final clarification In response to the request for further clarification on TfL Ref: 3773-1920, I can confirm by ‘reports of begging’ I am referring to customer / passenger complaints / reports of begging made to the TfL customer services team. clarification: In relation to TfL Ref: 3773-1920, please could you provide: The number of reports made directly about begging on the London Underground in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019? The number of reports made directly about begging on the London Overground in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019? The number of reports made directly about begging on the Transport for London Rail in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019? The number of reports made directly about begging on the Docklands Light Railway in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019? If this is not possible, could you provide the reports made directly about begging to Transport for London in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019? Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information:  The number of begging incidents on the London Underground in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019? The number of begging incidents on the London Overground in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019? The number of begging incidents on the Transport for London Rail in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019? The number of begging incidents on the Docklands Light Railway in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019? Please provide the information in the form of a Microsoft Excel document.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 can identify any ways that my request could be refined or need any clarification please let me know. 

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 TfL Ref: 3773-1920 

Thank you for your clarified request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 15 March 2020 asking for information about the number of reports made to our customer services about begging on the London Underground, London Overground, TfL Rail and the DLR in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

 

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 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 significantly exceed the cost limit to provide a response to your current request.  

 We currently don’t have a specific Customer Complaints database classification code for “beggars” or “begging”. Therefore we are unable to provide the specific information you have requested without manually reviewing what is likely to be thousands of entries which will be generated by searching any recorded customer correspondence over the period you’ve asked about using a keyword search with typical keywords likely to contain reports of this. However this keyword search is also likely to generate results that do not specifically constitute reports of begging incidents, such as correspondence regarding announcements, charity initiatives or other associated matters. Therefore the only way to collate the information requested would be to manually review the results of this broad search and then extract and collate those that are relevant to your request and theme/group them by type, year, modes etc.  

 Please note that the Government has announced a series of measures to tackle the Coronavirus. It is essential for London, and in particular for all critical workers, that we continue to provide a safe transport network that enables them to make the journeys they need to.  

 In current circumstances, we are not able to answer FOI requests readily and we ask that you please do not make a request to us at present. 

 Answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. In any event, please note that our response time will be affected by the current situation. 

 If you are not satisfied with this response 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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