Request ID: FOI-1512-2122 Date published: 12 November 2021
You asked
1. Since it was made a condition of carriage, how many people have been denied access to our asked to leave your network out premises for failing to wear a face covering? If you hold this information please disclose monthly figures.
If you do not hold this information, please disclose any policy or guidance to staff on enforcing the condition of carriage.
2. Do you hold information consisting of guidance, directions or advice from central government on how you should enforce condition 2.4 of the Conditions of Carriage? If so, please disclose it.
Many thanks,
We answered
TfL Ref: 1512-2122
Thank you for your request received by us on 12 October and following clarification, 20 October 2021 asking for information about face coverings, government policy and Conditions of Carriage. Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold the information you require. You asked:
1. Since it was made a condition of carriage, how many people have been denied access to our asked to leave London Underground premises for failing to wear a face covering? If you hold this information please disclose monthly figures.
If you do not hold this information, please disclose any policy or guidance to staff on enforcing the condition of carriage.
Whilst the lifting of Government restrictions, including the application of face coverings was implemented on 19 July 2021, TfL continues to remind passengers that they will continue to be required to wear a face covering on TfL services for the duration of their journey unless they are exempt. With the introduction of this requirement as a Condition of Carriage, face covering interventions are no longer recorded. It is not practical for frontline transport staff and enforcement officers to routinely record every interaction with passengers about face coverings as normal business demands continue to increase with the aforementioned lifting of other Covid restrictions on 19 July 2021.
Enforcement officers will always ask and explain to passengers about the requirement to wear a face covering on our services and in our stations; anyone travelling will only be denied entry or asked to leave a service if they do not comply. Please see the requested data below for the number of people refused entry to the London Underground network during July to October 2021 by TfL’s Compliance, Policing and On-Street Service (CPOS) Operations Officers and Revenue Control Inspectors.
London
Underground
Total
July
1
1
August
98
98
September
8
8
October
13
13
Total
121
121
2. Do you hold information consisting of guidance, directions or advice from central government on how you should enforce condition 2.4 of the Conditions of Carriage? If so, please disclose it. Section 2.4 of TfL’s Conditions of Carriage states the following:
2.4 Given the coronavirus pandemic, all passengers over the age of 11 years must wear a face covering when travelling on our services, until further notice. You must wear a face covering when in our bus and rail stations, on our platforms, Emirates Air Line terminals and river piers and on our bus, tram, train, Emirates Air Line, Dial-a-Ride and Woolwich ferry services. Your face covering must cover from the top of your nose to the bottom of your chin, and attach behind your ears or tie behind your head, unless you are exempt from this requirement. If you are not exempt and you fail to comply with this requirement or directions given by an authorised officer, you may not be allowed entry or may be asked to leave our premises. 3 You must remove your face covering if asked to do so by police officers or staff for the purposes of identification. Some people are exempt from wearing a face covering. For example, those using ventilators to breathe, or those with conditions effecting their dexterity which means they are not able to put on a face mask, and any other categories of persons listed in TfL’s ‘face covering exemptions list’, published on the TfL website and available at stations. https://content.tfl.gov.uk/tfl-conditions-of-carriage.pdf
As Chair of TfL, the press release issued by the Mayor’s Office at https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/mayoral/mayor-asks-tfl-to-keep-face-coverings-compulsory mentions that: ‘The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has asked TfL to keep the requirement to wear face coverings on public transport as a condition of travel on all TfL services after 19 July when the existing national legal requirement finishes. This would provide an extra layer of protection and additional reassurance to Londoners and visitors to the capital by going further than the Government’s updated messaging that it is “expected” and “recommended” that people wear face coverings on public transport, and support our city’s economic recovery….
…The requirement to wear a face covering would continue to be a condition of carriage on all TfL services from July 19 when the national regulations change, and the Mayor has said we will keep this subject to ongoing review. Conditions of Carriage are contractual conditions between passengers and TfL, with existing conditions including not consuming alcohol which is also enforced by a byelaw’.
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
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
Jasmine Howard FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
