fretna.org [home]       Found Poetry       UTIMCO       Open Records       Daily Texan Clips       Fresh  

University of Manchester

Partially Complete, Only Senior Staff Totals
-- Original Response (19 Dec 2014): Manchester1.pdf

From: JJ Hermes
Sent: 20 October 2014 12:19
To: foi@manchester.ac.uk
Subject: FOI request

To whom it may concern,

I respectfully request the following information under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act:

1. The names and titles of all senior staff members making more than £150,000 in total emoluments for the year ended 31 July 2014. These individuals are considered "higher-paid staff" by the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE).

2. Please identify the number of individuals identified in the first request who are (a) tenured faculty, (b) clinical staff, or (c) serve in a non-classroom capacity, such as administrative staff.

3. The total emoluments for the past five (5) years for each of the senior staff identified in the first request.

There is wide precedent across publicly funded entities in the UK of regularly disclosing this type of information. The Accounts and Audit (Amendment no 2) Regulations of 2009 require local authorities to publish the actual salaries, allowances, bonuses, compensation and employer's pension contributions paid to each employee who earned over £50,000, and in addition to publish the names of those staff who earned over £150,000 (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2009/3322/made). It is not necessary to disclose the exact salary of the employees earning more than £150,000, but rather to quote that amount in bands of £10,000, as directed by the HEFCE.

The request holds significant public interest, given that the university is a publicly funded institution of higher education that derives a significant portion of funding from public taxation. In addition, openness is, in itself, something in the public interest in promoting accountability and transparency in the spending of public money. As suggested by the Information Commissioner's Office, "It is reasonable to expect that a public authority would disclose more information relating to senior employees than more junior ones. Senior employees should expect their posts to carry a greater level of accountability." Employees earning more than £150,000 annually can be considered senior employees, since this compensation is more than twice the highest grade on the human resources salary scale.

I look forward to hearing back from you regarding this request. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any follow-up questions. I would prefer all correspondence be sent digitally through this e-mail address, including the response to this request. Thank you for your time in addressing this query.

Sincerely,
JJ Hermes
On Tue, Oct 21, 2014 at 2:40 PM, Lorna Marsland (Lorna.Marsland@manchester.ac.uk) wrote (Freedom of Information Request JH211014):

Dear Mr Hermes

I acknowledge receipt of your request under section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

I am today contacting the relevant department at The University of Manchester with details of your request and will contact you again as soon as I receive a response

Best wishes
Lorna Marsland
Records Officer
Records Management Office
The University of Manchester
Room G.011
John Owens Building
On Tue, Nov 18, 2014 at 12:17 PM, JJ Hermes wrote (Re: Freedom of Information Request JH211014):

To whom it may concern,

On 20 Oct 2014, I submitted a request for information from the University under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act regarding emoluments for senior members of staff for the year ended 31 July 2014.

Your response should have been provided by 17 Nov 2014, as 20 business days have now passed since my initial request. Please let me know when you will be able to reply to my FOI request.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Sincerely,
JJ Hermes
On Fri, Nov 28, 2014 at 9:23 AM, JJ Hermes wrote (Re: Freedom of Information Request JH211014):

To whom it may concern,

On 20 Oct 2014, I submitted a request for information from the University under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act regarding emoluments for senior members of staff for the year ended 31 July 2014.

Your response should have been provided by 17 Nov 2014, 20 business days subsequent to my initial request. I inquired about the state of my request on 18 Nov 2014, but received no response from your office.

If I do not hear from you by next Tuesday, 2 Dec 2014, I will report a formal concern to the Information Commissioner's Office for failure to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request.

I look forward to hearing back from you. Thank you for your assistance in completing this request.

Sincerely,
JJ Hermes
On Mon, Dec 1, 2014 at 8:42 AM, Lorna Marsland (Lorna.Marsland@manchester.ac.uk) wrote (Freedom of Information Request JH211014):

Dear Mr Hermes

Please accept my apologies for not responding to your earlier email.

