Our Ref:         FOI-1449-2021
 
Thank you for your request received on 27 October 2020 asking for information about the number of violent incidents on the TfL network between 2016 and 15 October 2020.
 
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 hold some of the information you require.
 
London’s transport network is a safe, low-crime network. Millions of passengers travel on it every day, with very few of them ever experiencing or witnessing crime. We fund more than 2,500 officers across the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), British Transport Police (BTP) and the City of London Police (CoLP). They police the network to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour, and make customers feel safer when travelling.
 
TfL staff work hard to serve the millions of customers who use our network every day, and they have the right to go about their work without fear or intimidation. TfL takes all violence and aggression against their staff extremely seriously and we work closely with our policing partners to apprehend and prosecute offenders, to ensure there are consequences for their actions. TfL will always push for the strongest penalties against offenders.
 
We regularly publish information regarding crime and incidents on our network on our website:
 
https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/crime-and-incident-bulletins
 
We also publish quarterly health, safety and environment reports, with figures for work-related violence and aggression:
 
https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/safety-sustainability-hr
https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/ss-and-hr-past-years
 
These figures contain both physical and verbal assaults on staff and are incidents that are reported to the police. As staff may not report incidents to TfL that are reported to the police and vice versa, these may differ from the figures published above or requested from each respective police force.
 
If you require a further breakdown please contact the MPS or BTP directly:
 
https://www.met.police.uk/foi-ai/af/accessing-information/
https://www.btp.police.uk/about_us/your_right_to_information/freedom_of_information.aspx
 
In accordance with the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply the information you have requested for 2020/21 as it is subject to a statutory exemption to the right of access to information, under Section 22 of the Act as the information you have requested is intended for future publication.
 
This exemption is subject to a public interest test, which requires us to assess whether the public interest in applying the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure. In this instance, it is considered that the public interest favours the publication of this information, in context and according to the pre-determined schedule, rather than in response to your request, to ensure the information is provided accurately and in an accessible manner.
 
As stated above, information from previous years is published on our website. In accordance with section 21 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply you with a copy of the requested information as it is already accessible to you elsewhere.
 
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for some reason, please feel free to contact me.
 
If you are considering submitting a further FOI request please think carefully about whether the request is essential at this current time, as answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. Where requests are made, please note that our response time may be impacted by the current situation.
 
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]