Our Ref: FOI-2574-2021 Thank you for your request received on 17 March 2021 asking for information about copies of minutes of all meetings between TfL and NCP Ltd regarding Cockfosters. 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 do hold the information you require. Please find the requested meeting minutes, when recorded, attached. As these are not formal meetings the taking of minutes is not required. In accordance with the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply some of the information contained within the minutes as it is subject to a statutory exemption to the right of access to information under section 43(2) – prejudice to commercial interests. In this instance the section 43(2) exemption has been applied to information contained within the documents as disclosure would be likely to prejudice our commercial interests, as well as those of NCP. We are about to publish a tender process for a new contract, disclosure of this information would be likely to influence the bids we receive. Disclosing this information could also be prejudicial to NCP’s ability to compete for tendering opportunities with TfL and other companies in the future, as their competitive edge would inevitably be prejudiced by disclosure of detailed financial information. The use of this exemption is subject to an assessment of the public interest in relation to the disclosure of the information concerned. TfL recognises the need for openness and transparency by public authorities but in this instance the public interest in ensuring that TfL is able to obtain the best value for public money outweighs the general public interest in increasing transparency of our processes. In accordance with our obligations under Data Protection legislation some personal data has been removed, as required by section 40(2) of the FOI Act. This is because disclosure of this personal data would be a breach of the legislation, specifically the first principle of Article 5 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation which requires all processing of personal data to be fair and lawful. It would not be fair to disclose this personal information when the individuals have no expectation it would be disclosed and TfL has not satisfied one of the conditions which would make the processing ‘fair’. This exemption to the right of access to information is an absolute exemption and not subject to an assessment of whether the public interest favours use of the exemption. 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. If you are considering submitting a further FOI request please think carefully about whether the request is essential at this current time, as answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. Where requests are made, please note that our response time may be impacted by the current situation. 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 [email protected]

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