Unfortunately your request has been delayed because there has been some confusion over roles of senior staff included within the parameters of your request and this has caused data to be returned to the department for further consideration. I am working with HR Systems to provide you with the data you requested as soon as possible as I am aware that we are now very late in providing you with this information. Be assured that it has not been forgotten and that am on the case and will be in contact with you as soon as possible.

Best wishes
Lorna Marsland
Records Officer
Records Management Office
The University of Manchester
Room G.011
John Owens Building
On Wed, Dec 3, 2014 at 9:02 AM, JJ Hermes wrote (Re: Freedom of Information Request JH211014):

Hi Lorna,

Thank you for investigating my 20 Oct 2014 FOI request for information about senior staff members making more than £150,000 in total emoluments for the year ended 31 July 2014. As a reminder, that request comprised three parts:

1. The names and titles of all senior staff members making more than £150,000 in total emoluments for the year ended 31 July 2014. These individuals are considered "higher-paid staff" by the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE).

2. Please identify the number of individuals identified in the first request who are (a) tenured faculty, (b) clinical staff, or (c) serve in a non-classroom capacity, such as administrative staff.

3. The total emoluments for the past five (5) years for each of the senior staff identified in the first request.

Please let me know if I can help clarify anything. Basically, I am looking for the following information:

Please identify all senior staff members making more than £150,000 in total emoluments for the year ended 31 July 2014. Please categorize them as one of the following, as per part (2) of this request: (a) academic staff, (b) clinical staff, or (c) senior management. Then, please provide the annual emoluments for the past five (5) years for each of the senior staff making more than £150,000 in total emoluments identified in the first part of this request. Please identify by name and title all members of the University's senior administrative team and management (e.g., Professional Services staff), as directed by the First-Tier Tribunal on 2 Oct 2014 in Case No. EA/2014/0054.

I have submitted this identical request to each of the 24 members of the Russell Group of universities, and a response from the University of Exeter (attached) exemplifies what I consider a complete fulfillment of my request. Note that it protects the personal data of all senior staff with the exception of the senior management team, and provides salary information in bands of £10,000 annually for the past five years. This information is not accessible from the University by any other means than a FOI request.

Moreover, this University has been instructed by a First-Tier Tribunal that it must disclose the names/titles and salaries of all members of the PSS (Professional Services staff; ie, the senior management team) making more than £100,000 in total emoluments. The Information Commissioner's Office found in case FS50513117 dated 17 Feb 2014 that King's College London must release the names/titles and salaries of *all* staff making more than £100,000 in total emoluments (http://ico.org.uk/~/media/documents/decisionnotices/2014/fs_50513117.pdf). However, the First-Tier Tribunal ruled on 2 Oct 2014 in Case No. EA/2014/0054, an appeal from King's College, that only the names and salaries of members of the PSS (Professional Services staff; ie, the senior management team) making more than £100,000 in total emoluments are subject to disclosure (http://www.informationtribunal.gov.uk/DBFiles/Decision/i1390/Kings%20College%20London%20EA.2014.0054%20(30.09.14).pdf).

I appreciate your response in full to this request under the Freedom of Information Act of 2000, and I look forward to hearing back from you. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any follow-up questions. I would prefer all correspondence be sent digitally through this e-mail address, including the response to this request. Thank you for your time in addressing this query.

Sincerely,
JJ Hermes
On Tue, Dec 9, 2014 at 3:19 PM, JJ Hermes wrote (Re: Freedom of Information Request JH211014):

Hi Lorna,

Could you please respond with an estimate of when I can expect a response from you all to this long-overdue request? I would appreciate a response by next Monday (15 Dec) or I will submit a formal complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office.

Thanks very much for your attention to this FOI request.

