Request ID: FOI-2413-2223 Date published: 19 January 2023
You asked
1)
Could you please provide me with any material which acts as a guide for the selection and commissioning of Art on the Underground artworks/projects/courses
This may be material provided to the Team, or the Advisory panel:
https://art.tfl.gov.uk/about/team-profiles/
In particular, guidance which relates to race/racism/diversity/black lives matter/inclusion/decolonisation
This would be, to answer in question form, to answer the query: How does Art on the Underground ensure representation in relation to race?
2)
Can you please provide any information on any quotas for the diversity of artworks and art creators for Art on the underground:
For example, as a question: what percentage of artworks are to be created, or commissioned from, people of colour?
3)
For the past calendar year up to date, can you please provide details of any outside courses or expert advice on issues of race and equality provided to staff working directly Art on the Underground.
Can you please provide any examples of the material used/taught, and the cost of this work
4)
In relation to the Art on the Underground:
For the last calendar year up to date, if possible, could you please provide currently held emails between members of the Team in relation to racism and racial equality.
Which include the searchale terms: “Black Lives Matter (BLM)”, “decolonisation”, “white supremacy/supremacism”, “white privilege” “institutional racism”, “imperialism” “colonialism” “British Empire” “whiteness” “blackness”
We answered
Our Ref: FOI-2413-2223
Thank you for your request received on 27 December 2022 asking for information about Art on the Underground.
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.
1) Could you please provide me with any material which acts as a guide for the selection and commissioning of Art on the Underground artworks/projects/courses
This may be material provided to the Team, or the Advisory panel: https://art.tfl.gov.uk/about/team-profiles/
In particular, guidance which relates to race/racism/diversity/black lives matter/inclusion/decolonisation
This would be, to answer in question form, to answer the query: How does Art on the Underground ensure representation in relation to race?
The Art on the Underground team consider representation in relation to race in our programming when compiling its programme. There are no targets for representation. Art on the Underground aims to represent the diversity of the city that TfL serves and fulfil the policy aim of the Mayor of London to improve diversity in the public realm.
Please find attached:
• Terms of Reference for the Advisory panel – this references curatorial quality • The curatorial strategy for 2023 – 2025 – this references our work within the Mayor’s Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm
2) Can you please provide any information on any quotas for the diversity of artworks and art creators for Art on the underground:
For example, as a question: what percentage of artworks are to be created, or commissioned from, people of colour?
We do not hold this information as we do not have any quotas or percentages in use.
3) For the past calendar year up to date, can you please provide details of any outside courses or expert advice on issues of race and equality provided to staff working directly Art on the Underground.
Can you please provide any examples of the material used/taught, and the cost of this work.
We do not hold this information as no advice/training of this nature has been provided to staff who work directly on Art on the Underground.
4) In relation to the Art on the Underground:
For the last calendar year up to date, if possible, could you please provide currently held emails between members of the Team in relation to racism and racial equality.
Which include the searchale terms: “Black Lives Matter (BLM)”, “decolonisation”, “white supremacy/supremacism”, “white privilege” “institutional racism”, “imperialism” “colonialism” “British Empire” “whiteness” “blackness”
Unfortunately, to answer this part of your request 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 the activities described.
We have estimated that it would cost over £450 to provide a response to your current request. This is because it is estimated that it would take in excess of 18 working hours to retrieve and compile the information you have requested.
When requests for email correspondence are received the FOI Case Management team are able to conduct company wide email searches using keywords, dates and email addresses. The more specific a requester can be as to what they are looking for, the more we can narrow the search and therefore stand a better chance of a more relevant or focused result. A search will then return an amount of ‘hits’ which potentially contain information relating to the search terms used. Each ‘hit’ is a single email, although that email will often consist of a chain of emails containing the search term at least once.
We have done an initial search as defined by the parameters outlined in your request, this has returned almost 2,500 hits. A brief review of the results indicates that a large portion of these do not relate directly to Art on the Underground. Some emails are also likely to be duplicates. However, we would still need to manually review all of the emails identified by the search in order to extract and collate the relevant information, which we estimate would take in excess of 18 hours.
To help bring the cost of responding to your request within the £450 limit, you may wish to consider narrowing its scope so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the information you are seeking. If you want to refine your request or make a Freedom of Information Act request in future, please bear in mind that the Freedom of Information Act allows you to request recorded information held by us. You should identify the information that you want as clearly and concisely as you can, specifying the types of document that you are looking for.
Although your request can take the form of a question, rather than a request for specific documents, we do not have to answer your question if it would require the creation of new information or the provision of a judgement, explanation, advice or opinion that was not already recorded at the time of your request.
Please note that we will not be taking further action until we receive your revised request.
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.
Yours sincerely
Gemma Jacob Senior FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
