TfL Ref: 1782-2324
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 25 August 2023 asking for information about car ownership and the ULEZ scheme.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold the information you require. You asked for:
information related to the recent statement made by Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, regarding car ownership among the poorest households in London.
Specifically, I would like to request the following information:
1.Copies of any official documents, reports, studies, or surveys that were used as the basis for the statement made by Sadiq Khan indicating that the poorest households in London do not own cars.
2.Data, statistics, or research findings that support the claim made by Sadiq Khan regarding the car ownership status of the poorest households in London.
3.Any correspondence, emails, or communications within Transport for London (TFL) that pertain to the issue of car ownership among low-income households in London.
We can advise that this part of your request is being refused under regulation 12(4)(b) of the EIR on the grounds that it would be “manifestly unreasonable” to comply in full. There is no single source of information within TfL from which to source all of these communications, as they are not held in a single suppository from which they could be extracted, reviewed and collated accordingly for the purposes of public disclosure. Therefore to collate this information would require an extensive manual review of records held to ascertain what information may be held that falls within the scope of your request.
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 concerns about this project. However, the time it would take to fulfil your request in full 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 this part of your request again, if you are able to narrow its scope so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the documentation you are seeking. If you have specific questions we will be happy to consider those.
4. Any relevant information, reports, or studies that were commissioned by TFL or any other government agency to assess car ownership trends among different income groups in London.
Please provide the requested information in electronic format, preferably via email. If providing the information electronically is not possible, please let me know the appropriate method and format for receiving the requested information.
I understand that there may be costs associated with processing this request. If applicable, please provide me with an estimate of the costs involved before proceeding with the request.
Please refer to the aforementioned Transport for London and Greater London Authority websites for further information provided in our responses to Questions One and Two.
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
