Key information
Request reference number: MGLA130223-9998
Date of response:
Summary of request
You request
- Air quality death data. The mayor has repeatedly said that 4,000 Londoners die each year due to air pollution. Provide a detailed breakdown of the boroughs each of these deaths are attributed to.
- Air quality data. In line with the above, provide the source of the data used to present the public with such information.
- Visits to Havering. Provide a detailed breakdown of all visits the Mayor has made to Havering since his most recent election.
Our response
Questions 1-2
As noted in the report, in 2019, in Greater London, 61,800 to 70,200 life years lost
(the equivalent of between 3,600 to 4,100 attributable deaths) were estimated to be
attributable to anthropogenic PM2.5 and NO2, assuming health effects exist even at very low levels.
Table 21 in the appendix of the report shows the attributable deaths by borough.
Question 3
In relation to your request for Mayoral visits, in line with our publication scheme, the Mayor’s diary is published on our website twice a year.
The GLA has already published the Mayor’s diary covering the period May 2016 to April 2021.
The Mayor’s key engagements are also published in the Mayor’s report which forms part the meeting papers at each Mayor’s Question Time.
Section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides an exemption for information that is intended to be published in the future. Information is exempt if, at the time when the public authority receives a request for it:
- the public authority holds the requested information;
- the public authority intends the information to be published at some future date, whether that date is determined or not; and
- in all the circumstances it is reasonable to withhold the information until its planned publication.
Section 22 acknowledges that public authorities must have freedom to be able to determine
their own publication timetables. This allows them to deal with the necessary preparation,
administration and context of publication. It is however necessary to consider whether the
public interest in maintaining the exemption (and withholding the information until the
publication date), is greater than the public interest in releasing the information before this
date.
In this instance, it is felt that there is a greater public interest for the GLA to keep to its original timetable of disclosure. The decision to publish the Mayor’s diary on a six month basis was made in order to allow the Mayor’s office to effectively manage their workload and the work required to prepare such a large amount of information for publication.
The decision to proactively publish the Mayor’s diary demonstrates the GLA’s commitment to openness and transparency and we believe a six month publication cycle for this information is appropriate. The public interest in the release of the Mayor’s meetings and key engagements is also met by the more regular publication of the Mayor’s report.
The public interest, that is the best interests of the public, is met by the GLA being open and
transparent, but also by managing its resources effectively, and this includes setting reasonable publication schedules to meet this public interest.
While there is an obvious public interest in the release of the Mayor’s diary, we believe this is met by our intention to publish this information in the coming month. We do not believe the public interest favours the disruption that would be caused to GLA staff by expediting this publication when its early publication would not meet any immediate or exceptional public concerns at the present time.
We therefore find the balance of public interest falls in maintaining the exemption and the GLA publishing this information in accordance with our existing publication timetable.
If you have any further questions relating to this matter, please contact me, quoting
reference MGLA130223-9998.