Transport for London
- Date 25 May 2018
- Sector Other
- Decision(s) FOI 10: Upheld, FOI 16: Upheld
The complainant has requested information in relation to risk assessments conducted by different bus operators under the jurisdiction of Transport for London (TfL) for a specified period of time. TfL provided some information to the complainant, but stated that the remainder was not held. The Commissioner’s view is that the complainant’s request was not clear, therefore TfL was under an obligation under section 16(1) of the FOIA to contact the complainant and seek clarification of the request. In failing to do so, TfL breached section 16(1) of the FOIA. It is now required to remedy this breach by contacting the complainant and seeking clarification about his request. TfL also breached section 10(1) of the FOIA due to the time it took to respond to the request.
The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation.
Write to the complainant seeking clarification of his request for “a summary list for each”.The public authority must take these steps within 35 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the FOIA and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.