Our Ref:         FOI-1935-2021 / FOI-1936-2021

Thank you for your requests received on 29 December 2020 asking for information about our advertising estate.
 
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.
 
FOI-1935-2021
My request is about the collection of rent from advertising on the TFL estate under the Exterion contract.
 
I would like to know the amount of revenue, by year, for the last five years, TfL has collected from its advertising estate broken down by type (bus shelters, roadside, Underground).
 
The Exterion contract, now managed by Global, relates to our rail advertising estate only and currently covers London Underground, London Overground, DLR, Victoria Coach Station and Croydon Tramlink.
 
Details of our revenue performance can be found in our annual reports via the following link:  https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/annual-report
 
A breakdown of our performance by quarter can be found in our quarterly performance reports via the following link:  https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/quarterly-progress-reports
 
We do not break revenue down by type.
 
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.
 
FOI 1936-2021:   
 
My request is about the collection of rent from advertising on the TfL estate.
 
I would like to know if, during the last 12 months, TfL agreed to allow “rent holidays” for media operators on/across its advertising estate that allow the media operator to pay less than the contractual, agreed minimum amount and the amount of the rent holiday.
 
We can confirm that for Quarter 1 (Apr, May, June) of the 2020/21 financial year we did allow some changes to contractual terms.
 
In accordance with the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply information on the individual changes made across our contracts as it is subject to a statutory exemption to the right of access to information under section 43(2) – prejudice to commercial interests.
 
In this instance the section 43(2) exemption has been applied as disclosure would be likely to prejudice our ability to achieve best value from our advertising estate.
 
The use of this exemption is subject to an assessment of the public interest in relation to the disclosure of the information concerned. We recognise the need for openness and transparency by public authorities, but in this instance the public interest in ensuring that we are able to achieve the best value from our advertising estate outweighs the general public interest in increasing transparency of our processes.
 
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.
 
If you are considering submitting a further FOI request please think carefully about whether the request is essential at this current time, as answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. Where requests are made, please note that our response time may be impacted by the current situation.
 
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

[email protected]