Licensed Private Hire Operators
Dear Transport for London,
Please could you provide a list of all Private Hire Operators licensed by the council in a excel spreadsheet including the following for each operator:
1. Operator name
2. Operator address
3. Operator contact details (telephone/email)
4. Licence number
5. Start date of license
6. Expiry date of license
7. Number of drivers registered to operator
8. Number of vehicles registered to operator
Yours faithfully,
Simon Matthews
Dear Simon Matthews
Our ref: FOI-0101-2122/GH
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 16
April 2021 asking for information about Licensed Private Hire Operators.
Should you wish to proceed with the request we will aim to issue a
response by 14 May 2021 in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act
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.
Please think carefully about whether the request is essential at this
current time, as answering FOI requests will require the use of limited
resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other
essential activity. Where requests are made, please note that our response
time may be impacted by the current situation and so you may wish to
reconsider the timing of this request. Please notify us as soon as
possible if you would like to withdraw your request at the current time.
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
Graham Hurt
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
References
Visible links
1. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transpar...
2. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/
3. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/
Dear Simon Matthews
Our ref: FOI-0101-2122/GH
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 16
April 2021 asking for information about Licensed Private Hire Operators.
Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and our information access policy. I can confirm that
we do hold the information you require.
Please find attached a spreadsheet showing the licence numbers, Operator
names, and the start and end dates for the current licences. This
information was correct as of 3 May 2021.
Please note that in accordance with TfL’s obligations under Data
Protection legislation we are unable to disclose the Operator contact
details and addresses as we can’t be sure which of this information is
personal and which is information provided as contact details for the
business itself. This information is therefore exempt from disclosure as
required by section 40(2) of the FOI Act. This is because disclosure of
this personal data would be a breach of the legislation, specifically the
first principle which requires all processing of personal data to be fair
and lawful. It would not be fair to disclose this personal information
when the individuals have no expectation it would be disclosed and TfL has
not satisfied one of the conditions which would make the processing
‘fair’. However, it is a condition of a PHV Operator licence holder to
ensure that they have a contact number available for their customers, it
is also in their interests to be visible to attract customers so this
information is already in the public domain.
Additionally we are not obliged to provide you with the number of drivers
or vehicles registered to each Operator, as this information is subject to
a statutory exemption to the right of access to information under sections
41 and 43(2). In this instance the section 43(2) exemption has been
applied as this information has been provided in confidence and disclosure
could be used by an Operator’s competitors to prejudice their commercial
interests.
The use of the exemption set out in section 43(2) 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 the public interest in
ensuring that Operators are able to compete fairly for business outweighs
the general public interest in increasing transparency of the information
we hold.
Full details of the reasoning behind our application of these exemptions
and the consideration and acceptance of these arguments by the Information
Commissioner’s Office can be found at the following link:
[1]https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-tak...
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable
to access it for some reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
If you are considering submitting a further FOI request please think
carefully about whether the request is essential at this current time, as
answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the
attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. Where
requests are made, please note that our response time may be impacted by
the current situation.
If you are not satisfied with this response please see the attached
information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Graham Hurt
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
References
Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-tak...
2. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now