Reported abuse towards male and female TfL staff
Dear Transport for London,
I am writing to you in order to make a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I would like to know:
A) The total number of reported incidents of physical and verbal abuse towards male TfL staff members on
the London Underground, for each year from 2010-2019 (i.e. 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019).
B) The total number of reported incidents of physical and verbal abuse towards female TfL staff members on
the London Underground, for each year from 2010-2019 (i.e. 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019).
If you need any clarification then please do not hesitate to contact me.
Under Section 16 it is your duty to provide advice and assistance and so I
would expect you to contact me if you find this request unmanageable in
any way.
I would also like to request that the information is sent back in an Excel
spreadsheet. Please send confirmation of receipt of this request and I
look forward to hearing back within 20 working days.
Yours faithfully,
Robyn Schaffer
Dear Ms Schaffer
Our Ref: FOI-3105-1920
Thank you for your request received on 15 January 2020 asking for
information about reported abuses towards TfL staff.
Your request will be processed in accordance with the requirements of the
Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
A response will be sent to you by 12 February 2020. 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
Gemma Jacob
Senior FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
[3][TfL request email]
Dear Ms Schaffer
Our Ref: FOI-3105-1920
Thank you for your request received on 15 January 2020 asking for
information about reported abuses towards TfL staff.
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.
Our staff work hard to serve the millions of customers who use our network
every day and have the right to go about their work without fear or
intimidation. TfL takes workplace violence extremely seriously and we
always encourage staff to report any instance of abuse whether physical or
non-physical so that preventative measures can be taken, and the strongest
penalties brought against offenders.
We have a specialist unit within TfL working with both the Metropolitan
Police Service (MPS) and British Transport Police (BTP) police services to
investigating crimes against staff. This Workplace Violence and Aggression
Team support staff and their managers, and assists the Police in the
investigation of physical assault and verbal aggression against our staff,
which can include public order offences and hate crime. Their purpose is
to improve the quality of staff assault investigation and provide feedback
to police and other criminal justice partners, as well as improve victim
care and support provided by TfL.
Our objective is to encourage staff to report every incident, and over the
last five years our WVA team have proactively engaged with our people to
demonstrate the benefits of reporting.
Please find the requested information in the table below, which refers to
data from reports submitted by London Underground Staff:
Physical Threat Verbal Total
F M F M F M
2014/15 104 363 219 752 405 971 2814
2015/16 90 348 147 470 367 833 2255
2016/17 104 338 106 421 264 679 1912
2017/18 120 372 141 516 315 651 2115
2018/19 158 435 182 534 314 650 2273
Please note the following:
Verbal abuse
Verbal abuse and/or abusive gestures are defined as insulting and/or
offensive comments and is included in the description of workplace
aggression provided that the insulting and/or offensive comments are
directed at an individual, personally, who perceives them as threatening
to their safety, wellbeing or health.
Threat
A threat is a declaration of intention to harm or injure and is included
in the definition of workplace violence provided that the threat is
personal to the individual, is specific to the individual’s safety,
wellbeing or health and that the person making the threat is perceived by
the individual to be capable of carrying it out.
Assault (Physical)
An assault is an act of violence that results in physical contact.
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable
to access it for some reason, please feel free to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to
appeal.
Yours sincerely
Gemma Jacob
Senior FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
[1][TfL request email]
Dear Gemma,
Thanks so much for that information, I really appreciate it. Is there any chance I could have it in an Excel spreadsheet as I initially requested please as I’m a little confused as to the breakdown/presentation of the figures? Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Robyn Schaffer
Dear Gemma,
Sorry I also meant to clarify. I asked for information from 2010-2019 but have only received 2014-2018. Is the rest of the information not available?
Yours sincerely,
Robyn Schaffer
Dear Ms Schaffer,
Thank you for your further e-mails. Please find the requested information
in the attached spreadsheet.
I can confirm that we do not have the earlier requested data. Information
for the 2019/20 is currently being compiled and will be available after
the financial year is complete.
Yours sincerely
Gemma Jacob
Senior FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
[1][TfL request email]
Dear Gemma,
Ok no problem, I just wanted to check. Thank you for the spreadsheet.
Yours sincerely,
Robyn Schaffer
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