Freedom of Informationrequests Report

Freedom of InformationRequests Report

(2011 to 2013)

• For simplicity, all requests in this report are referred to as FOI requests
  (this includes the 3 requests we received under EIR).
• Data Protection requests are not included
  (we received 3 Subject Access Requests in 2013).
• The years referred to are calendar years.

Contents

Executive summary

Number of FOI requests received with estimated cost

FOI response timescales

Do we provide all the information requested?

Which exemptions are applied?

Who are the requests from?

Subjects requested

Appendix A – FOI response timescales

Appendix B – All 2013 requests with short description

Executive summary

• The number of FOI requests received by The University fell between 2011 and 2012 but then dramatically rose in 2013. Overall, they have increased by 48% since 2011. The national increase, for Higher Education since 2011,is estimated at 39%
  
• The estimated annual cost of staff time at Kent processing requests has increased by £11,014 since 2012. This uses an average cost per request generated by JISC. The actual cost for Kent is estimated to be higher than this - see page 2.
  
• Employment of an Information Compliance Officer has, to date, positively impacted response times. The Information Commissioner’s benchmark is that over 85% of responses should be on time. In 2011 (74%) and 2012 (77%) we were below this figure but we have improved to an average of 91% for 2013.
  
• In 2013 (January to December):
  
• we provided all or part of the information requested for over 90% of the 179 requests received.
• the majority of requests were from journalists, our own students or commercial organisations. 36% of requests were from individuals with no identifiable association.
• popularsubject areas were expenses, contracts (suppliers), misconduct, security and accommodation.
  

Number of FOI requests received with estimated cost

The number of requests has significantly increased. The Times Higher Education website published that the overall number of FOI requests to HE institutions has increased by 39% since 2011[1]. Kent’s number of requests in 2013 is 48% higher than the number received in 2011.

JISC have estimated that it costs an average of £144.93 per request[2]. This only represents staff time (with 22% oncosts) and not the cost of specialist advice or non-staff costs (photocopying, postage, etc.)

Kent’s costs are estimated to be higher than the average. Approximately, 65% of the Information Compliance Officer’s time is spent processing requests. This equates to £146 per request for 2013 (with 22% oncosts). This figure differs from the JISC percentage as it does not include the cost of staff time retrieving the information, which we do not record.

Using the JISC figure, the cost of FOI requests at Kent over the last 3 years is as follows:

Calendar
Year / Total requests / JISC
Est.Cost / +/- on
prev year
2011 / 121 / £17,537
2012 / 103 / £14,928 / - / £2,609
2013 / 179 / £25,942 / + / £11,014
Total / 403 / £58,407

FOI response timescales

The ICO may contact authorities if it appears that less than 85% of requests are receiving a response within the appropriate timescales[3]. The following table shows that we were below this benchmark in 2011 and 2012 but in 2013 we substantially improved.

Calendar
Year / Requests
on time / Total requests / %
on time
2011 / 89 / 121 / 74%
2012 / 79 / 103 / 77%
2013 / 162 / 179 / 91%

Please see graph in Appendix A for a graph showing the breakdown by month

3 factors have had a positive impact on our response times:

• New Information Compliance Officer, Alan Martin, starting in October 2013. Central point for receiving requests, providing advice, applying exemptions and monitoring timescales.
• Staff providing the information requested by the Compliance Officer in a timely fashion. Possibly due to an increased awareness of our obligations under the Act.
• Prompt senior approval from Keith Mander and Jayne Hornsby. All responses require senior approval.
  

2013 Further analysis

The following request information has been recorded as from 1st January 2013. We shall continue to monitor this information in 2014 for ongoing analysis.

Do we provide all the information requested?

For over two thirds of the requests we provided all the information asked for. Only 7% of requests are refused in their entirety due to exemptions or the information not being held.

Disclosure result / Count / %
Disclosed in full / 122 / 68%
Partially withheld due to an exemption / 32 / 18%
Information supplied in part where held / 10 / 6%
Request refused due to information not being held / 8 / 4%
Fully withheld due to an exemption(s) / 6 / 3%
Clarification sought but not received / 2 / 1%
Total / 179

Which exemptions are applied?

It is not appropriate for all information to be made public. This is recognised by “exemptions” in the FOI Act.

