 19057
Surface Transport 3565 56 3621
TfL Corporate 4300 245 4545
Grand Total 27146 361 27507

2. What were the numbers of these employees broken down by (all) areas of work i.e. LUL, Surface Transport, Trams Etc?

Directorate Employee Fixed Term Total
Buses 497 2 499
Capital Programmes Directorate 1634 14 1648
Chief Operating Officer - Surface 2601 28 2629
Commercial Directorate Rail & Underground 258 10 268
Commissioner 4   4
COO 9328 32 9360
Crossrail 2 17 1 18
Crossrail Operations 55 3 58
Customer Experience Marketing & Comms 983 53 1036
DLR Director 44   44
Finance 1164 50 1214
Finance & Commercial 76 3 79
General Counsel 180 5 185
HR 523 65 588
HSE 188   188
London Overground 90 2 92
London Rail Director 10   10
London Trams 28   28
London Underground 8   8
Planning 183 3 186
R&U Finance 150 7 157
Strategy & Service Development 255 20 275
Strategy and Planning 232 23 255
Surface 14   14
Not Assigned 8624 40 8664
Grand Total 27146 361 27507

Please note that employees which are ‘not assigned’ are those which currently work for a business area which did not exist at 6 May 2016, for example TfL Engineering. Redundant business area classifications are removed which makes retrospective allocation difficult unless on a case by case basis.

The bulk of these employees sit in London Underground as there has been a lot of movement within London Underground and with each transformation the old org unit is “delimited” and a new org unit is then created. Any retrospective reporting shows them as being ‘not assigned’.

3. What number of staff reductions or job losses have taken place throughout LUL / TfL, as part of 'Transformation' or any other related or non related reorganisation?

In 2017/18 we redesigned 30 business areas. Overall the number of roles across the business was reduced by 1,771. In 2018/19 we reviewed a further 20 business areas and reduced our workforce by 400. Please note that this is the number of role reductions, not job losses.

4. What are the current staffing levels across LUL / TfL and what percentage of vacancies exist, in non filled positions, as well as posts being advertised?

Headcount (as of 14 August 2019) Employee Fixed Term Total
Assets 4658 15 4673
Chief Financial Officer 1148 20 1168
Chief Operating Officer 1145   1145
Chief People Officer 290 20 310
Commissioner 5   5
Contracted Services 1079 3 1082
Crossrail 2 33 2 35
Crossrail Operations 260 5 265
Customers, Communications & Technology 2016 74 2090
General Counsel 191 22 213
HSE 187   187
Innovation 28   28
Licensing, Regulation and Charging 212 8 220
London Underground 11   11
Major Projects Directorate 513 6 519
Network Management 387 1 388
Network Operations 11820 4 11824
Renewals & Enhancements 636 1 637
Strategy & Network Development 101 6 107
Surface 11   11
TfL Engineering 1290 3 1293
Not Assigned 230   230
Grand Total 26251 190 26441

As of 14 August 2019, there were 7643 posts that were currently empty, please note however that this does not necessarily mean that there is a vacancy. The number of empty posts is primarily due to the posts not being deleted from the system as roles are not regularly removed once they cease to exist.

We currently have 72 positions being advertised, however this changes daily as more roles are advertised or existing adverts close.

5. What is the current percentage of sickness / sickness leave, across the LUL / TfL combine and what are the top level ailments listed as?

For the last 13 periods the average sickness absence rate pan-TfL is 5%.

The top three illnesses are:

1. Mental Health
2. Musculoskeletal
3. Coughs and Colds

If this is not the information you are looking for please feel free to contact me.

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

Yours sincerely

Gemma Jacob
Senior FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
[email protected]