I am doing some research on the London Underground busking scheme, which I will refer to as Busk on the Underground. Please provide me with the following information: - Number of busking pitches on the Tfl Network and list of locations. - Dates that auditions were held for Busk on the Underground scheme since 2015. - Current number of bookable performance slots each week across the TfL network under the Busk on the Underground scheme. - Policy regarding duration of each bookable performance slot. - Total number of participants / performers who were been accredited under the scheme each year since 2015. - Total number of new accreditations under the scheme each year since 2015. - Number of participants / performers who have been active (booked at least one performance slot) in the scheme each year since 2015. - Number of unbooked / unallocated performance slots in 2019. - Contact information for the official appointed to manage Busk on the Underground performances. Thank you in advance.

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TfL Ref: 3338-1920

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 2 February 2020 asking for information about busking on the London Underground.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. Your questions and our replies are as follows:

Number of busking pitches on the Tfl Network and list of locations:

• There are more than 40 pitches across 30 stations on the network.

   

• Stations with pitches are the following: Angel, Baker Street, Bank/Monument, Bond Street, Canary Wharf, Chancery Lane, Charing Cross, Cutty Sark (DRL), Euston, Green Park, Hammersmith (D&P), Kings Cross, Knightsbridge, Leicester Square, Liverpool Street, London Bridge, Marble Arch, North Greenwich, Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus, Shoreditch High Street, South Kensington, Southwark, St Paul’s, Stratford, Tottenham Court Road, Tower Gateway (DLR), Victoria, Waterloo, and Westminster.

   

• Not all pitches are open at all times. Some are restricted to weekends or special events, while others are closed at points throughout the year due to operational maintenance.

   

  Dates that auditions were held for Busk on the Underground scheme since 2015:

   

• Applicants that were shortlisted for busking auditions had in-person auditions in July and August 2015 and August and September 2017. We are looking to schedule the next round of auditions.

Current number of bookable performance slots each week across the TfL network under the Busk on the Underground scheme.

• The total amount of slots this week (10-16th Feb) is 2015. Availability varies every week dependant on operational requirements in the stations. Pitches may be temporarily closed for engineering works or congestion control issues, or may only be open on certain days. In addition, some pitches are open for extended hours due to Night Tube on weekends.

   

• If all pitches were available and bookable every day from 8 AM to midnight (the typical times pitches are open), there would be 2055 bookable slots per week (2020 figures). However, the actual number is smaller due to the constraints mentioned above.

   

• If all pitches were open there would be a total maximum of 350 slots per day

Policy regarding duration of each bookable performance slot.

• Buskers can book two hour slots on our system.

   

  Total number of participants / performers who were been accredited under the scheme each year since 2015.

   

  As we accredit participants when we have auditions, and we only held auditions in 2015 and 2017, we don’t hold a figure for 2016, 2018 or 2019.

   

• 80 people qualified as buskers in the 2015 audition.

   

• 79 people qualified as buskers in 2017 auditions.

   

  Total number of new accreditations under the scheme each year since 2015.

   

  As we accredit participants when we have auditions, and we only held auditions in 2015 and 2017, we don’t hold a figure for 2016, 2018 or 2019.

   

• 80 people qualified as buskers in the 2015 audition.

   

• 79 people qualified as buskers in 2017 auditions.

Number of participants / performers who have been active (booked at least one performance slot) in the scheme each year since 2015.

We do not hold data for 2015 and 2016 as we made a switch from a telephone booking system to a computerized booking system in 2016.

In 2017, 216 buskers made at least one booking on our system.

In 2018, 255 buskers made at least one booking on our system.

In 2019, 290 buskers made at least one booking on our system.

In 2020 to date, 165 buskers have made at least one booking.

Number of un-booked / unallocated performance slots in 2019

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 cannot easily extract this information, as the number of slots varies from week to week due to the reasons cited above. In order for us to extract this information we would have to look at every pitch (over 40) every day it was operational (mostly every day) and manually tabulate when there were or were not bookings, and then cross-reference that with engineering works to determine whether the slot was unbooked or closed for engineering or operational reasons.

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 pitch or shorter time period.

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.

What we can provide are the number of days each year that stations with pitches were booked:

Angel	361
Baker Street	363
Bank/Monument	363
Bond Street	364
Canary Wharf	262
Chancery Lane	309
Charing Cross	364
Cutty Sark (DLR)	33
Euston	364
Green Park	364
Hammersmith	345
Kings Cross	362
Knightsbridge	361
Leicester Square	364
Liverpool Street	301
London Bridge	363
Marble Arch	268
North Greenwich	65
Oxford Circus	364
Piccadilly Circus	364
Shoreditch High Street	146
South Kensington	364
Southwark	58
St Paul's	236
Stratford	306
Tottenham Court Road	364
Tower Gateway (DLR)	31
Victoria	321
Waterloo	325
Westminster	348

Contact information for the official appointed to manage Busk on the Underground performances

Our busking team can be contacted at [email protected].

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.

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

Sara Thomas

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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