Attacks on taxi, minicab and private hire drivers from January 2012 to December 2022

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.023892

I note you seek access to the following information:

I am requesting information about the number of offences against the person reported against London taxi drivers. Please note that by 'taxi driver', I would like data on drivers of black cabs, minicabs as well as drivers working for ride-hailing firms like Uber and Bolt. Please may you provide me with:

In the years 2012-2021:

- The total number of drivers killed. If possible, please specify how.
- The total number of offences against the person against taxi drivers. Please can I have the figures broken down by the offence reported (e.g. common assault, robbery, sexual assault)
- If possible, can this information be further broken by the firm or type of vehicle (black cab; minicab; individual ride-hailing apps like Uber and Bolt). If this information is not held, please proceed without answering this section of the request.

To clarify, I mean drivers who are e.g. assaulted while at work (not individuals who have been e.g. assaulted and happen to work as drivers.)

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 40(2)(3a)(a) - Personal Information

Reason for decision

You have requested data in relation to sexual offences, this information cannot be disclosed due to the low numbers returned and therefore potential identification issues, therefore this information will not be disclosed.

Section 40(2(3a)(a) - Personal Information - is an absolute exemption and there is no requirement to evidence harm or conduct a public interest test. To disclose personal information in relation to your request could publicly reveal information about an individual or individuals, thereby breaching the right to privacy afforded to persons under the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Section 40(2)(3a)(a) The Freedom of Information Act is applicant and motive blind. Any information disclosed under the Act is a disclosure to the world at large and would be disclosed to any individual upon request. For this reason a request under the Act is not a private transaction. Both the request itself, and any information which may be disclosed, are considered suitable for open publication. Therefore, when considering whether information is suitable for disclosure, a public authority is entitled to consider the effect of disclosure to any individual.

Section 40 of the Act is designed to address information that is covered by the Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR. The MPS is not required to disclose information under FOIA if doing so would contravene any of the data protection principles.

Section 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 confirms that information which relates to an identified or identifiable living individual is Personal Data.

The Freedom of Information Act provides an exemption for Personal Data and this is known as the section 40 exemption.

Where the request is seeking access to third party personal data the Section 40(2) exemption may be engaged.

In order to apply the Section 40(2) exemption, the disclosure of the requested information must satisfy either the first, second or third conditions as defined by subsections 3(A), 3(B) and 4(A) of the Data Protection Act 2018.

The first condition ensures that the exemption would apply in circumstances where the disclosure of the information would breach any of the Data Protection Act 2018 principles.

There are six Data Protection principles specified within Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

In this instance I have decided that the disclosure of the information would be incompatible with the first Data Protection principle which requires that personal data shall be: “processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject (‘lawfulness, fairness and transparency)”;

Under the Data Protection Act 2018, the disclosure of personal data is considered to be lawful if:

a. There is a legitimate interest in the disclosure of that personal data.
b. The disclosure of the personal data is necessary to meet that legitimate interest.
c. The disclosure would not cause unwarranted harm to the data subject.

The MPS accept that there is a legitimate interest in the disclosure of the requested information, however to disclose the information we hold would be grossly unfair to those captured within the data set.

Disclosure

Please find attached the data in relation to your request without the sexual offences information which has been removed as explained above.

Please note that the data attached is likely to be a significant under count, this is due to the fact that the occupation ‘field’ in relation to the victim of an offence is not a mandatory ‘field’ to be completed. In addition, there are ‘fields’ that are not mandatory for an officer to complete, for example, there is field marked as ‘Occupation relevant to Offence’ however this is also not a mandatory field.