Exemption applied / Count
s40. Personal information / 15
s12. Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit / 13
s43. Commercial interests / 8
s21. Information reasonably accessible to the applicant by other means / 3
s31. Law enforcement / 3
s38. Health and safety / 2
s41. Information provided in confidence / 2
s22. Information intended for future publication / 1
s23. Information supplied by or relating to security bodies / 1
s24. The national security exemption / 1
s30. Investigations / 1
s43. Commercial interests / 1
Total / 51

• Asingle request may have more than one exemption applied to it.

Who are the requests from?

The majority of requests are from ‘Members of the public’. This includes the requests of people that we do not know the category of e.g. a journalist using a home e-mail address.

Type of requester / Count / %
Members of the public / 64 / 36%
Journalists / 41 / 23%
Own students / 30 / 16%
Commercial organisations / 18 / 10%
Staff, researchers, students from other institutions / 10 / 6%
Other / 7 / 4%
Campaigning groups / 4 / 2%
Other stakeholders (e.g. potential students or their parents) / 2 / 1%
Trade unions / 2 / 1%
Information not recorded / 1 / 1%
Total / 179

21 of the 30 requests received from our own students were from those studying Journalism. These 21 requests equate to more than an average months’ worth of requests. They have an estimated cost to the University of £3,043 (using JISC estimate of £144.93 per request).

The 2014 version of the JISC monitoring spreadsheet,that we use, includes the new category “Student journalists” for the above list. This will help JISC to report on what is contributing to the large national increase of FOI requests that institutions are receiving.

Subjects requested

The followingsubject categories are provided by JISC. Please see Appendix B for a short description of each request. Popular subject areas in 2013 were expenses, contracts (suppliers), misconduct, security and accommodation.

Subject / Count / %
Financial information / 36 / 20%
IT provision and use / 27 / 15%
Estates and buildings / 24 / 13%
Teaching and assessment / 21 / 12%
HR and staff issues / 20 / 11%
Student issues and numbers / 19 / 11%
Procurement issues / 9 / 5%
Other research / 7 / 4%
Management and administration of the institution / 5 / 3%
Admissions / 4 / 2%
Animal research / 3 / 2%
Other / 2 / 1%
Commercial activities / 1 / 1%
Dissertations and theses / 1 / 1%
Total / 179

• ‘Financial information’ includes expenses
• IT contracts are under ‘IT provision’ not ‘Procurement issues’

