TfL Ref: 2406-1617

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 2 March 2017 asking for information about the disposal of unclaimed lost property.

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 the information you require.

Unclaimed items become the property of TfL after three months and are either donated to charity, recycled, sold at auction or disposed responsibly. The two auction houses we currently use are Greasbys Auctioneers and XS Items. Most items are donated to charities including The Salvation Army, Red Cross and Scope.

The proceeds from the auctions over the last two years is published on our website:

http://content.tfl.gov.uk/lost-property-office-transparency-data.pdf

In accordance with section 21 of the FOI Act, TfL is not obliged to supply you with a copy of the requested information as it is already accessible to you elsewhere.

All income received contributes towards the operating costs of the Lost Property Office.

Please note that we also regularly published figures on the number of items found and reclaimed on our network on our website:

https://tfl.gov.uk/help-and-contact/lost-property#on-this-page-7

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.

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

Sara Thomas

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London