Thank you for contacting TfL’s FOI Case Management Team.  
Please note that if your email does not relate to a Freedom of Information
(FOI) Act or Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) matter it will
not be processed or forwarded on for action. You should therefore redirect
any non-FOI/EIR matters to the appropriate area of TfL using the following
links:  
[1]https://tfl.gov.uk/help-and-contact/ 
[2]https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/congest...
[3]https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-l...
If you need to contact the Privacy team or submit a subject access
request, please use the relevant form on [4]this page or email [5][email
address]. 
If you have made a request for information held by TfL under the Freedom
of Information (FOI) Act or the Environmental Information Regulations
(EIR), or your request relates to any other FOI/EIR matter, we will
respond as soon as possible.  

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5. mailto:[email%20address]
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Dear Sarah Khan

TfL Ref: FOI-1613-2425

Thank you for your request which we received on 19 August 2024.

We will aim to issue a response by 16 September 2024 in accordance with
the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2000 and our information access
policy.

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

Eva Hextall

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

TfL RESTRICTED

show quoted sections

Dear Sarah Khan

TfL Ref: FOI-1613-2425

Thank you for your request which we received on 19 August 2024, asking for
information about PCNs issued at the junction of Barking Road and the
A406.

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

However, we do not supply information regarding the number of Penalty
Charge Notices (PCNs) issued at specific junctions, as they are subject to
a statutory exemption to the right of access to information under section
31 of the FOI Act, which relates to law enforcement. Specifically, we are
refusing your request under section 31(1)(b), which relates to information
whose disclosure would be likely to prejudice the apprehension or
prosecution of offenders, and section 31(1)(g), which relates to
information whose disclosure would be likely to prejudice the exercise by
any public authority of its functions or any of the purpose of
ascertaining whether any person has failed to comply with the law.

Disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act is considered to be a
disclosure ‘to the world at large’ rather than the individual applicant.
Whilst we make no suggestion that you would use the information for
anything other than your own personal interest, in this instance the
exemption has been applied as information regarding enforcement on the
Transport for London Road Network could be used by people wishing to build
knowledge of TfL’s enforcement activities to avoid PCNs.  

The use of this exemption is subject to an assessment of the public
interest in relation to the disclosure of the information concerned. We
recognise the need for openness and transparency by public authorities,
but in this instance feel that balance lies in favour of withholding the
information to ensure that drivers in London use the roads in compliance
with the relevant restrictions and that we are able to manage traffic on
the road network. It would be strongly against the public interest to
release any information that would undermine this.

Please see the TfL website for information on what improvements we are
doing to our road network to improve safety:
[1]https://tfl.gov.uk/campaign/our-plan-for...

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

Yours sincerely

Eva Hextall

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

TfL RESTRICTED

show quoted sections

Thank you for contacting TfL’s FOI Case Management Team.  

Please note that if your email does not relate to a Freedom of Information
(FOI) Act or Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) matter it will
not be processed or forwarded on for action. You should therefore redirect
any non-FOI/EIR matters to the appropriate area of TfL using the following
links:  

[1]https://tfl.gov.uk/help-and-contact/ 

[2]https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/congest...

[3]https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-l...

If you need to contact the Privacy team or submit a subject access
request, please use the relevant form on [4]this page or email [5][email
address]. 

If you have made a request for information held by TfL under the Freedom
of Information (FOI) Act or the Environmental Information Regulations
(EIR), or your request relates to any other FOI/EIR matter, we will
respond as soon as possible.  

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3. https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-l...
4. https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/privacy-and...
5. mailto:[email%20address]
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Thank you for your email which was received by Transport for London (TfL) on 12 September 2024.

You have expressed that you are dissatisfied with the handling of part your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act.

A review will be conducted by an internal review panel in accordance with TfL’s Internal Review Procedure, which is available via the following URL:
https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparenc...

Every effort will be made to provide you with a response by 10 October 2024. However, if the review will not be completed by this date, we will contact you and notify you of the revised response date as soon as possible.

In the meantime, if you would like to discuss this matter further please contact me.

Emma Flint
Principal Information Access Adviser
FOI Case Management Team
Transport for London

show quoted sections

Dear Sarah Khan

I am contacting you in relation to your request for an internal review
concerning the response provided to FOI-1613-2425. Following your email of
12 September a review has been carried out by an independent review panel
(‘the panel’) consisting of individuals who were not involved in the
handling of your request. Please accept our sincere apologies for the
delay in responding.

To confirm, your original request asked for the following -

1. Please provide the number of fines / NTOs/PCNs issued for breach of
rules on the above box junction in each of 2021, 2022, 2023 and YTD 2024.

