TfL Ref: 2019-2122
Thank you for your request received by us on 29 November and upon clarification, 6 December 2021, asking for information about Transport for London’s expenditure on Cycle Lane expansion, Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and Pavement expansions.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations and and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. You asked for:
gross expenditure on Spending on Cycle Lane expansion, Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and Pavement expansions for financial years 2019/2020 and 2020/2021.
This can be in general format, I do not request itemised breakdown.
When seeking clarification on whether these expansions are solely in reference to those located on the Transport for London Road Network – the capital’s red routes, you replied:
I would request any information on gross spending on those matters by TFL as a whole (including where TFL gifted funds to other agencies).
As stated, I do not request itemised amounts, just overall spend by TFL.
If you ONLY hold information for red routes and ONLY red routes had this spend - then that data is acceptable.
We can advise that during 2019/20, prior to the pandemic, Transport for London had a Transport for London Road Network (TLRN) programme, and a Borough cycling programme, covering schemes like Cycle Superhighways, Quietways, plus a Liveable Neighbourhood Programme that looked at walking and cycling infrastructure, although mainly in design at the time.
The Streetspace for London Programme was launched in May 2020, to improve walking and cycling and meet the Government’s requirements for measures to assist social distancing during the pandemic at a time when capacity onboard public transport was restricted and also to deter a car-led recovery. It is supported by funding to allow London's boroughs to create new protected cycle lanes, extend pavements and reduce through-traffic in residential areas as a response to the coronavirus pandemic. This will make it easier and safer for people to walk, cycle and use public transport, whilst cleaning our air and helping people be healthier. Subsequently, when the pandemic struck and the aforementioned Streetspace programme was launched, some of the successful bids were in locations where earlier work had been implemented as part of the aforementioned Liveable Neighbourhood programme.
Schemes funded by Streetspace include those referenced in your request such as Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, plus initiatives like School Streets, as well as strategic cycle routes. The funding settlement sets aside funding to be split between TfL and London's boroughs.
Funding allocations for the 2021/22 financial year are a proxy for planned spend. Please also note that TfL does not categorise any of the borough projects as ‘spent’ because final expenditure amounts can only be confirmed by the local authority in August 2022, when councils claim their funds from us accordingly. It is also important to note that boroughs can submit claims against their allocation up to August after the financial year has ended or before this date, if they choose to do so.
Taking these above factors into account I can advise that this request is being refused under regulation 12(4)(b) of the EIR on the grounds that it would be ‘manifestly unreasonable’ to comply. There is no single source of information within TfL from which to source answers to your questions. Rather, the same questions would have to be put to multiple colleagues in order that they could source the information in relation to for example, the local Streetspace, Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, School Streets and strategic cycle routes programmes which they manage (and note that those local programmes have multiple elements within them, making the task harder still). In addition, obtaining information for Borough LSP schemes from Transport for London’s Portal database, where Borough Corridors Improvement funding is referenced, it is not always clear whether walking and cycling infrastructure is included as names given to each scheme title are not always indicative in this regard.
While we appreciate the need for transparency and accountability from public bodies in the conduct of their business, and the expectation under EIR that requested information will be released, in this instance we believe that the balance of public interest falls in favour of the exception applying given the amount of resource that would be required to be expended in meeting the request, which would represent a disproportionate burden and unjustified level of disruption, requiring the allocation of limited resources which would more beneficially be spent elsewhere.
In the meantime, we do publish funding information about the programmes we have mentioned via the following links to our website, which may be of interest:
