TfL Ref: 2201-2223
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 29 November 2022 asking for information about the Old Street roundabout project.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations and our information access policy. I can confirm we hold some of the information you require. You asked:
With regards to FOI-1747-2223, please provide a list of all 'major' delays to the roundabout project, with a definition of what the definition of a 'major' delay is, a 2-3 sentence explanation of each delay and an estimate of the cost.
If TfL does not have a definition of 'major' delay please consider any delay that cost £1m more than anticipated at the start of the project or that which caused a delay of more than two months to the overall project.
The Old Street Project is an extremely complex project in a busy central London location on the Inner Ring Road with an Underground and Network Rail station underneath the road. A key requirement of the project has been to ensure the road and station remain open and accessible throughout the works, which has further complicated the delivery challenges. TfL does not have a definition of what it considers a major delay to be, as all projects have different durations.
The Old Street project has experienced several delays for multiple reasons, as follows:
The project needed to completely redesign the new main station entrance and add an additional lift to achieve planning approval from Islington Council. It is not possible to estimate the total cost of this delay in isolation.
Due to very poor condition of subsurface areas, significant additional design was required to ensure compliance with the requirements of the London Fire Brigade. Further redesign of electrical works was required to satisfy UK Power Networks standards and secure an essential upgraded power supply for the new assets and the existing station. It is not possible to estimate the total cost of this delay in isolation.
During the Pandemic, the impact of COVID-19 meant that the site was shut down for three months and there was reduced on site productivity for many months subsequently, due to the need to maintain social distancing measures in a very space-constrained work site. It is not possible to estimate the total cost of this delay in isolation.
During construction, the construction team has uncovered a range of uncharted utilities which have required safe and controlled removal. Works and services from multiple subcontractors and suppliers are being coordinated in this complex work space, which have further exacerbated the delays. It is not possible to estimate the total cost of this delay in isolation.
Please also provide any documents which might have been produced by TfL or the contractor to explain the cause of each 'major' delay and/or solutions to the problem encountered. Documents could include emails, reports, slideshow presentations or other similar documents.
If it is not possible to provide the information requested due to the information exceeding the cost of compliance limits identified in Section 12, please provide advice and assistance, under the Section 16 obligations of the Act, as to how I can refine my request. If you can identify any ways that my request could be refined I would be grateful for any further advice and assistance.
I can confirm that we hold the information you require. However, I am afraid this part of your request is being refused under regulation 12(4)(b) of the EIR on the grounds that it would be “manifestly unreasonable” to comply. To fulfil your request in full, we would need to scrutinise every Early Warning Notice (EWN) and Notification of Compensation Event (NCE), Project Managers Instruction (PMI) and so on, as well as reviewing which of these are an attributed delay, and then collate this information into a format suitable for public disclosure.
To summarise in the context of your request, we are currently at EWN by Contractor Number 763, EWN by Project Manager 297, PMI Number 225 and NCE by Contractor Number 305. Hence, we would need to review in excess of a minimum of 1,500 items of documentation.
Taking these circumstances into account, your request is being refused under regulation 12(4)(b) of the EIR on the grounds that it would be “manifestly unreasonable” to comply in full. There is no single source of information within TfL from which to source this data and documentation, as they are not held in a single suppository from which they could be extracted, reviewed and collated accordingly.
The use of this exception is subject to a public interest test, which requires us to consider whether the public interest in applying the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosure. We recognise that the release of information would promote accountability and transparency in public services and also help address concerns about this project. However, the time it would take to provide the information you have requested would divert a disproportionate amount of our resources from its core functions and on balance we consider that the public interest currently favours the use of the exception.
We will consider your request again, if you are able to narrow its scope so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the information you are seeking. If you have specific questions we will be happy to consider those.
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any 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
Jasmine Howard
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
