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WrittenevidencefromtheUniversityofManchester CommitteePostLegislativeAssessmentoftheFreedomofInformationAct2000 1. ItisthestatedintentoftheGovernmenttolowertheburdenofregulatoryrequirementson theHigherEducationsector.InAugust2011theDepartmentforBusinessInnovationand SkillspublisheditstechnicalconsultationonANewFitForPurposeRegulatoryFramework fortheHigherEducationSector 1 .Itarguedforaproportionate,riskbasedapproachto regulationwhichprotectsandpromotestheinterestsofstudentsandtaxpayerswhile keepingbureaucracytoaminimumandlookingtofindareasofregulationthatcanbe improved,reducedorremoved. 2. TheUniversityofManchesterappreciatesthattheFreedomofInformationAct2000(theAct) hasbeenaforceforgood,increasingopennessandaccountabilityinthissectorandothers includedinitscoverage.TheaimsoftheActalsofitinwellwithmanyofthecurrent prioritiesofthesectorintermsoftheincreasedpublicationandsharingofdata,increased opennessinrelationshipswithstudentsleadingtoincreasedstudentsatisfactionand increasedadministrativeefficiency. 3. TheActinitscurrentstatehoweverisinsomeaspectsverychallengingforuniversities. 4. Thefirstaspectofthisisinthesheeramountoftimethatitisnowtakingtoservicerequests undertheAct.ThenumberofFoIrequestsreceivedbymostuniversitieshasbeenincreasing annuallysincetheActsintroductionin2005.ThiscanbeillustratedbythefiguresinJISCs annualsurveyofinformationlegislationcomplianceinuniversities2 .TheUniversityof Manchesterreceived316FoIrequestsin2011asopposedto230in2010and208in2009. Manyoftheserequestsareroundrobinsfromjournalistsandresearcherswhichcanbe calculatedtotakehundredsofhoursofstafftimeacrossthewholesector,oftenfor disproportionatelysmallrewardintermsofactualinformationreturnedorused. 5. ThereisevidencealsothatthoseFoIrequestsbeingreceivedaregraduallybecomingmore complexandtimeconsuming.ThishasledJISCtoinstitutearesearchprojecttoascertain howlongisspentrespondingtoFoIrequestswithinthesector 3 .TheUniversityof Manchesterhasgraduallyhadtoincreasethenumberoftimesthatithashadtoinvokethe AppropriateLimitRegulations 4 associatedwiththeActoverthelastthreeyearsfroma
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http://c561635.r35.cf2.rackcdn.com/111114newregulatoryframeworkhighereducationconsultation.pdf http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/foisurvey http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/foisurvey/researcheoi http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2004/3244/contents/made

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positionin2009wheretheywererarelyusedtoapositionnowwheretheyareusedona weeklybasis. ThefirstsubmissionthatwewouldmakethereforeisthattheAppropriateLimitRegulations shouldberevised.Currentlyapublicauthorityisexpectedtoundertake18personhoursof workoneachrequestundertheActbeforeitcanrefusetocontinueorstarttocharge. However,thislimitonlyincludestimeincurredinrelationtodeterminingwhetherthe informationisheld,locatingit,retrievingitandextractingitfromadocumentcontainingit. WhenrespondingtoarequestundertheActthereare,however,manymoreactivities whichtaketimebutwhicharenotcurrentlyincludedundertheRegulations.Asanexample, severalrecentrequeststouniversitieshaveaskedforsignificantamountsoffinancialdata, downtothelevelofindividualinvoicesorcreditcardstatements.Whilsttheinformation itselfhasbeeneasytolocateandretrieve,thepreparationoftheinformationforreleasehas necessitatedtheredactionofdetailssuchascreditcardnumbersfromeachindividual statement.Thishasbeenanenormouslytimeconsumingtaskacrossthesector(these requestsbeingroundrobins). MoreactivitiesassociatedwithrespondingtoFoIrequestsshouldbeincludedwithinthe AppropriateLimitRegulations,particularlypreparinginformationforrelease. ThesecondaspectoftheActandofitsimplementationthatiscurrentlycausingproblems withinthesectoristhelackofapplicabilityofmanyaspectsofittoauniversitysetting.The Actwasclearlywrittenwithcentralandlocalgovernmentinmind,anditsexemptionsand theguidanceassociatedwiththemclearlyreflectthis.Thereare24exemptionswithinthe Act,butananalysisoftheJISCsurveysmentionedabovewillrevealthatonly4or5ofthem areroutinelyusedbyuniversities,therestbeingrarelyapplicable. TheAct,andincreasinglyitsenforcement,failstotakeaccountoftheenvironmentwithin whichHEIsoperate.Britishuniversitiesareexpectedincreasinglytooperatewithina commercialenvironmentandtocompeteforbothfundingandstudentsbothwitheach otherandwithprivateandinternationalinstitutions.Whilstitshouldbenatural,andindeed desirable,forgovernmentdepartmentsandlocalauthoritiestoshareresourcesand informationgeneratedthroughtaxfundedprocesses,thisisnotnecessarilythecasewith universities. Universityfundingcomesincreasinglyfromprivatesourcesforwhichthoseuniversitieshave tocompete,andthisleadstouniversitiesregardingsomeoftheinformationwhichtheyhold inacompletelydifferentwaytoagovernmentorcouncilforexample. Anillustrationofthiswouldbeintheareaofstaffwages.Ithaslongbeenacceptedthat wagesofgovernmentandcouncilofficialsshouldbebyandlargeinthepublicdomain,at leasttotheleveloffairlynarrowpayscales.Manyuniversityposts,however,arenotfunded throughpublicmoneybutthroughprivateresearchinvestment.Also,manyuniversityposts

