TfL Ref: FOI-2479-2425
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 2nd November 2024, detailed below.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
Specifically you asked:
“Please provide full unredacted copies of all correspondence within TfL regarding Dale Charman and his YouTube channel.”.
I can confirm that we hold the information you require. However, I am afraid that there is no way of sourcing all of the information requested within the costs limit for responding to FOI cases, as set out under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act. Under section 12, TfL is not required to provide information if it would cost more than £450 to determine if the requested information is held, and to then locate, retrieve or extract that information from elsewhere. This is calculated at a rate of £25 per hour, equivalent to 18 hours work.
In this instance the exemption applies because the information has not been collated before, and because there is no quick or efficient way of doing so. Due to an ongoing technical issue we do not currently have the usual ability to search all TfL emails accounts. Given this, there is no automated way of finding all such emails. Given material that falls within the scope of your request could potentially have been generated by a wider number of different teams, we do not believe there is any way of sourcing it all within the 18 hour limit. Notwithstanding this point, please note that even if we were able to source it, large amounts – if not all – are very likely to be exempt from release in any case under section 40(2) of the Freedom of the Information Act, the exemption that protects against the unfair release of personal data.
In order to bring your request within the costs limit you may wish to reframe it to narrow its scope, focussing on the information that is of most importance to you. You may also wish to consider whether there is a specific question or questions you wish to ask on this matter, rather than submitting an FOI request for a broad amount of information which may not address your concern.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely,
David Wells
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
