Request ID: FOI-1709-2425 Date published: 24 September 2024
You asked
This is a Freedom of Information request relating to Transport for London’s (forthwith, TfL) COVID-19 mitigation measures. Please provide the following information for the period 1 January 2024 and 27 August 2024:
• For the above period, how much has TfL spent on hand sanitiser, hand sanitiser machine procurement and maintenance, and UV light sanitising devices on escalators;
• What is the cost of maintaining other COVID-19 related measures;
• What is the cost of maintaining legacy COVID-19 related websites;
• Are regular touch-points on the London Underground, Overground, and buses still regularly cleaned by TfL staff/contractors, and if so, at what cost?
We answered
Our Ref: FOI-1709-2425
Thank you for your request received on 28 August 2024 asking for information about COVID mitigation costs.
Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations and our information access policy. I can confirm that 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.
Any measures which were introduced due to COVID-19, and are continuing are now considered ‘business as usual’, and are not recorded in a way where we can readily separate them from our usual cleaning regimes. Assessing what processes may be considered as related to COVID-19, and trying to separate out these costs and other would, if possible, take an excessive amount of time.
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 also help address your particular concerns about this issue. 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. If you have specific questions we will be happy to consider those.
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
