Bus Driver Overtime

The request was partially successful.

Dear Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company,

I would like to know how much overtime hours on average Translink bus drivers undertake.

Please provide for 2018/2019 the total number of base hours worked by Translink bus drivers and the total number of overtime hours worked by Translink bus drivers. The 2 figures should add up to the total number of bus driver hours worked in 2018/2019.

Please provide the rate at which bus driver overtime is paid.

Please also advise of what Drivers Tachograph data Translink holds.

Yours faithfully,

Tony Woodford

FOI, Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company

Dear Mr Woodford,

 

Freedom of Information Act 2000- (Our Reference: FOI1066)

 

We acknowledge receipt of your email of 13 May 2021 below, under the
Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 (“The Act”).

 

 1. I would like to know how much overtime hours on average Translink bus
drivers undertake.
 2. Please provide for 2018/2019 the total number of base hours worked by
Translink bus drivers and the total number of overtime hours worked by
Translink bus drivers.
 3. Please provide the rate at which bus driver overtime is paid.
 4. Please also advise of what Drivers Tachograph data Translink holds.

 

In order for us to respond accurately to your FOI request, please can you
clarify exactly the information you are requesting in relation to driver
Tacograph data.

 

Please be advised, the Act allows us up to 20 working days (excluding any
UK statutory holidays) to process a valid request for information. The
legislative timeframe for response will recommence once we receive a
response to the above.

 

We must also inform you, that while we will make every effort to respond
to your request within the legislative timeframe, there may be a delay, as
a result of the current situation with COVID-19 and our organisational
resources being diverted to work on other high priority areas at this
time. If this situation arises, we kindly ask for your understanding
during this unprecedented time and we will aim to deal with your request
as soon as is practically possible.

 

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

Regards,

FOI/DPA Team

 

 

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Dear FOI,

I would like Translink to provide a list of standard regular reports and analysis it carries out on both a driver and vehicle basis.

I would also like Translink to provide data on the following:

a) Kms driven by Translink vehicles with no Driver Cards inserted

b) the number offences from last reporting period due to no Driver Card inserted

Yours sincerely,

Tony Woodford

Dear FOI,

Please provide an estimate for when you will be in a position to provide the information relating to the clarification provided.

I would like to remind you that the provision of the information requested for items 1-3 is now delayed. By law, you should normally have responded promptly and by 11 June 2021 at the latest.

Yours sincerely,

Tony Woodford

FOI, Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company

Dear Mr Woodford
Thank you for your email of Friday 11 June 2021 clarifying the information you require in relation to Tachograph data and the additional information pertaining to Driver Cards.

In relation to points 1 and 3 below, can you confirm the timeframe required?

1. I would like to know how much overtime hours on average Translink bus drivers undertake.
3. Please provide the rate at which bus driver overtime is paid.

Regards

FOI/DPA Team

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Dear FOI,

I would like to note that I am not happy with being drip fed separate requests for clarification. If clarification was required it ought to have been requested at the outset. As it is, my simple FOI request has been unreasonably delayed. I would expect you to now provide the information requested promptly.

With regard to average overtime hours. Please provide the total/average overtime hours in each of the last 3 financial years.

With regard to overtime rate. Please provide the hourly rate/ percentage rate in each of the last 3 financial years..

Yours sincerely,

Tony Woodford

FOI, Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company

Dear Mr Woodford,

 

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 – FOI1066

 

Further to your email of 28 June 2021, the following refers.

 

Upon review of your Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted 13 May
2021, we can confirm that an initial clarification request was issued to
you on 18 May 2021. We note from our records that we received your
response on Friday 11 June 2021; at which point, for questions 1-3 of your
FOI request, further clarification was deemed necessary. Following this, a
further clarification request was issued on Tuesday 15 June 2021.

 

The Act permits a public organisation to request clarification on any FOI
request that is ambiguous or unclear. The Act also advises that the
legislative deadline (of 20 working days, excluding any UK statutory
holidays) to process a valid request for information, does not commence
until all necessary clarifications have been received.

 

Further to the recent clarification received on 28 June 2021, you should
expect to receive a response on or before 28 July 2021. We will of course
endeavour to provide the information sooner, if at all possible.

 

Based on all information received, we will proceed to process your request
for information as detailed below. 

 

 1. I would like to know how much overtime hours on average Translink bus
drivers undertake.. for the last 3 financial years.
 2. Please provide the total number of base hours worked by Translink bus
drivers and the total number of overtime hours worked by Translink bus
drivers.. for the last 3 financial years.
 3. Please provide the rate at which bus driver overtime is paid.. for the
last 3 financial years.
 4. Please also advise of what Drivers Tachograph data Translink holds:

 

In relation to Tachograph data, you have requested for the last 3
financial years:

 

 1. A list of standard regular reports and analysis it carries out on both
a driver and vehicle basis.

 

I would also like Translink to provide data on the following:

 

 2. Kms driven by Translink vehicles with no Driver Cards inserted.
 3. The number offences from last reporting period due to no Driver Card
inserted.

 

Regards,

FOI Team

 

 

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FOI, Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company

Dear Mr Woodford,

 

Freedom of Information Act 2000- (Our Reference: FOI1066)

 

We refer to your Freedom of Information request below and must advise that
there will be a slight delay to our response to your request for
information.

 

We must therefore respectfully request an extension until 6 August 2021 to
consider the public interest test in relation to applicable exemptions. If
it is possible, we will of course endeavour to respond before this date.

 

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.

