Request ID: FOI-1603-2223 Date published: 01 November 2022
You asked
Good afternoon,
Could you please share all communication you have had with ealing council (councillors or officers) regarding West Ealing liveable Neighbourhood project since May 2021?
Thanks a lot.
We answered
Our Ref: FOI-1603-2223
Thank you for your request received on 5 October 2022 asking for correspondence.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations and our information access policy. I can confirm we do hold the information you require.
However, given the extent of the information you are looking for, we are applying Regulation 12(4)(b) as we believe that the request is ‘manifestly unreasonable’ because providing the information you have requested would impose unreasonable costs on us and require an unreasonable diversion of resources.
We have identified over 500 emails that are likely to be captured by your request, some of which would likely also include additional documentation attached. This figure includes duplicates but we would still need to manually review all of the emails identified by the search in order to extract and collate the relevant emails. We would also need to review the related attachments we have identified. By their very nature, emails contain significant amounts of personal data and the process of reviewing all of this material to identify whether one or more exemptions might apply, and then applying those redactions, would present a significant diversion of limited and specialist resource. Whilst we appreciate the public interest in this matter, we consider that the public interest is better served by ensuring our limited and specialist resources are focussed on their core functions rather than diverted to focus solely on this information request which would take up a significant amount of time to fully conclude.
Our principal duty is to provide an effective transport service for London and we consider that answering this request would represent a disproportionate effort. It would be a significant distraction from our work managing the TfL network, requiring re-allocation of already limited resources and placing an unacceptable burden on a small number of personnel.
You may wish to consider narrowing the scope of your request. For example, you may want to limit your request by focusing on a specific subject or element of the project that you are interested in, as well as limiting the period of time. Alternatively, rather than a blanket request for correspondence and documentation, if you have specific questions that you would like to ask this may be more helpful than a request for correspondence.
The use of this exception is subject to a public interest test, which requires us to consider whether the public interest in applying the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosure. We recognise that the release of information would promote accountability and transparency in public services and may help address any concerns you may have. However, the time it would take to provide the information you have requested would divert a disproportionate amount of our resources from its core functions and on balance we consider that the public interest currently favours the use of the exception.
We will consider your request again, if you are able to narrow its scope so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the information you are seeking.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Eva Hextall FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
