Request ID: FOI-1675-2122 Date published: 30 November 2021
You asked
I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information from TfL. Please may you provide me with:
1. A monthly breakdown (January-December) of the total number of complaints made by TfL staff in relation to having received abuse (verbal and physical) from customers in:
2. i) 2019
3. ii) 2020
4. iii) 2021 (incl. October 2021)
2. If possible, please may you categorise the above numbers of complaints by the nature of the abuse (e.g. racial, homophobic, Covid-related etc).
We answered
Our Ref: FOI-1675-2122
Thank you for your request received 1 November 2021 asking for information about staff complaints about abuse from customers.
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.
TfL staff work hard to serve the millions of customers who use the transport network every day and have the right to go about their work without fear or intimidation. TfL takes workplace violence extremely seriously and always encourages staff to report any instance of abuse whether physical or non-physical so that preventative measures can be taken, and the strongest penalties brought against offenders.
A specialist unit within TfL works with both the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and British Transport Police (BTP) police services to investigate crimes against staff. This Workplace Violence and Aggression (WVA) Team support staff and their managers, and assists the Police in the investigation of physical assault and verbal aggression against our staff, which can include public order offences and hate crime. Their purpose is to improve the quality of staff assault investigation and provide feedback to police and other criminal justice partners, as well as improve victim care and support provided by TfL.
The objective of this work is to encourage staff to report every incident, and over the last five years the WVA team have proactively engaged with TfL staff across all types of transport to demonstrate the benefits of reporting.
Please note that TfL has only collected accurate data since April 2020. The attached data includes figures for TfL Staff, bus drivers and the staff of Rail sponsored services like TfL Rail, Trams and DLR. DLR and Trams staff data only includes incidents that have been reported to the BTP.
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.
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
