funding source for witticisms etc on "Service information" display boards

Perry Icso made this Freedom of Information request to Transport for London This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was successful.

Dear Transport for London,

I am writing in connection with the use of "Service information" display boards in Underground stations for messages unrelated to travel, for example "thought for the day" type messages or messages intended to be humorous. Examples of the types of communication that this enquiry is intended to cover include those seen at http://www.dayoutinlondon.com/the-best-t... as well as the recent widely-reported message at Dollis Hill concerning Rorke's Drift.

Please can you confirm whether the staff time associated with displaying these messages (composing and writing the messages and cleaning the boards afterwards) is paid from budgets which derive some or all of their income from public subsidies paid for the purpose of providing a transport service for London (including grants from the DfT and GLA), or whether it is paid wholly from budgets that receive only privately generated income such as advertising revenues.

If the staff time for this activity is not separately accounted for, then the question relates to the funding sources for the overall payment of the employees (or contractors) concerned.

If, but only if, the cost of answering the above question as stated would exceed the "appropriate limit" referred to in Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act, I ask you to limit the scope of the above to cover only the display board at Dollis Hill station.

Thank you in advance for your response.

Yours faithfully,

Perry Icso

FOI, Transport for London

 

 

Dear Mr Icso

 

TfL Ref: FOI-4290-1718

 

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 26
January 2018 asking for information about TfL funding.

 

Your request will be processed by the Greater London Authority, TfL and
its subsidiaries to provide you with a response in accordance with the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy.

 

A response will be sent to you by 23 February. We publish a substantial
range of information on our website on subjects including operational
performance, contracts, expenditure, journey data, governance and our
financial performance. This includes data which is frequently asked for in
FOI requests or other public queries. Please check
[1]http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transpar... to see if this helps you.

 

We will publish anonymised versions of requests and responses on the
[2]www.tfl.gov.uk website. We will not publish your name and we will send
a copy of the response to you before it is published on our website.

 

In the meantime, if you would like to discuss this matter further, please
do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Lee Hill

Senior FOI Case Officer

 

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

 

 

 

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FOI, Transport for London

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Icso

 

TfL Ref: FOI-4290-1718

 

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 26
January 2018 asking for information about TfL funding.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of
the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can
confirm we do hold the information you require.

 

The time taken for staff to input messages on service information boards
is not separately accounted for. Details of how TfL is funded can be found
on our website. Please see the following link for the information you have
requested:
[1]https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/h...

 

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

 

Lee Hill

Senior FOI Case Officer

 

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

 

 

 

 

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