'Pre-compliance' with London low emission zone standards for Phases 1 and 2

Simon Birkett made this Freedom of Information request to Transport for London

The request was successful.

From: Simon Birkett

24 October 2009

Dear FOI Officer at Transport for London (TfL)

LETTER REQUESTING ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION

I am writing to request information under the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004/Freedom of Information Act 2000. In
order to assist you with this request, I am outlining my query as
specifically as possible.

Please will you send me copies of any information held by TfL that
relates or refers in any way to the extent of 'pre-compliance'
and/or 'post-compliance' with London low emission zone (LEZ)
standards for Phases 1 and 2. Given the emphasis put in the Mayor
of London's draft Air Quality Strategy on the benefits of possible
pre-compliance with the standards for Phase 3 of the London LEZ, I
am interested in learning about TfL's experience of pre and/or
post-compliance for Phases 1 and/or 2. My understanding is that
Phase 1 (and perhaps Phase 2) required enforcement 'holidays'
because of the extent of 'post-compliance'. I am interested in any
assessment(s) undertaken by TfL of pre and/or post-compliance for
Phases 1, 2 and/or 3.

I would be interested in any information held by TfL regarding my
requests including timescales e.g. spreadsheets, tables, reports,
emails, notes or correspondence. I understand I do not have to
specify particular files or documents and that it is TfL's
responsibility to provide the information I require.

I would like to receive the information in electronic and paper
form please. I would be pleased to discuss the collection/delivery
arrangements for such paper copies.

If my request is denied in whole or in part, I ask that you justify
all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act. I
will also expect you to release all non-exempt material. I reserve
the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to
charge excessive fees. If you plan to charge for this information,
I would ask that you pay particular attention to the ruling on fees
made by the Information Tribunal 28 March 2006: Mr David Markinson
v. Information Commissioner.

This decision makes clear that public authorities cannot charge an
unreasonable amount for environmental information. It directed
King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council to overturn their
charging structure and adopt instead a price of 10p per photocopied
A4 page. Section 44 of the Tribunal decision states that a public
authority can only exceed the guide price if it can demonstrate a
good reason to do so, and in considering whether any such reason
exists the public authority should:

i. take due regard of the guidance set out in the Code of Practice
on the discharge of the obligations of public authorities under the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and the Guidance to the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004, both published by
Defra, to the effect that any charge should be at a level that does
not exceed the cost of producing the copies;

ii. disregard any costs, including staff costs, associated with the
maintenance of the information in question or its identification or
extraction from storage; and

iii. disregard any factors beyond the number and size of sheets to
be copied, in particular, the real or perceived significance of the
content, or the effect that any charging structure may have on
TfL’s revenue or its staff workload.

I look forward to your response within the 20-working-day time
limit, and would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that
you have received this request.

Thank you and with best wishes,

Yours sincerely,

Simon Birkett

Founder and Principal Contact
Campaign for Clean Air in London

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From: Enquire (TfL)
Transport for London

26 October 2009

Dear Simon

Thank you for your email received by Transport for London (TfL) on 26 October. You have asked for information about information held by TfL that relates or refers in any way to the extent of 'pre-compliance' and/or 'post-compliance' with London low emission zone (LEZ) standards for Phases 1 and 2.

We will deal with your request as soon as possible and in any case provide you with a response by 23 November.

In the meantime, if you have any queries or would like to discuss your request, please do not hesitate to contact me

Gareth Long
Customer Relations Officer

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From: Enquire (TfL)
Transport for London

23 November 2009

Dear Simon

Thank you for your email received by Transport for London (TfL) on 26 October.

You have asked for copies of any information held by TfL that relates or refers in any way to the extent of 'pre-compliance' and/or 'post-compliance' with London low emission zone (LEZ) standards for Phases 1 and 2.

Your request is being considered under the Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations.

Unfortunately we will not be able to resolve your request within the statutory 20 working day deadline. This is because the information is still being collated.

We will respond as soon as possible.

