Request ID: FOI-4114-2324 Date published: 08 March 2024
You asked
Dear TFL,
Under the Freedom of Information ACT, and consistent with your disclosures practices outlined for contracts (https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/contracts-released-under-foi), please could you provide me with the following information
• A copy of the contract TFL has with Equinix (the existence of this contract is mentioned in FOI-0758-2122
• A breakdown of the per year expenses persuant to that contract with Equinix. For avoidance of doubt, please be a specific as possible and not limited to including: recurrinng maintenance (including what has been charged for), special projects or growth, monthly rental expense,
An understanding of the nature of TFL expenses on data centers is firmly in the public interest. If you can't fulfil the request in entirety, please provide what you can.
We answered
TfL Ref: 4114-2324
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 10 February 2024 asking for information about the Equinix Contract. Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy. We do hold the information you require. You asked: Under the Freedom of Information ACT, and consistent with your disclosures practices outlined for contracts (https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/contracts-released-under-foi), please could you provide me with the following information
A copy of the contract TFL has with Equinix (the existence of this contract is mentioned in FOI-0758-2122
A breakdown of the per year expenses pursuant to that contract with Equinix. For avoidance of doubt, please be a specific as possible and not limited to including: recurrinng maintenance (including what has been charged for), special projects or growth, monthly rental expense,
An understanding of the nature of TFL expenses on data centres is firmly in the public interest. If you can't fulfil the request in entirety, please provide what you can. Please find attached a copy of the current contract as requested. However, in accordance with the FOI Act, we are not obliged to provide the expenses breakdown per year as this is subject to a statutory exemption to the right of access to information under section 43(2). Please also note that specific pricing and cost information you asked for has been redacted from the contract as this is also subject to a statutory exemption to the right of access to information under section 43(2). In this instance the section 43(2) exemption has been applied as disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice our commercial interests, as well as those of Equinix. In this instance the exemption has been applied as disclosure of this information would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of TfL and/or Equinix. Disclosing details regarding pricing structures and monetary rates would prejudice TfL’s position in ensuring it has an unconstrained bargaining leverage in any future negotiations TfL may undertake in regard to this area.Likewise Equinix would suffer prejudice to its commercial interests if the financial specifications contained within the contract along with the breakdown were disclosed both in the context of their approach to tender bids with other third party organisations and in the context of them competing with other bidders in any future re-procurement TfL might do for this particular service. The use of this exemption is subject to an assessment of the public interest in relation to the disclosure of the information concerned. TfL recognises the need for openness and transparency by public authorities, particularly where the expenditure of public money is concerned, but in this instance the public interest in ensuring that TfL is able to obtain the best value for public money with regards to the service provided to maintain the scheme, outweighs the general public interest in increasing transparency of TfL’s processes. Additionally, in accordance with TfL’s obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) any personal data has been removed, as required by section 40(2) of the FOI Act. This is because disclosure of this personal data would be a breach of the DPA, specifically the first principle of the DPA which requires all processing of personal data to be fair and lawful. It would not be fair to disclose this personal information when the individuals have no expectation it would be disclosed and TfL has not satisfied one of the conditions of Schedule 2 of the Data Protection Act which would make the processing ‘fair’. This exemption to the right of access to information is an absolute exemption and not subject to an assessment of whether the public interest favours use of the exemption. If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for some 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
