Request ID: FOI-1897-2122 Date published: 15 December 2021
You asked
Dear TFL,
I am hoping to receive the final contracts that the successful escooters agreed on for the London trails for Lime, Tier and Dott in 2020 - 21
Many thanks
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-1897-2122
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 23rd November 2021 asking for copies of the contracts for the e-scooter rental trial currently taking place in London. Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
Specifically you asked:
“I am hoping to receive the final contracts that the successful escooters agreed on for the London trails for Lime, Tier and Dott in 2020 - 21”.
I can confirm that we hold the information you require. The contracts have been published on the GOV.UK website here:
In accordance with section 21 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply you with a copy of the requested information as it is already accessible to you elsewhere.
Note that some redactions have been made to the documents. This information is exempt from disclosure under sections 40 (personal data) and 43 (commercial prejudice) of the Freedom of Information Act.
Section 40 has been applied to any names or other personal data that appears in the material. Section 43 applies to financial data in the contracts where release would be likely to be commercially prejudicial, to TfL or anyone else. The use of the section 43 exemption is subject to consideration of the ‘Public Interest Test’, to determine whether the overall balance of the public interest rests in applying the exemption and withholding the information or in releasing it in any case. We appreciate the need for the openness and transparency in the operation of our services. However, in this case we believe that the balance of public interest favours the application of the exemption. As the e-scooter rental market continues to emerge and be shaped it is in the public interest that best value for money is obtained from the operators and this in part depends on the competitiveness of the market, both current and future. We do not see an overriding public interest in the data being released - which would be of most value to rival operators - and therefore believe that the balance of public interest rests in withholding the data.
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,
David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
