This case originated outside of a webform submission and does not have a summary
Request ID: FOI-3732-2324 Date published: 31 January 2024
You asked
If you could inform me so as to whether the following questions would lead to investigatory costs within the maximum amount, that would be fantastic:
- How many incidents of graffiti have been recorded as directly linked to pro-Palestine protests/causes since September 2023?
We answered
Our ref: FOI-3732-2324
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 19 January 2024 asking for information about graffiti.
Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy.
I can confirm that we do hold the information you require. 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 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. Graffiti across the network takes many forms and is often picked up and removed through routine cleaning. However, we do not routinely record the type of graffiti found or the motivations behind it. For graffiti incidents that have been recorded and reported these are in various formats which to answer your request, would need a manual review of considerable volumes of information across various sources to identify and extract information that would fall within the scope of your request, and then collate any relevant information we may hold that relates to the Palestine protests.
To help bring the cost of responding to your request within the £450 limit, you may wish to consider refining your request so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the information you are seeking. You may also consider limiting your request to a particular period of time. 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.
If you are not satisfied with this response please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely,
Tahsin Prima FOI Case Officer General Counsel Transport for London
