Service Planning Meeting minutes

Our Ref : 1003320711

Date : 03.04.2009

Mr Peter

[FOI #10146 email]

Dear Mr Peter

Thank you for your request for information dated 03/04/09 which was
received by Transport for London on 03/04/09. This request will be dealt
with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We will aim to deal with your request promptly and provide you with a
response by 05/05/09.

If you are unhappy with the response you receive, you may wish to use our
complaints procedure by writing to Beverley Hall, Head of Customer
Services & Consultation, at the address above, stating your concerns.

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

Once again, thank you for taking the time to contact us.

Yours sincerely

Gilmore Barrett

Correspondence Support Manager (Streets)

LondonBuses Customer Services

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Thank you for your email. We can confirm that this has now been received.

For further information go to [1]www.tfl.gov.uk

 

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Our Ref: 1003237233

Date: 12.06.2009

[1][email address]

[2][email address]

[3][FOI #10146 email]

Dear Peter

I write further to colleague Matthew Towey’s email of 8^th June
regarding your Freedom of Information request for information concerning
bus route changes and bus route consultations. Please accept my sincere
apologies for the delay in updating you on this matter.

You request was the following information.

1. Copies of agenda, minutes and papers of all meetings since 1 January
2004 in which changes to bus routes have been planned or considered.

2. Summary of responses of all bus route consultations since 1 January
2004.

3. Copies of the responses to all bus route consultations since 1
January 2008.

In respect of the first aspect of your request, TFL does hold the
information you have requested but we are the process of considering
whether this information is exempt under section 43(2) of the Freedom of
Information Act which provides an exemption from the disclosure of
information which would prejudice the commercial interests of any person.
I will update you as soon as a decision has been taken on this matter.

In respect of the second and third aspects of your request we have
informed you previously that the cost of extracting the information
required to fully comply with your request will exceed £450 (calculated
at £25 per hour) and in accordance with the FOI and Data Protection
(appropriate limit and fees) Regulations 2004, we are unable to comply
with your request. We did offer however offer to produce printed summaries
for all completed consultations since 2004 within the £450 limit.

You have requested that this information be provided electronically. I can
confirm that we are working to have copies of the consultation summaries
and contextual information loaded onto the TfL website. At present I am
unable to provide precise dates for when this will be completed but we
intend to agree the publishing schedule during the week beginning 15 June.
I will advise you as soon as the exact schedule and webpage location is
known.

I hope this information is of assistance.

Yours sincerely

Anne Sunyer

Head of Customer Services

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Our Ref: 1003237233

Date: 12.08.2009

[1][email address]

[2][FOI #10146 email]

Dear Peter

Thank you for your emails received by Transport for London (TfL) on 21
March 2009 and 2 April 2009. You have asked for information about Bus
Service Meetings and Service Planning Meetings. Thank you for your
patience in the matter, please accept my sincere apologies for the length
of time it has taken to respond.

More specifically your requests were:

· Our Ref: 96552

Please provide me with the agenda, minutes and papers for each Bus
Services Meeting, starting with the most recent one and then going back in
time until you reach the appropriate limit.

· Our Ref: 102226

Please provide me with the agenda, minutes and papers for each Service
Planning Meeting, starting with the most recent one and then going back in
time until you reach the appropriate limit.

Your requests have been dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act and I can confirm that TfL does hold the information you
have requested. However, TfL is not obliged to supply any of the
information you have requested, as it is subject to the following
statutory exemption to the right of access to information:

· Section 43: Commercial Interests

TfL is applying this exemption because release into the public domain
would be prejudicial to the overall ability of the organisation to explore
and evaluate service options and to secure the best results for taxpayers
through the tendering process.

Bus Services Meeting (BSM) is an internal meeting to review potential bus
service changes, including TfL’s estimates of the cost and benefits of
the potential changes. The Service Planning Meeting (SPM) is a
co-ordinating meeting for staff preparing BSM material.

The use of this exemption is subject to an assessment of the public
interest in relation to the disclosure of the information concerned. In
favour of public release is the fact that there may be an increased
transparency in the TfL decision-making process.

However, it could result in greater expense to TfL from higher bids, thus
undermining our ability to achieve best value and hence prejudice our
commercial interests in delivering the bus network. There are a relatively
small number of operators and TfL works closely with them at all levels in
delivering the bus network. The processes for changing contract prices
must be carefully controlled to ensure the continuation of a competitive
market.

In addition it has to be considered that information on proposals being
taken forward is accessible to the public, through consultation and
engagement activities. Information on successful tenders and prices for
bus operating contracts are published on TfL’s website after the
contracts have been awarded.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to
appeal.

