Our Ref:         FOI-2123-1920

Thank you for clarifying your request received on 15 October 2019 asking for information about sexual assaults caught on CCTV.
 
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. You asked:
 
•         What is the response for when a CCTV operative witnesses a sexual assault crime via the CCTV cameras?
 
If any of our staff witness a crime taking place, they would immediately make an emergency call to the police. The police would respond to any emergency as a matter of priority. Every London Underground station has a local information file that details the contact details for the British Transport Police (BTP). The BTP are the specialist police force for railways, and our staff work in partnership with them regularly including routine contact with Neighbourhood Policing teams. Our staff have dedicated emergency and non-emergency phone numbers programmed into our internal phone system and the BTP also provide an email address. Reporting crimes and incidents to the BTP is standard practice but the most important person to report things is the victim and they will have information critical to getting the right police response.
 
•         How much money has been spent on CCTV each year and security in the past five years?
 
Like safety, security is considered part and parcel of what everyone does and therefore it is not possible to identify specific costs as these are wrapped up in salary costs for people, costs for things like new doors etc. For this year, the TfL Business Plan projected an overall £165.59m for policing across all police forces (Metropolitan Police Service, BTP and City of London Police).
 
We do not hold a separate cost for the amount of money spent on CCTV each year. These costs will be incorporated into other costs such as maintenance, asset renewal, station improvements etc.
 
•         I would also like to receive the number of sexual assault cases reported at each station and the number of CCTV cameras at each station. In addition, the number of CCTV cameras per train. The timeframe is 2015-2019. I would like the number for each year that falls between those two years, including those two years of course.
 
Please see the attached spreadsheet detailing the number of sexual offences reported as taken place at each station only. Please note we only hold the information for the first quarter of 2019/20.
TfL has been working with London’s policing agencies (Metropolitan Police Service, British Transport Police and City of London Police) as part of Project Guardian to increase confidence in reporting of sexual offences to the police, reduce the risk of becoming a victim, challenge unwanted sexual behaviour and target offenders. The overall increase in reports of sexual offences on London Underground was anticipated through our work on Project Guardian and the Report It to Stop It campaign, which has given people the confidence to report these crimes.
In accordance with the FOI Act, we are not obliged to provide information on the number of CCTV cameras at each station or per train as this is subject to a statutory exemption to the right of access to information under sections 24 and 38. We consider that section 24(1) applies in order to safeguard national security and section 38(1)(a) and (b) applies as disclosure would be likely to endanger the health and safety of individuals.
 
In this instance the exemptions have been applied as disclosure of the information you have requested could assist persons wishing to harm members of the travelling public or staff, or disrupt London’s transport infrastructure by placing into the public domain information which would otherwise not be available via any accessible means.
 
The current threat level in the UK remains substantial. The information you have requested could be used by persons with nefarious intentions who plan to attack the network or those travelling and working on it by identifying areas that do not have as much CCTV coverage.
 
The Information Commissioner’s Office have issued a Decision Notice regarding the application of sections 24 and 38 to withhold information regarding CCTV cameras at Edinburgh Waverley Station. Whilst the information you have requested also includes trains, we believe the same arguments can be applied:
 
https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-taken/decision-notices/2017/2013536/fs50633090.pdf
 
The use of these exemptions are 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, and acknowledge that there is some public interest in this information from a public safety perspective. However, disclosure of this information to you has to be regarded as a disclosure to ‘the public at large’. As previously stated, this information could potentially be obtained and utilised by individuals who may wish to use this information to cause disruption or harm to London’s transport infrastructure and our passengers and staff. In this instance, minimising the risk to transport infrastructure and protecting people’s welfare outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
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. As stated in my previous email, the remaining questions are not requests for recorded information. Please contact Customer Services directly if you still require this information.
 
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]

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