Kent FOI report 2011 to 2013 v1.0Page 106 February 2014

Appendix A – FOI response timescales

Kent FOI report 2011 to 2013 v0.2 - Page 1 - 06 February 2014

Appendix B – All 2013 requests with short description

Subject area / Short description / Total
Admissions / Applicants and Offers / 1
Application figures / 1
Tier 1 Visa Applications / 1
Undergraduate Admissions contextual data / 1
Admissions Total / 4
Animal research / Animal Experiments / 2
Animal Testing / 1
Animal research Total / 3
Commercial activities / Coopers Bar / 1
Commercial activities Total / 1
Dissertations and theses / PhD thesis enquiry / 1
Dissertations and theses Total / 1
Estates and buildings / C4 Building Medway Campus / 1
CCTV cameras, incidents & policies / 1
Empty Buildings / 1
Estates Staff Structure & vacancies / 1
Exploration of Shale Gas / 1
Extremism & bomb threats on campus / 1
Fleet management / 1
Halls of residence undergraduates / 1
Liberty Quays accommodation / 1
Liberty Quays transport / 1
Medway shuttle bus cost / 1
People & Planet Survey / 1
Pilkington Building developments / 1
Recycling & Waste management contracts / 1
Sexual assaults on campus / 1
Student accommodation cost / 1
Student Residences / 1
Theatre Royal Chatham / 1
Thefts & CCTV on campus / 1
Thefts and CCTV Medway Campus / 1
Thefts and stolen items / 1
Undergraduate Accommodation Costs / 1
Unoccupied accommodation rooms / 1
Unpaid Accommodation Fees / 1
Estates and buildings Total / 24
Financial information / Access to Learning Fund / 1
Advertising spend / 1
Breakdown of Tuition Fee / 1
Capita contracts / 1
Careers and Employability Spending / 1
Chancellor & EG Salaries & expenses / 1
Commercial justification of course fee / 1
Corporate Credit Card spend / 1
Donations / 1
Graduation Ticket Refunds / 1
Hardship loans / 1
Honorary degree donations / 1
Hospitality and Entertainment Cards / 1
How tuition fee is spent / 1
Library Fines / 1
Lost and stolen and library fines / 1
MA Journalism course fee / 1
Marketing budget / 1
Medway Statue Costs / 1
Rent Guarantee Scheme / 1
Scholarships / 1
Student Financial backgrounds / 1
Tax Information / 1
Trading Subsidiary Transfers / 1
Travel costs / 1
Tuition Fee breakdown / 1
Tuition Fee Refunds / 1
University Investments / 2
University promotional expenditure / 1
VC Breakdown of Expenses / 1
VC, Deputy and Pro VC expenses / 1
VC's remuneration and benefits / 1
Vice Chancellor expenses / 2
Welsh Students and funding / 1
Financial information Total / 36
HR and staff issues / 0.2 contracts / 1
Academic staff salary / 1
Complaints against staff / 1
Compromise Agreements / 2
Equality and Diversity staff / 1
Health and Safety professional / 1
HR data / 1
Medway Accommodation Officer / 1
Minimum wage / 1
Panel membership and HR documentation / 1
Permanent Academic Posts aged 50-59 / 1
Permanent Academic Posts aged 60 upwards / 1
PhD Policy for new staff / 1
Recruitment spend / 1
Staff disability stats / 1
UCU payments to staff / 1
Use of computers in job applications / 1
Zero Hours Contracts / 2
HR and staff issues Total / 20
IT provision and use / Fixed Communications / 1
Funding & ICT contracts / 1
HR & Payroll software / 2
IBM DB2 database software / 1
ICT Initiative of the Year / 1
ICT Procurement Strategies / 1
ICT spend / 1
Internet acceptable use policy / 1
IP Addresses / 1
IT Contracts and Values / 1
IT infrastructure and networks / 1
IT network management / 1
IT policies / 1
IT Training and Structure / 1
Journalism Computers / 1
LAN contracts / 1
Mobile phones / 1
Overseas student application software / 1
Panopto / 1
PGCHE course & hacking into services / 1
Pornography / 1
Printer hardware, costs & contracts / 1
Server hardware maintenance and software contracts / 1
Telephone Maintenance Contract / 2
WIFI contracts / 1
IT provision and use Total / 27
Management and administration of the institution / Complaints about students / 1
FOI request statistics / 1
Incidents of discrimination / 1
Library Swipe Statistics / 1
Anti-Semitism complaints / 1
Management and administration of the institution Total / 5
Other / Addresses for staff and students in Jennison / 1
Statistical questions on a wide range of subjects / 1
Other Total / 2
Other research / Israel Organisations and Institutions / 1
Israeli Academic Institutions / 1
Israeli Organisations / 1
Research Degrees / 1
Research Excellence Framework / 1
Research Projects & Funding / 1
Unmanned systems research & grants / 1
Other research Total / 7
Procurement issues / Cleaning and Hygiene products / 1
Facilities Management Contracts / 1
Food suppliers to Medway catering outlets / 1
G4S / 1
Garment procurement / 1
Large format advertising / 1
Translation services / 1
Veolia contract / 1
Veolia/Eden Springs/G4S / 1
Procurement issues Total / 9
Student issues and numbers / Counselling stats and funding / 1
Employability Scheme / 1
Graduation and student data / 1
Independent School intake / 1
Indian students / 1
Journalism student numbers / 1
KSCV Scheme / 1
Library attendance / 1
Mental Health Services / 1
Mental Health Stats / 1
Number of law students / 1
Number of Non EU undergraduates / 1
Postgraduate student numbers / 1
Proportion BME students enrolled / 1
Student attendance / 1
Student Numbers and Gender / 1
Students dropped out/left Uni / 1
Study Abroad Students / 1
War Studies graduates 2013 / 1
Student issues and numbers Total / 19
Teaching and assessment / 1994 Zellick Report on student discipline / 1
Academic Misconduct / 1
African & Caribbean students/war studies / 1
Appeals Information / 1
Average grades and Ethnicity / 1
Complaints to Official Independent Adjudicator / 1
Economics History & Physics course details / 1
Essay writing service / 1
Examining methods / 1
First Class Degrees / 1
Fitness to Study policy / 2
Foundation courses / 1
Good Degrees / 1
Language Provision / 1
Non-teaching terms / 1
Plagiarism cases / 1
Programmes without students / 1
Research misconduct / 1
Taught modules / 1
Wickhambreaux Village Green / 1
Teaching and assessment Total / 21
Grand Total / 179

Kent FOI report 2011 to 2013 v0.2Page 106 February 2014

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