I want to know how much money Transport for London spent on advertising projects in each fiscal year since 2008/09 to the present (ideally covering thus far in the 2017/18 fiscal year, but happy to discount this year if that’s impractical). I imagine there may be issues defining “advertising” spend, so to minimise ambiguity I would just like you to define I would want it to be the same as it is defined in this article, which refers to £50 million spend in 2008: https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/annual-advertiser-year-transport-london/869120.

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Our ref: FOI-2176-1718/GH

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 6 November 2017 asking for information about advertising spend.

Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy. I can confirm that we do hold the information you require.

You asked: How much money Transport for London spent on advertising projects in each fiscal year since 2008/09 to the present (ideally covering thus far in the 2017/18 fiscal year, but happy to discount this year if that’s impractical).

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we hold the information you require.

The table below summarises the advertising spend for each fiscal year from April 2008 to October 2017. TfL’s financial year runs from April to March. It covers all the expenditure in all channels including TV, Cinema, Digital, including Video on demand, Press, Posters and Radio.

This expenditure supports a wide range of transport services and related activities, including:

• Encouraging safer use of our network and courtesy to fellow passengers

   

• Road safety and safer travel at night

   

• Information for those with accessibility needs

   

• Customer information supporting major events which could disrupt London’s roads and public transport

   

• Promoting improvements in transport

   

• Fares & Ticketing advice and guidance

The increased spends in April 2014 to March 2015 and April 2015 to March 2016 were due to support for the introduction of contactless payment on the network, which delivered improved customer experience and reduced operating costs. We have now seen more than one billion pay as you go journeys made by contactless payment cards, automatically calculating the best value fare based on the customer's specific journey history- ensuring they always pay the lowest fare in the easiest and most convenient way. The increased spend also reflects the support of the launch of the Roads Modernisation programme, a £4bn schedule of improvements, representing the biggest investment in London's roads in a generation, to create a greener, safer and more attractive London, including a radical improvement in conditions for cyclists. These changes necessitated a huge range of information being made available to help Londoners and businesses adapt to the changing road network.

You refer to a Campaign magazine article quoting a spend figure of £50m for 2008. We can find no source or comparator for that figure and believe it to be incorrect. The information provided here is the actual booked advertising spend for that and subsequent years.

	2008/09	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17	APR - OCT 2017
	£ 8,120,246.78	£6,255,275.26	£5,704,275.82	£6,608,274.99	£5,243,189.81	£9,809,250.93	£ 17,081,291.78	£ 15,853,726.93	£7,710,812.58	£2,264,822.45

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.

If you are not satisfied with this response please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely

Graham Hurt

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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