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Thislackofcoverageofthecommercialaspectsofuniversityoperationwasreflectedinthe recentcontroversyaroundresearchdata,whichiscurrentlybeingaddressedthroughthe proposedadditionoftheScottishexemptioncoveringresearchdatatotheEnglishAct. Perhapsanargumentcouldbemadetotakethisfurtherhowever.Inmuchthesameway thattheBBCissubjecttotheActonlyintermsofitsmanagement,ratherthanintermsof journalismandbroadcasting,perhapsuniversitiesshouldbesubjectonlyintermsof managementandteachingandlearning(theirpublicfunctions),butnotresearch. InadditiontoadoptingtheBBCtwotiercoveragebytheAct,itwouldalsobeusefulif universitiescouldbesubjecttothesamerestrictionsasschools,whicharenotexpectedto answerrequestsduringschoolholidays.Universities,whilstnotclosedoverthesummer, oftenhaveverydiminishedlevelsofoperationandstaffingoverthisperiod.Itisoften extremelydifficulttorespondtoFoIrequestsinAugustandSeptember. AnotherproblemfortheHEsectoristhatwhilstthelegislationitselfpotentiallycoversmost situationsfacedbyuniversities,theinterpretationofexemptionsbytheInformation CommissionersOfficeoftendoesnottaketheirdistinctionsintoaccount.Whilstithas movedonfromitspositionofacoupleofyearsagothatuniversitiesdonothavecommercial interests,itstillseemstoberarethatcaseofficersdealingwithrequestorscomplaintsto theICOareparticularlyfamiliarwiththesector. AnexampleofthisisanongoingcaserelatingtothewagesofamemberofstaffatThe UniversityofManchesterinwhichtheICOcaseofficerinvolvedwasveryreluctanttoaccept theargumentthattherecouldbeacommercialinterestinasalary.Clearlyinagovernment contexttherevaryrarelyis,butthepositionisverydifferentinthissector.Theimpression whendealingwiththeICOisoftenthattheyarefarmorefamiliarwithothersectors (understandably,asthebulkoftheirworkcomesfromcentralandlocalgovernment),and thatfewofthemappreciatetheparticularcircumstancesofuniversities.Thisissomethingto beaddressedoutwiththelegislation,ofcourse,butthereissurelyanargumentfortheICO tohavespecialistcaseofficersforsuchadistinctsector. Arelatedpointtothisconcernsuniversitiesapproachtocommunicationwiththeir stakeholders,andtheinterpretationofthisbytheICO.Manyrequestsunderthelegislation comefromauniversitysownstudents,orstaffandstudentsfromotheruniversities.Unlike agovernmentdepartment,universitiestendtotrytocommunicatewithstudentsandothers withinthesectoronafairlyinformalbasis.Thishasbeenanissueinsomerecentcases withinthisuniversity,wherewehavebeencriticisedbytheICOfornotquotingsectionsof

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legislationtorequestors.Again,ICOcaseofficerswhoaremorefamiliarwiththesector wouldperhapshelptoaddressthis. 18. TheFreedomofInformationAct2000isacomplexandbureaucraticpieceoflegislation which,whilstlaudableinitsaims,demandsalargeamountofresourceinvestmentfroma sectorwhichiscurrentlybeingaskedtoreduceexpenditure.Oftenthisresourceinvestment seemstohavelittlepurpose,asinthecaseofthepublicationschemesassociatedwiththe Act,whichseemtobeveryrarelyviewedorutilisedbythepublic.Thereismuchwhichcould bedonetoreducethisburdenwithinthesectorwithoutreducingtheeffectivenessofthe Actinrealisingitscoreaim,opennessandaccountabilityinthesettingofpublicpolicy,the undertakingofpublicfunctionsandtheexpenditureofpublicmoney. 19. ExecutiveSummary WhilstagreeingwiththeaimsoftheFreedomofInformationAct2000TheUniversityof Manchesterbelievesthatsomeelementsofitshouldbemodifiedtoreducewhatisa significantadministrativeburdenonthesector.Insummary;theAppropriateLimit Regulationsshouldbemodifiedtotakeaccountofall,ormore,oftheactivitiesassociated withrespondingtoFoIrequestsandmoreaccountshouldbetakenoftheparticularHE environmentintheapplicationofexemptionsandintheapproachoftheICOinenforcing theAct. February2012