Yours sincerely

Anne Sunyer

Head of Customer Services

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

[3]www.ico.gov.uk

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Feedback Policy including timescales, please see
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18 August 2009

Our Ref: IRV-043-0910

Dear Peter

Thank you for your e-mail.

The issues raised in your e-mail will be considered as part of an internal
review into the way in which you request was handled. The review will be
conducted by an internal review Panel (`the Panel') in accordance with the
attached internal review procedure. The review will be completed by 12
September 2009.

I hope this information is of assistance. Please contact me if you have
any questions.

Kind regards

Matthew Towey | Compliance Adviser
Information Access & Compliance Team | Corporate Governance | Transport
for London

5th Floor, Windsor House, 42-50 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0TL
T: 020 7126 3063/ auto 63063

Original Text

From: [FOI #10146 email]
To: [email address]
CC:
Sent: 14.08.09 09:06:43
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Service Planning Meeting
minutes

Dear Ms Sunyer,

Thank you for your recent response to my requests relating to Bus
Services Meetings and Service Planning Meetings.

In your response, you state that the BSM is "an internal meeting to
review potential bus service changes, including TfL's estimates of
the cost and benefits of the potential changes". While I can
understand the reasons why TfL may need to withhold information
about the cost of potential changes, I feel that you have not
adequately explained how the commercial interest exemption would
apply to any other information that may be contained within the
minutes, particularly if released after the point when it can no
longer affect the price of a bid. As you mention, the meetings
discuss other issues apart from pricing and I would appreciate an
explanation of what those issues are and why TfL feels that
information about them would fall under the exemption.

Yours sincerely,

Peter

17 September 2009

Our Ref: IRV-043-0910

Dear Peter

The internal review of your Freedom of Information request has been
completed. Please accept my apologies for the delay in this response.

The review considered the correspondence associated with your request and
took your e-mail of 14 August 2009 into account. The review upheld TfL's
use of section 43 to withhold the information you requested relating to
Bus Service Meetings and Service Planning Meetings.

As has been explained, the Bus Services Meeting (BSM) is an internal
meeting to review potential bus service changes, including TfL's estimates
of the cost and benefits of the potential changes. The Service Planning
Meeting (SPM) is a co-ordinating meeting for staff preparing BSM material.

The BSM can give approval to proceed to consultation on possible changes,
and to seek prices from bus operators via negotiation or competitive
tendering. The agendas, minutes and papers comprise a portfolio of papers
that detail service and commercial data for the tendering and awarding of
bus route contracts. The papers contain detailed cost estimates and
detailed information on budgets which have been set aside or bus route
operation prior to obtaining price submissions from bus operators.

Cost forecasts and all related information are sensitive as their release
will influence prices submitted by bus operators. There are a relatively
small number of operators and TfL works closely with them at all levels in
delivering the bus network. The processes for changing contract prices
must be carefully controlled to ensure the continuation of a competitive
market.

The details of a proposed service change including the routeing,
frequency, vehicle type and the reasons for the proposed change are
provided during public consultation. The benefits of a proposal and any
local concerns are discussed with stakeholders as required. The results
from consultation, alongside information on costs and all other relevant
matters are considered by senior management before a recommendation is
made on any proposal.

TfL considers that release into the public domain would be prejudicial to
the overall ability of the organisation to explore and evaluate service
option and to secure the best results for taxpayers and fare payers
through the tendering process. It could result in greater expense to TfL
from higher bids, undermine our ability to achieve best value and hence
prejudice our commercial interests in delivering the bus network.

As outlined in TfL's response to your original request the use of this
exemption is subject to an assessment of the public interest. Whilst there
is an inherent public interest in demonstrating openness and transparency,
this is outweighed in this instance by the public interest in ensuring
that TfL is able to achieve best value in delivering the bus network.

I hope this information is of assistance. I would like to point out that
if there is any specific item or subject considered by the BSM or SPM in
which you are interested we would be happy to examine the application of
the exemption to that particular piece of information.

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of this internal review, you can
refer the matter to the independent authority responsible for enforcing
the Freedom of Information Act at the following address.

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF

A complaint form is available on the ICO's website ([1]www.ico.gov.uk).

Yours sincerely

Matthew Towey | Compliance Adviser
Information Access & Compliance Team | Corporate Governance | Transport
for London

5th Floor, Windsor House, 42-50 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0TL
T: 020 7126 3063/ auto 63063

From: Peter [mailto:[FOI #10146 email]]

Sent: 17 September 2009 10:43

To: FOI

Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Service Planning Meeting
minutes

Ref: IRV-043-0910

Dear FOI,

In your last email you indicated that the review would be completed five
days ago. Could you let me know the current status of the review?

Yours sincerely,

Peter

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