FOI request detail

complaints data Ludgate Hill

Request ID: FOI-2863-1920
Date published: 20 January 2020

You asked

Clarification: Dear FOI, I request the information for the last three years if this is over the cost limit then kindly reduce the time to fall within the cost limits. Dear Transport for London, Can you please supply the number of complaints made involving a pedestrian when a vehicle was turning left from Ludgate Hill into New Bridge Street.

We answered

TfL Ref: 2863-1920

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 24 December 2019 asking for information about the number of complaints we hold involving a pedestrian when a vehicle was turning left from Ludgate Hill into New Bridge Street over the last three years.

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

In accordance with the FOI Act, we are not required to search for information in scope of a request until the cost limit is reached, so therefore we have treated this request on the basis of the three year period you stipulated in your request.

Unfortunately, to provide the information you have requested 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 significantly exceed the cost limit to provide a response to your current request. This is because in order to locate any complaints which are relevant to your request, we would need to carry out a search of our complaints database using a keyword(s) or in this case the two road names you refer to in your request.

An initial sample search for the period 1 September 2019 to 15 January 2020 resulted in 100 matches, of which during further review only 4 were complaints featuring the words “left” or “turn”, with none of these 4 under further review being relevant to your request. If we were to extend the search to the full three years covered by your request, we can expect the search to locate around 300 matches per year, or 900 matches in total. To review each of these complaints, allowing a conservative estimate 2 minutes per case, would exceed the cost limit and would take around 30 hours to complete. There is also no guarantee that we would locate any complaints relevant to your request;  equally there is no guarantee that every complaint received would be captured by these search parameters alone.

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. You might also consider limiting your request to a particular period of time, geographical area or specific departments of the organisation.

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.

In the meantime, if you have any queries or would like to discuss your request, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely

Sara Thomas

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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