Request ID: FOI-3034-2122 Date published: 29 April 2022
You asked
Thursday 31st March 2022
RE: Request under the Freedom of Information Act (2000)
Dear Information Team
This is an information request relating to the cost of producing an annual gender pay gap report.
Please include the information for each of the following periods; 2019-20; 2020-21, 2021-22:
• The cost of producing each gender pay gap report, including a breakdown of the cost such as the number of FTE staff working on the report. This should cover the full process of producing the report including research, drafting, proof-reading, communications etc.
• Any internal assessments of the costs and benefits of producing the report
If it is not possible to provide the information requested due to the information exceeding the cost of compliance limits identified in Section 12, please provide advice and assistance, under the Section 16 obligations of the Act, as to how I can refine my request.
If you have any queries please don’t hesitate to contact me via email or phone and I will be very happy to clarify what I am asking for.
I would prefer a response via email, but if this is not possible, I will gladly accept letters to the address below.
Please acknowledge this information request as soon as possible.
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-3034-2122
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 31st March 2022 asking for information about the cost of producing the annual gender pay gap report.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
Specifically you asked:
“This is an information request relating to the cost of producing an annual gender pay gap report.
Please include the information for each of the following periods; 2019-20; 2020-21, 2021-22:
The cost of producing each gender pay gap report, including a breakdown of the cost such as the number of FTE staff working on the report. This should cover the full process of producing the report including research, drafting, proof-reading, communications etc.
Any internal assessments of the costs and benefits of producing the report”.
I am afraid that TfL does not hold the requested information as no record is maintained of the cost of producing the reports. For example, you ask that the cost of FTE staff working on the report be taken into account. The staff who produce the report work on multiple tasks at any given time, and no record is kept of the proportion of their time spent on producing the report as opposed to other tasks. It is not possible, therefore, to answer your question. Note further that there is no obligation under the FOI Act to create new information in response to a request.
The reporting on the gender pay gap has been a legal requirement since 2017 (and TfL has reported since 2016 following a Mayoral requirement). The reporting allows us to carry out an analysis on the findings and to try and ascertain what themes are influencing our pay gaps (for example, the under-representation of women in higher paid STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) related roles. As a result of this analysis we can formulate actions and assign accountability to address these issues.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely,
David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
