TfL Ref:FOI-2627-1617, FOI-2469-1617, FOI-2364-1617, FOI-2363-1617, FOI-2362-1617

Thank you for your correspondence received by us on 26 February, 10 March 2017 and 25 March 2017 asking for information about the International Bus Benchmarking Group.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy. We do hold the information you require.

Please provide me with a copy of any framework and/or Collaboration Agreement that exists between Transport for London (or its subsidiaries) and Imperial College's International Bus Benchmarking Group (IBBG).

Please see the attached document. In accordance with the FOI Act we are not obliged to supply some of the information as it is subject to a statutory exemption to the right of access to information under section 43(1), where the withheld information is a trade secret, and section 43(2), where disclosure would prejudice the commercial interests of Imperial College.

The IBBG is an international benchmarking group, with project management, administration and research carried out by the Railway and Transport Strategy Centre at Imperial College London. The agreement is not simply a bilateral agreement between Imperial College London (ICL) and London Buses. The Collaboration Agreement and its associated Schedules and Appendix describe the detailed inter-workings and set up of the IBBG, which has largely been developed by ICL. Some details of the agreement and appendices would enable competitors, including competing universities, to easily replicate the Group's framework and potentially weaken the IBBG’s position in the market, which has been achieved through ICL’s expertise and efforts over many years. The withheld information contains ICL intellectual property and its disclosure would be likely to result in a loss of revenue for ICL from its work with the IBBG.

This exemption is subject to an assessment of the public interest. We recognise that the public will be interested in the benchmarking undertaken by Transport for London, and the mechanics of how fifteen bus operators in 14 cities collaborate under the agreement. However, disclosure of intellectual property and trade secrets developed by ICL will threaten the development and operation of similar work programmes. Additionally, ICL gain some of their funding from programmes such as the IBBG, and the disclosure of the withheld information risks the loss of this funding, due to erosion of the IBBG’s market position.

Section 40(2) of the FOI Act has been applied to some personal data in this document. The expectations of TfL employees regarding disclosure of their personal data in response to Freedom of Information Act requests are shaped by the public facing nature of TfL and the approach taken when answering FOI requests and other correspondence. The signatures and contact details of senior TfL employees have been redacted but their names are disclosed in the documents we are releasing. The expectations of ICL employees are different and we agree with ICL that that their employees would not reasonably expect their names to be disclosed in response to FOI requests submitted to third party organisations. Therefore the names and other personal data of ICL employees are redacted.

For the period 2004-2016, please list the title and year of publication of all reports and/or presentations prepared for by the International Bus Benchmarking Group (IBBG) of the Centre for Transport Studies delivered to TfL and/or London Bus Services Limited. Please identify which reports and/or presentations were commissioned specifically by TfL and/or London Bus Services Limited

This information is withheld under s43(2) of the FOI Act as disclosure would prejudice the commercial interests of ICL. The IBBG operates on a principle of “complete openness within the group and complete confidentiality outside the group”.

The list of studies is agreed by the IBBG members each year. Disclosure of the studies that have been agreed by the members risks influencing the selection of topics in future years, as the studies are based on the member organisations internal priorities. Since these priorities will often be the weaknesses of those organisations that need to be addressed, publication would affect the willingness of the organisations to agree studies in which they may be perceived to perform badly. Therefore the utility gained from the studies would be likely to decrease for all group members.

ICL would also be impacted negatively as it would be seen as having failed to administer and protect the framework envisaged in the Collaboration Agreement.

Further detriment to ICL would be likely to result as some existing IBBG members may withdraw from the IBBG (or may not renew their membership) and potential new members are likely to be unwilling to join the IBBG on the basis that it does not offer and cannot afford the level of confidentiality that was envisaged in the Collaboration Agreement;

Whilst there is a public interest in understanding how TfL bus operations compare with bus operators in other cities, we consider this is met by the publication of the briefing reports to IIPAG which show, in anonymised format, TfL’s relative performance against a range of measures. We consider the public interest supports the use of the exemption, as disclosure of the list of studies and the resulting failure to protect intellectual property rights would be likely to prejudice the development and operation of similar work programmes. As ICL gain some of their funding from programmes such as the IBBG, the disclosure of the withheld information risks the loss of this funding, due to erosion of the IBBG’s market position.