Sincerely,
JJ Hermes
On Wed, Dec 10, 2014 at 12:15 PM, Lorna Marsland (Lorna.Marsland@manchester.ac.uk) wrote (Freedom of Information Request JH211014):

Dear Mr Hermes

I can only apologise again for the delay in providing you with our response. It has been a difficult request to resolve but we hope to be able to finalise it by the end of the week. I will be in touch asap.

Best wishes
Lorna Marsland
Records Officer
Records Management Office
The University of Manchester
Room G.011
John Owens Building
On Wed, Dec 17, 2014 at 3:19 PM, JJ Hermes wrote (Re: Freedom of Information Request JH211014):

Hi Lorna,

I would greatly appreciate a response to my FOI request within the next two business days. Thanks for your attention to this FOI request.

Sincerely,
JJ Hermes
On Fri, Dec 19, 2014 at 3:06 PM, Alan Carter (Alan.Carter@manchester.ac.uk) wrote (FW: For Action: FOI request JH211014):

Dear Mr Hermes
Please find below and attached the information you requested under section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

REQUEST:

I respectfully request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act:

1. The names and titles of senior staff members earning more than £150,000.00 in total emoluments for the year ended 31 July 2014:

Forename Surname Post Title
DIANA HAMPSON, DIRECTOR OF ESTATES & FACILITIES
STEPHEN MOLE, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE
CHRISTOPHER PETTY, GENERAL COUNSEL
NANCY ROTHWELL, PRESIDENT AND VICE CHANCELLOR
STEPHEN WILLIAM SPINKS, REGISTRAR, SECRETARY & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
KAREN HEATON, DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES

2. Please identify the number of individuals identified in the first request who are:

a. Tenured: all
b. Clinical: none
c. Administrative: all

3. The total emoluments for the past five years for each of the senior staff identified in the first request.
Please see grid attached.

Please note that not all staff listed on the grid have been employed by The University of Manchester for the full 5 years covered by your request. Please note also that the President has been a member of staff at the University for the full 5 years, but has not been in her current post for the whole of that time. Her figure covers only the period for which she has been in her current role.

This response only contains data relating to senior staff in a purely administrative role. We have not included data relating to staff in wholly or partly academic roles. The University of Manchester confirms that it holds data relating to such members of staff, but wishes to withhold it. In doing so we are relying on section 43 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Refusal notice

S.43 (2): "Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it)."

The University operates in a competitive environment, where good quality teaching and research staff are very much in demand. It is very likely that details of staff emoluments would be extremely commercially valuable to a competitor institution. Details of the salaries of such staff would allow a competitor institution to identify the salary level for those individuals. This information could be used by a competitor to produce an attractive counter offer in order to procure these members of staff for themselves.

The University feels that it is in the public interest to withhold this information. Whilst there is an innate public interest in the pay and performance of senior staff within public institutions, it is important that the University is able to operate without the risk that academic staff could be attracted to move to other institutions. This is especially true for senior staff of the type covered by this request, who as well as their own presence are important to the University in terms of attached research funding or student recruitment performance.

If you are unhappy with this refusal you have the right to ask the University for a review of its decision to withhold this document. Please contact the Records Management Office if you wish us to conduct such a review.

Yours sincerely

Alan Carter
Records Manager
The University of Manchester
Room G.011 John Owens Building
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PL
Tel: 0161 2758111
alan.carter@manchester.ac.uk

-- Attachment: Manchester1.pdf
On Fri, Dec 19, 2014 at 4:10 PM, JJ Hermes wrote (Re: FW: For Action: FOI request JH211014):

Dear Alan and whomever else it may concern,

Thank you for your positive response to my 20 Oct 2014 FOI request for information about senior staff members making more than £150,000 in total emoluments for the year ended 31 July 2014. As a reminder, my request comprised three parts:

1. The names and titles of all senior staff members making more than £150,000 in total emoluments for the year ended 31 July 2014. These individuals are considered "higher-paid staff" by the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE).