Please accept my apologies for this delay and any inconvenience it may cause you. In the meantime, if you have any queries relating to your request, please do not hesitate to contact me.

If you are not satisfied with this response, please read the attached help-sheet entitled ‘Your Right to Appeal’

Gareth Long
Customer Relations Officer

Your right to appeal

If you are dissatisfied with the way TfL has handled your information request, you can ask us to conduct an internal review of our decision. The internal review will be conducted by someone who was not involved in the processing of your original request, in accordance with the complaints procedure published on our website at www.tfl.gov.uk/foi

Requests for internal review should be addressed to:

Head of Information Access and Compliance
Floor 5, Windsor House
42-50 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0TL

E-mail: [email address]

Complaints to the Information Commissioner

If, following the internal review, you remain dissatisfied with the way TfL has handled your request, then you can take your complaint to:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

A complaint form is available on the Information Commissioner’s Office website at: www.ico.gov.uk

Copyright

Any copyright in the material provided with this response is owned by TfL or one of its subsidiary companies unless otherwise stated. The disclosure of information does not give the person or organisation who receives it an automatic right to re-use it in a way that would otherwise infringe copyright (for example, by making copies, publishing it, or issuing copies to the public). Brief extracts of the material may be reproduced under the fair dealing provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998 (sections 29 and 30) for the purposes of research for non-commercial purposes, private study, criticism, review and news reporting. In respect of use for criticism, review and news reporting, any reproduction must be accompanied by an acknowledgement that TfL or one of its subsidiary companies is the copyright owner.

Re-use

If you would like to re-use the information supplied with this response please contact TfL using the details provided in the attached letter. Requests for re-use will be considered in accordance with the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005.

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From: Enquire (TfL)
Transport for London

21 January 2010

Attachment LEZ Phase 1 and 2 compliance levels.pdf
14K Download View as HTML

Re: TfL099374

Dear Simon

Thank you for your email received by Transport for London (TfL) on 26
October.

Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in processing your
request for this information.

You asked for copies of any information held by TfL that relates or refers
in any way to the extent of 'pre-compliance' and/or 'post-compliance' with
London Low Emission Zone (LEZ) standards for Phases 1 and 2. Additionally,
you requested any assessment(s) undertaken by TfL, of pre and/or
post-compliance for Phases 1, 2 and/or 3.

Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of
Information Act and I can confirm that TfL does hold the information you
require.

In response to your request, please see the attached spreadsheet which
includes information on the results of TfL’s monitoring of compliance
levels for Phases 1 and 2 of the LEZ. We would be more than happy to meet
with you to discuss these figures and any queries you may have regarding
operator compliance.

As you may be aware, TfL addresses the issue of pre-compliance in the
‘London Low Emissions Zone – Impacts Monitoring’ Baseline Report
published in July 2008, which is available on our website at
[1]www.tfl.gov.uk/lezlondon. This extract from p. 116 is most relevant and
applies to the attached spreadsheet:

“These ‘monitoring’ estimates are generally of comparable absolute
magnitudes to the previous projections. They show that the maximum
expression of operator pre-compliance with the requirements of phases 1
and 2 of the scheme, as measured by the monitoring cameras at the end of
2007, reached approximately half of the maximum scheme effect for phases 1
and 2 combined as previously projected by TfL.”

In respect of enforcement holidays, TfL planned that operators of
non-compliant vehicles would be sent a warning letter when they are first
seen in the LEZ, and that they would then have 28 days to take action to
meet the LEZ emissions standards of Euro III for Particulate Matter. TfL
was also aware that some operators had genuinely sought to comply with the
scheme but would not be ready for 4 February 2008.

TfL believes that this action strikes a fair balance between ensuring the
benefits are delivered whilst giving those operators who are taking steps
to meet the emissions standards a warning and the opportunity to comply.

Please contact Samantha Kennedy, LEZ Strategy Manager (Email:
[email address]; Tel: 020 3054 1579) if you have any further
queries about the Low Emission Zone.

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 myself or
Samantha.

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

Gareth Long
Customer Relations Officer

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