TfL Ref: FOI-2666-2021 Thank you for your request of 23rd March 2021 asking for information about the residents discount to the congestion charge. Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. Your questions are answered in turn below: Question 1: What are the 'temporary changes' to the congestion charge that justifies closing the discount to new applicants? The Mayoral decision document sets out the temporary changes to the Congestion Charge and the reasons for introducing the temporary changes. It can be found on the GLA website here: https://www.london.gov.uk/decisions/md2648-temporary-changes-congestion-charge Question 2: When is the next review to re-open the Resident Discount Registration? The Mayoral decision document states that the temporary changes will be reviewed having regard to the transport challenges of the pandemic and that it is expected that TfL’s review will take account of important milestones in the response to the pandemic or significant changes in circumstances. As the review is linked to significant changes to transport challenges, it is not possible at this stage to tie that to a specific date. Traffic in the zone is continuously monitored and, in turn, the traffic impacts of the temporary changes to the Congestion Charge. Those impacts were most recently reported in the Travel in London Report 13: https://content.tfl.gov.uk/travel-in-london-report-13.pdf The majority of Government restrictions remain in place and public transport capacity is still reduced due to social distancing requirements. The temporary changes to the Congestion Charging scheme continue to be a necessary response to the transport challenges created by the pandemic. TfL is also considering the long term impacts that the pandemic is likely to have on people’s travel choices and the measures that are needed in order to avoid a car led recovery from the pandemic following the proposed easing of restrictions as set out in the Government’s roadmap. Question 3: Who is in charge of deciding when to re-open the Resident Discount Registration? A statutory process must be followed when changing the rules of a road user charging scheme. It is set out in Schedule 23 to the Greater London Authority Act 1999. Both TfL, as charging authority, and the Mayor have responsibilities in this process although the ultimate decision maker is the Mayor. Question 4: 'Temporary' is subjective, however 8 months is stretching the meaning, up to which point is considered temporary? As the Mayoral decision document and appendices note, the temporary changes were introduced in response to the transport challenges created by the pandemic. Given the Government’s ongoing restrictions including the continuing need for social distancing, it is unknown for how long the temporary changes will need to remain in place to address the transport challenges. If this is not the information you are looking for please do not hesitate 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 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, David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London