I would like to know multiple things about taxi/PHV inspections in Stratford from January 2013 to the most recent possible data, broken down by month: 1) How many patrols have been carried out in Stratford to inspect taxis and PHVs? I would like these broken down by uniformed and plain clothes inspections. 2) How many fines have been issued to drivers? I would like this to be broken down by the type of vehicle (HC or PHV), the offence and the amount fined. I also want to know the above information London-wide.

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TfL Ref: 3063-1819 

 

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 12 February 2019 asking for information about Taxi/PHV inspections at Stratford and London- wide from January 2013 to date.

 

 

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 some of the information you require. You asked for: I would like to know multiple things about taxi/PHV inspections in Stratford from January 2013 to the most recent possible data, broken down by month: 

 

1) How many patrols have been carried out in Stratford to inspect taxis and PHVs? I would like these broken down by uniformed and plain clothes inspections. 

2) How many fines have been issued to drivers? I would like this to be broken down by the type of vehicle (HC or PHV), the offence and the amount fined. 

 

I also want to know the above information London-wide. 

 

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 extract the information on how many inspections have been carried out on taxis / PHVs in both Stratford and London-wide and to break these figures down by those carried out by plain clothed / uniformed offices would require a manual search of our records since January 2013 to date, a period of 6 years and thousands of records, to ascertain this. This is because our checks and prosecution files does not allow for a search by the criteria you have specified or by the specific location of the inspection. 

 

Compliance Officers do not issue fines when carrying out their duties. Non-compliance reports may, however, result in a warning letter.  

 

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. We are able to provide some data on total number of checks carried out and court costs and fines from prosecutions overall for this time period, rather than specific to Stratford.  Please let me know if you want to make a fresh request for this information.  

  

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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