For the period 2004-2016, please provide a list detailing all Key Performance Indicators provided by TfL and/or London Bus Services Limited to Imperial College's International Bus Benchmarking Group of the Centre for Transport Studies for its regular Benchmarking exercise

The KPI list is identified as the intellectual property of the Railway and Transport Strategy Centre in the IBBG Agreement. TfL recognises that the information has been shared in confidence under the agreement and disclosure of the list would be an actionable breach of confidence. Therefore we consider the information is exempt under s41 of the FOI Act. We also consider that s43(1) is engaged as the KPI list is a trade secret, and that s43(2) is engaged as disclosure would allow another organisation to use the list to directly compete with the IBBG.

We consider the public interest supports the use of the s43(1) and s43(2) exemptions as disclosure of the list of KPIs would be likely to prejudice the development and operation of similar work programmes. As ICL gain some of their funding from programmes such as the IBBG, the disclosure of the withheld information risks the loss of this funding, due to erosion of the IBBG’s market position.

Please provide me with copies of all TfL communications (internal and external) pertaining to a Confidential Benchmarking Presentation made by Imperial College's International Bus Benchmarking Group's Head of Benchmarking to TfL’s IIPAG Meeting of 18 May 2016

Please provide me with all internal and external TfL correspondence pertaining to the Mayor of London's 23 February 2017 decision (MQT 2017/0468)  to publish an anonymised version of the International Bus Benchmarking Group Data presented to the IIPAG on 18 May 2016

The decision to publish the information referred to in MQT 2017/0468 was taken at the meeting of the Benchmarking Steering Group on 18 May 2016. The decision is recorded as an action under item 2 of the minutes of the meeting, which you can find on page 3 of the Correspondence and Minutes attachment. The IBBG presentation to IIPAG will be published on the TfL Website. The presentation will need some minor redaction before publication, in line with the exemptions and redactions described above. As the IBBG presentation to IIPAG will be published, it is exempt from being disclosed separately as an attachment to these emails under s22 of the FOI Act. S22 is subject to consideration of the public interest, which we consider in this case favours publication of the presentation in accordance with the statement made by the Mayor in MQT 2017/0468.

One redaction has been made in the attached emails to protect the specific detail of a KPI, in accordance with the exemptions described above. A further redaction has been made to avoid identification of the performance of other members of the IBBG, TfL recognises that the information has been shared in confidence under the agreement and disclosure of this item of data would be an actionable breach of confidence. Therefore we consider the information is exempt under s41 of the FOI Act.

Both the versions of the minutes show an intention to publish a version of the presentation at item 2.6. The minutes were presented for approval at the 7 Dec 2016 Benchmarking Steering Group. The meeting approved the minutes without change.

Some information provided to the Steering Group by Imperial College has been redacted from items 2.4 and 2.5. TfL recognises that the information has been shared in confidence under the agreement and disclosure of this item of data would be an actionable breach of confidence. Therefore we consider the information is exempt under s41 of the FOI Act. Elements of the minutes outside the scope of this FOI request, (those parts not relating to bus benchmarking) have been redacted from the minutes.

Section 40(2) of the FOI Act has been applied to some personal data in this document. The expectations of TfL employees regarding disclosure of their personal data in response to Freedom of Information Act requests are shaped by the public facing nature of TfL and the approach taken when answering FOI requests and other correspondence. The contact details of senior TfL employees have been redacted but their names are disclosed in the documents we are releasing. The expectations of ICL employees are different and we agree with ICL that that their employees would not reasonably expect their names to be disclosed in response to FOI requests submitted to third party organisations. Therefore the names and other personal data of ICL employees are redacted.

You may also be interested in the wider TfL Benchmarking Report, submitted to the Customer Service and Operational Performance Panel on 13 July 2017, and available to view here: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/csopp-20170713-part-1-item12-tfl-international-benchmarking-report.pdf

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

Lee Hill

Senior FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London