TfL Ref: FOI-2029-1617

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 18 January 2017 asking for copies of correspondence between Richard De Cani and Arup. Please accept my apologies for the delay in my response.

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 do hold the information you require.

Please see attached the information you have requested.

Please note that, in accordance with the FOI Act, some information has been redacted as it is subject to a statutory exemption to the right of access to information under section 43.

This applies to two areas of the correspondence. The first instance of this exemption has been applied to detailed information regarding salary rate changes within Arup which also contains financial information that, if it were obtained by competitors, would be likely to place Arup at a commercial disadvantage in a competitive market place.

Additionally, the names of bidders for the ground investigation works for Silvertown and the Garden Bridge has been removed. This is because disclosure of their individual bids is likely to hinder their ability to bid competitively on the same or similar contracts either with TfL or elsewhere.

The use of this exemption is subject to an assessment of the public interest in withholding the information. Whilst we recognise the need for openness and transparency by public authorities, in this instance the release of the requested information would have a detrimental effect on these companies’ ability to compete within the market place as well as undermining TfL’s ability to attract competitive tender bids as companies will not have confidence that their strategic information will not be disclosed into the public domain, therefore adversely affecting TfL’s ability to secure value for public money. This detriment outweighs the general public interest in disclosure of the requested information.

Please note that in accordance with TfL’s obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) some personal data has been removed, as required by section 40(2) of the FOI Act. This is because disclosure of this personal data would be a breach of the DPA, specifically the first principle of the DPA which requires all processing of personal data to be fair and lawful. It would not be fair to disclose this personal information when the individuals have no expectation it would be disclosed and TfL has not satisfied one of the conditions of Schedule 2 of the Data Protection Act which would make the processing ‘fair’.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for some 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

Lee Hill

Senior FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London