FOI request detail

Prosecution data and fare costs, 2008-2022

Request ID: FOI-2301-2223
Date published: 04 January 2023

You asked

Good morning, I would like to make a request for the following datasets under the Freedom of Information Act 2000: Could you please disclose - 1. How many Single Justice Procedure Notices have been sent to people suspected of fare evasion per financial year between 2008 and 2022? 2. How many Postal Requisitions have been sent to people suspected of fare evasion per financial year between 2008 and 2022? In this timeframe: 3. How many prosecutions were upheld in TfL’s favour (i.e. how many defendants either plead guilty or were found guilty by the courts during these years)? 4. How much money in GBP has TfL spent on prosecuting fare evasion in the financial years between 2008 and 2022 (eg. through court costs and solicitors’ fees)? 5. How much money in GBP has TfL recovered by prosecuting fare evasion in the financial years between 2008 and 2022 (e.g. through fines, compensation, victim surcharge, prosecution costs)? --- a. What was the cost for a single underground journey in zone 1 per financial year between 2008-2022? b. What was the cost for a single underground journey in zone 2-6 per financial year between 2008-2022? c. What was the cost for a single bus journey per financial year between 2008-2022? d. What was the cost for an annual adult zone 1-4 travelcard per financial year between 2008-2022? If the following request is too large to fall under your obligations under the act, please answer either questions 1 or 2, and prioritise questions 4, 5 and d thereafter. I would like for the data requested to be sent in the form of a .xls file.

We answered

TfL Ref: FOI-2301-2223
 
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 12 December 2022, asking for information about prosecutions and fare cost.
 
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.  I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require.
 
In terms of what we can supply, our data does not go back as far as 2008 and Single Justice Procedures (SJP) were only introduced by the Criminal Justice and Courts Act in 2015. Also, we do not split SJPs and Requisition results/stats in our data.
 
Please note Tram prosecutions are managed by Tramlink directly and their figures are not included below.
 
You specifically asked:
 
1.            How many Single Justice Procedure Notices have been sent to people suspected of fare evasion per financial year between 2008 and 2022?
2.            How many Postal Requisitions have been sent to people suspected of fare evasion per financial year between 2008 and 2022?
 
 Fin. YearFin. YearFin. YearFin. YearFin. YearFin. YearFin. YearFin. Year 
Prosecutions by mode14/1515/1616/1717/1818/1919/2020/2121/22 
DLRN/AN/AN/A6988832283 
Bus10,12714,70013,25115,17921,64619,0003,0051,573 
LON/AN/AN/A3652,0181,347413398 
Elizabeth Line (TfL Rail)N/AN/A6019497451,057145945 
LUN/AN/A5,3383,5465,1663,4047261,552 
TfL Total10,12714,70019,19020,10829,66324,8914,291 4,751 
                  
                  
 
3.             How many prosecutions were upheld in TfL’s favour (i.e. how many defendants either plead guilty or were found guilty by the courts during these years)?
 
We record percentages for our score cards. In order to provide the actual numbers, we would have to review each case individually which would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.
 
Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with a request if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, locating and retrieving it and extracting it from other information would exceed the appropriate limit. This is calculated at £25 per hour for every hour spent on those activities.
 
Success rates are captured as percentages below;
 
2014/15 – 99.94% successful prosecutions rate for cases heard at court
2015/16 – 99.87% successful prosecutions rate for cases heard at court
2016/17 – 94.33% successful prosecutions rate for cases heard at court
2017/18 – 95.57% successful prosecutions rate for cases heard at court
2018/19 – Approx. 98% + successful prosecutions rate for cases heard at court
2019/20 -  95.90% successful prosecutions rate for cases heard at court
2020/21 -  96.10% successful prosecutions rate for cases heard at court
2021/22 – 92.00% successful prosecutions rate for cases heard at court
 
4.                     How much money in GBP has TfL spent on prosecuting fare evasion in the financial years between 2008 and 2022 (e.g. through court costs and solicitors’ fees)?
 
We don’t hold an accurate figure for this. The TfL Investigation, Appeals and Prosecutions team is responsible for the prosecution of fare evasion on all TfL modes (excl. Trams) and they are responsible for a range of other activity, but the cost of that team is circa £1,250,000.
 
5.            How much money in GBP has TfL recovered by prosecuting fare evasion in the financial years between 2008 and 2022 (e.g. through fines, compensation, victim surcharge, prosecution costs)?
 
Please see below for money we received from HMCTS, from passengers convicted at Court;
 
2016/17 –  £1.237,339
2017/18 –  £1,702,015
2018/19 -  £2,228,545
2019/20 -  £2,563,573
2020/21 -  £1,687,683
2021/22 – £1,458,269
 
a.         What was the cost for a single underground journey in zone 1 per financial year between 2008-2022?
b.         What was the cost for a single underground journey in zone 2-6 per financial year between 2008-2022?
c.         What was the cost for a single bus journey per financial year between 2008-2022?
d.         What was the cost for an annual adult zone 1-4 travelcard per financial year between 2008-2022?
 
The fares requested are shown in the table below;
 
TicketZones200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022
Underground PAYG peak singleZ0101      1.50   1.60 1.801.902.002.102.202.302.402.402.402.402.402.402.50
Underground PAYG off-peak singleZ0101      1.50   1.60 1.801.902.002.102.202.302.402.402.402.402.402.402.50
Underground PAYG peak singleZ0206      1.80   2.00 2.202.502.602.702.702.802.802.802.802.802.803.003.30
Underground PAYG off-peak singleZ0206      1.00   1.10 1.301.401.401.501.501.501.501.501.501.501.501.701.90
PAYG single bus fareB0104      0.90   1.00   1.20   1.30   1.35   1.40   1.45   1.50   1.50   1.50   1.50   1.50   1.50   1.55   1.65
Annual TravelcardZ0104138414721472157616721744180018441860189219602020207621282208
 
Please note the fares used to be revised on 2 January each year. This was the case until 2021 and 2022 when the changes were made on 1 March.
 
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
 
Eva Hextall
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London

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