2. Please confirm for each of the above years how many of these fines were
cancelled on appeal by the council and also how many were cancelled on
appeal by London Tribunal

In relation to your request for the number of fines issued for the yellow
box junction at Barking road/A406 for period 2021-2024, you have
challenged the application of the exemption contained in section 31 of the
FOI Act, which relates to law enforcement. Specifically, the response had
applied section 31(1)(b), which relates to information whose disclosure
would be likely to prejudice the apprehension or prosecution of offenders,
and section 31(1)(g), which relates to information whose disclosure would
be likely to prejudice the exercise by any public authority of its
functions or any of the purposes listed in subsection 31(2) of the FOI
Act. In this case, this is section 31(2)(a) – the purpose of ascertaining
whether any person has failed to comply with the law.

To provide you with a little more context concerning the consideration of
s31, all requests received by TfL under the FOIA are individually assessed
on a case by case basis at the time they are received, taking into account
any and all mitigating factors that may be applicable at that specific
time. It would be unduly restrictive to not consider any future impact
that a disclosure of detailed enforcement information in response to your
request could have, particularly in the context of providing this narrowed
information into the public domain. Indeed the effect of disclosure is
critical in determining whether an exemption should be applied,
particularly in the context of the prejudice test.

The prejudice test is not limited to the harm that could be caused by the
requested information on its own. Account can be taken of any harm likely
to arise if the requested information were put together with other
information already published into the public domain. This is commonly
known as the ‘mosaic effect’. The mosaic effect considers the prejudice
that would be caused if the requested information was combined with other
enforcement information already available to the public.

Should the information you requested be disclosed, it would be likely to
lead to further continued requests concerning other precise enforcement
locations which would enable others to build up a database of enforcement
functionality, as well as attempt to predict when cameras may or may not
be operational or enforcement is in action by searching for any patterns
that may be perceived. Traffic enforcement must be adhered to at all
times, irrespective of whether a camera is in place and/or functional. The
panel considers that there is a very real risk that disclosure would be
likely to increase the confidence of anyone inclined to contravene these
restrictions, even if that confidence is ultimately misguided or
irrational.

Local Authorities have a Network Management Duty under the TMA2004 to
ensure the safe and expeditious movement of traffic (this includes all
modes of transport covering pedestrians, cyclists and buses etc.) Traffic
regulations and controls allow TfL to meet that duty and it’s crucial that
drivers obey the regulations that are in place. It would be impractical
and financially imprudent for an Authority to have 24/7 enforcement
monitoring capabilities across the whole of a vast transport network.
Every Authority therefore must rely on an overall deterrent effect through
targeted enforcement so drivers take more heed along their entire journey.
By continuing to publish information concerning TfL’s enforcement capacity
and/or sites at which enforcement takes place would, in effect, provide
knowledge of areas where enforcement action is not as heavily targeted,
thus negating any deterrent for drivers to adhere to the regulations.

The panel also noted that, while section 31(1) does refer to information
whose disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention or
detection of crime, the other provisions of section 31 do not specify that
they must relate to criminal activity, but only that they relate to law
enforcement. Since the panel agrees that disclosure is likely to lead to
an increase in individuals attempting to circumnavigate Red Route
enforcement, it is satisfied that disclosure would be likely to prejudice
the prevention or detection of crime’ and therefore the exemption is
engaged.

Additionally during this review the panel have also made reference to
previous Decision Notices issued by the Information Commissioner –similar
to your request - upholding TfL’s application of s31 in relation to
traffic enforcement on the Red Route.

Please see the below links for more information (also attached for ease) –

[1]https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-tak...

[2]https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-tak...

As section 31 is a qualified exemption, the review considered the balance
of the public interest, but felt that this was correctly applied in the
original response. While there is a general public interest in openness
and in being able to assess TfL’s performance of its public functions, the
panel did not consider that there are any strong public interest grounds
in favour of disclosing this information. On the other hand, there is a
very strong public interest in maximising the ability of traffic to move
along the TfL Road Network safely, and this is reflected in TfL’s legal
duty to ensure that this happens. It would be strongly against the public
interest to release any information that would undermine this and lead to
any increase in illegal or unsafe driving practices.

We consider it is highly likely that the release of this information would
lead to increased problems as some motorists would inevitably seek to take
advantage of the information by attempting to ascertain areas that we may
not currently enforce. This would in turn have a further effect that TfL
would have to divert further resources to enforcing more zones, which
would be likely to involve increased staff and direct costs. It would not
be in the public interest to limit TfL’s ability to make the most
efficient use of its limited funds in this manner.

If you wish to enquire further about traffic follow at this location you
can contact our Road User Charging team directly at [3][email address].

I hope the above information provides satisfactory clarification, however
if you are dissatisfied with the internal review actions to date (in
relation only to the FOI request) please do not hesitate to contact me or
alternately 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 also available on the ICO’s website
([4]www.ico.org.uk).

Yours sincerely

Emma Flint

Principal Information Access Adviser

FOI Case Management Team

Transport for London

[5][TfL request email]

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