 

Kind regards

 

FOI/DPA Team

Translink

 

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FOI, Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company

Dear Mr Woodford,

Freedom of Information Act 2000- (Our Reference: FOI1066)

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request of 13 May 2021 and for
your clarifications of 11 June and 28 June 2021.

Translink responds to each of your questions as follows:

Response

 1. I would like to know how much overtime hours on average Translink bus
drivers undertake.. for the last 3 financial years.

 

 2. Please provide the total number of base hours worked by Translink bus
drivers and the total number of overtime hours worked by Translink bus
drivers.. for the last 3 financial years.

 

In response to requests 1 and 2 above, as required by section 1(1)(a)
Freedom of Information Act (the “Act”), we can confirm that we do hold the
information specified, however, we believe that a disproportionate cost
would be incurred to locate, retrieve and extract all the information
relevant to your requests and therefore, Section 12 “Cost Limit”, of the
Act refers below.

 

 3. Please provide the rate at which bus driver overtime is paid.. for the
last 3 financial years.

As required by section 1(1)(a) of the Act, we can confirm that we do hold
the information specified in your request. However, we consider this
information to be exempt from release under Section 43(2) of the Act
relating to “information where disclosure would be likely to prejudice
commercial interests”.  Section 43(2) of the Act refers below. 

 4. In relation to Tachograph data held - A list of standard regular
reports and analysis it carries out on both a driver and vehicle
basis.

 

o Management Summary Report Compliance Status by Driver
o Driver Daily/Weekly Analysis Report
o Driver Upload
o Vehicle Download Compliance Status By Vehicle

 

 5. In relation to Tachograph data held - Kms driven by Translink vehicles
with no driver cards inserted.. for the last 3 financial years.

 

It is important to note that Translink’s Metro/Glider Drivers are not
required to use Tachographs apart from when carrying out private hire
(non-contracted) work.  However, for the purpose of this request, we hold
the following data where vehicles have been driven without a driver card
inserted over 5km. 

 

Financial Year (Apr – Mar) Total KMs with no Driver Card inserted
2020/2021 25,905,870
2019/2020 35,790,677
2018/2019 33,125,458

 

 

 

 6. The number of offences from last reporting period due to no Driver
Card inserted.

 

As required by section 1(1)(a) the Act, Translink can confirm that we do
not hold the above information.

 

Section 12 – Cost limit

 

The information you have requested is not held in one centralised location
which can be easily filtered and there is no facility to run a collective
report on all depots for an entire month or year. Therefore a manual
exercise would be required to collate the information for the period of
time requested.

 

Section 12 of the Act allows a public authority to refuse requests for
information, where the cost of dealing with them would exceed the
“appropriate limit” which is set out in the Regulations as £450, and
translates as 18 hours work for Translink staff, charged at £25 per hour.
A test exercise has identified that the costs/resources involved in
retrieving, collating and providing the information requested for the 3
year period requested would far exceed the appropriate limit as outlined
above. For that reason, we are unable to process your request further.

 

You may wish to narrow the scope of your request. However, please be
advised that even if your request has been refined, Section 12 of the Act
may still apply and if your refined request can be processed, other
exemptions may apply.

 

Section 43(2) – Commercial Interests

 

As required under section 43(2), we have balanced the public interest in
withholding the information against the public interest in disclosure.

 

While Translink would wish to be as transparent as possible, we believe
that by Translink’s overtime rates would likely prejudice Translink’s own
commercial interests.

 

Translink, in its role as a leading public transport organisation, often
compete with other bus companies to undertake transport work and such
contracts are, of course, awarded based on the best service value/price
provided. Publishing Translink’s overtime rates would, in turn, allow for
information, already publicly available to be collated along with other
elements of Translink’s pricing information, to ascertain Translink’s
overall pricing strategy. Competitors could then use this information to
undercut Translink’s pricing strategy and gain an unfair advantage in the
contract negotiation stage for such transport services. In turn, this
would negatively impact on Translink’s ability to compete fairly for
future contracts, damaging Translink’s ability to provide a successful
revenue stream and public service, ironically running contrary to any aim
of encouraging transparency and openness as a public organisation.

 

It is asserted, therefore, that the balance of the public interest in
maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

 

Review Procedure

 

If you are not satisfied with this response you may request a review by
writing to the Translink General Counsel and Company Secretary, who has
overall responsibility for Freedom of Information and Data Protection
issues within this organisation. Correspondence should be addressed to the
above-mentioned at: Translink, 22 Great Victoria Street, Belfast BT2 7LX
or by email to [1][NITHCo / Translink request email].

 

If having exhausted the review process you are not content that your
request or review has been dealt with correctly, you have a further right
of appeal to the Information Commissioner who will make an independent
judgement. The address of the Information Commissioner is: Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. The address of the Information
Commissioner’s Office for Northern Ireland is: 3rd floor, 14 Cromac Place,
Gasworks, Belfast, BT7 2JB.

Yours sincerely,

 

The FOI/DPA Team

[2][email address]

 

 

From: FOI <[email address]>
Sent: 28 July 2021 18:04
To: Tony Woodford <[FOI #754969 email]>
Subject: FOI1066_Extension

 

Dear Mr Woodford,

 

Freedom of Information Act 2000- (Our Reference: FOI1066)

 

We refer to your Freedom of Information request below and must advise that
there will be a slight delay to our response to your request for
information.

 

We must therefore respectfully request an extension until 6 August 2021 to
consider the public interest test in relation to applicable exemptions. If
it is possible, we will of course endeavour to respond before this date.

 

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.

 

Kind regards

 

FOI/DPA Team

Translink

 

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