2. Please identify the number of individuals identified in the first request who are (a) tenured faculty, (b) clinical staff, or (c) serve in a non-classroom capacity, such as administrative staff.

3. The total emoluments for the past five (5) years for each of the senior staff identified in the first request.

I would ask for two additional points of clarification in your response:

Instead of summing the information for the senior administrative staff, could you please provide the information per member of staff annually, so that their annual salaries can be tracked over this five-year period?

Secondly, I understand that the University reserves the right to withhold public disclosure of individual academic/clinical staff and their salaries. However, I would ask that you please provide the annual salary details for the senior staff identified in Part (1) of my request who do not have a purely administrative role. Please categorize them as one of the following, as per part (2) of this request: (a) academic staff, (b) clinical staff, or (c) administrative (non-academic) staff. Then, please provide the annual emoluments for the past five (5) years for each of the senior staff making more than £150,000 in total emoluments identified in the first part of this request.

I have submitted this identical request to each of the 24 members of the Russell Group of universities, and a response from the University of Exeter (attached) represents what I consider an exemplary response to my request. Note that it protects the personal data of all senior staff with the exception of the senior management team, and provides salary information in bands of £10,000 annually for the past five years. This information is not accessible from the University by any other means than a FOI request.

I appreciate your response in full to this request under the Freedom of Information Act of 2000. I look forward to hearing back from you regarding this request. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any follow-up questions. I would prefer all correspondence be sent digitally through this e-mail address, including the response to this request. Thank you for your time in addressing this query.

Sincerely,
JJ Hermes
On Tue, Jan 27, 2015 at 10:31 AM, JJ Hermes wrote (Re: FW: For Action: FOI request JH211014):

To whom it may concern,

On 19 Dec 2014, I requested a review of your response to a FOI request I submitted on 20 Oct 2014 for information about senior staff members making more than £150,000 in total emoluments for the year ended 31 July 2014. It has been well more than 20 working days since I last heard from you regarding a review of my FOI request. Could you please let me know where that now stands?

Sincerely,
JJ Hermes
On Tue, Feb 17, 2015 at 8:48 AM, JJ Hermes wrote (Re: FW: For Action: FOI request JH211014):

To whom it may concern,

On 19 Dec 2014, I requested a review of your response to a FOI request I submitted on 20 Oct 2014 for information about senior staff members making more than £150,000 in total emoluments for the year ended 31 July 2014. It has been well more than 20 working days since I last heard from you regarding a review of my FOI request. Could you please let me know where that now stands?

Sincerely,
JJ Hermes
On Mon, Mar 16, 2015 at 11:05 AM, JJ Hermes wrote (Re: FW: For Action: FOI request JH211014):

Hello: It was nearly three months ago that I requested clarification regarding your response to a FOI request on senior staff salaries, and I have yet to hear from you all, despite this my third follow-up e-mail. Could you please let me know the status of this request? Thank you!

Sincerely,
JJ Hermes
On Mon, Mar 16, 2015 at 11:13 AM, Lorna Marsland (Lorna.Marsland@manchester.ac.uk) wrote (Automatic reply: FW: For Action: FOI request JH211014):

This person has now left the University of Manchester.
On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 3:17 PM, Alan Carter (Alan.Carter@manchester.ac.uk) wrote (RE: FW: For Action: FOI request JH211014):

Dear Mr Hermes,

I have asked HR for the annual breakdowns. You should receive these in a few days.

Best wishes

Alan Carter
Records Manager
The University of Manchester
Room G.011 John Owens Building
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PL
Tel: 0161 2758111
alan.carter@manchester.ac.uk
On Sat, Mar 28, 2015 at 2:25 PM, JJ Hermes wrote (Re: FW: For Action: FOI request JH211014):

Hi Alan,

I have yet to receive these breakdowns. Could you please complete the university's response to my request when you are able? Thank you.

Sincerely,
JJ Hermes