Request ID: FOI-2953-2324 Date published: 19 December 2023
You asked
Please consider this a Freedom of Information request for all documentation which mentions ‘Detroit’ including every email that any TfL staff member has sent to or received from the Mayor or his office and any emails between senior TfL staff since 6th May 2021 to date.
We answered
Our Ref: FOI-2953-2324 / FOI-2954-2324
Thank you for your requests received on 20 November 2023 asking for information about Project Detroit. 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 that we do hold the information you require. Transport for London (TfL) is working to build a new core technology platform for existing road user charging schemes to replace the currently outsourced system as the current contract expires in 2026. The scope of this work is to replicate the capability of the existing charging system that processes automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) events and according to a set of pre-defined business rules to support the Congestion Charge, HGV permit scheme linked to the Direct Vision Standard, Low Emission Zone, Ultra Low Emission Zone, and, in the future, user charges at the Blackwall and Silvertown Tunnels (collectively known as Road User Charging, RUC). As has been explained previously, pay-per-mile charging has been ruled out by the Mayor and no such scheme is on the table. You asked: FOI-2953-2324 Please consider this a Freedom of Information request for all documentation which mentions ‘Detroit’ including every email that any TfL staff member has sent to or received from the Mayor or his office and any emails between senior TfL staff since 6th May 2021 to date FOI-2954-2324 Please consider this a Freedom of Information request for the minutes of any TfL meeting in which ‘Detroit’, relating to Project Detroit’, was mentioned since 6th May 2021 to date 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 cost over £450 to provide a response to your current request. This is because it is estimated that it would take in excess of 18 working hours to retrieve and compile the information you have requested. We are now applying an aggregate cost limit to the outstanding requests which were both received on 20 November 2023. When requests for email correspondence are received the FOI Case Management team may use a search tool to conduct company-wide email searches using keywords, dates and email addresses. The more specific a requester can be as to what they are looking for, the more we can narrow the search and therefore stand a better chance of a more relevant or focused result. A search will then return an amount of ‘hits’ which potentially contain information relating to the search terms used. Each ‘hit’ is a single email, although that email will often consist of a chain of emails containing the search term at least once. Searching across our email estate for all emails that mention the word ‘Detroit’ produces a significant volume of material, which we can clearly see would breach the threshold set out above as it is caught simply by virtue of the word ‘Detroit’ featuring within it. Your request is not for information on any specific subject or issue but asks for information where a single, non-specific word is contained within the material. Please note that the search was solely for correspondence. Additional time and resource would be needed to provide all ‘documentation’ as per your request. With regard to your request asking for minutes relating to Project Detroit, we do not have a single repository for meeting minutes or a record of what was discussed at all meetings across the organisation. We would need to review any recorded minutes from meetings that have taken place over the last two and a half years across the organisation to determine whether they are relevant to your request. If you would like to re-submit a more focused, specific request then we will, of course, consider it. For example, a request for information on a particular subject/issue or a request for specific documentation is less likely to raise concerns about the disproportionate effort required to answer it. 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 FOI Act request in future, please bear in mind that the FOI 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 narrower period of time 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. 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
