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Newcastle University

Partially Complete, Seeking Classification of Staff
-- Original Response (4 Dec 2014): Newcastle1.xlsx (only annual, not by staff)
-- Follow-up Response (27 Jan 2015): Newcastle2.pdf

From: JJ Hermes
Sent: 20 October 2014 12:16
To: Rec-Man@ncl.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 Mon, Oct 20, 2014 at 2:22 PM, nrecman (rec-man@newcastle.ac.uk) wrote (RE: FOI request):

Dear James,

Thank you for your request for information received on 20 October 2014. We're dealing with it under the Freedom of Information Act and will get back to you within 20 working days.

Regards,
Peter Dinsdale
Information Security Officer (Compliance)
Tel: 0191 208 6950
On Tue, Oct 21, 2014 at 10:40 AM, nrecman (rec-man@newcastle.ac.uk) wrote (RE: FOI request):

Dear James,

Could you please confirm what you mean by 'tenured faculty'? It's not a phrase that I am familiar with.

Regards,
Peter Dinsdale
Information Security Officer (Compliance)
Tel: 0191 208 6950
On Tue, Oct 21, 2014 at 11:21 AM, JJ Hermes wrote (RE: FOI request):

Hi Peter,

Apologies, and thank you for asking for clarification. Since the UK doesn't have tenure (as I am used to in the US), "tenured faculty" in this context should mean anyone who is a professor or some kind of academic with classroom duties.

Cheers,
JJ
On Tue, Oct 21, 2014 at 11:27 AM, nrecman (rec-man@newcastle.ac.uk) wrote (RE: FOI request):

Thanks JJ, I'd suspected it was probably that, but thought it better to check with you. We'll get back to you within 20 working days.

Regards,
Peter Dinsdale
Information Security Officer (Compliance)
Tel: 0191 208 6950
On Tue, Nov 18, 2014 at 12:17 PM, JJ Hermes wrote (RE: FOI request):

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 Tue, Nov 18, 2014 at 12:34 PM, nrecman (rec-man@newcastle.ac.uk) wrote (RE: FOI request):

Hello,

You clarified your request on 21 October 2014, which means the 20 working days is calculated from that date, so the due date is today. I am hoping that our response will be ready to send out by close of play.

Regards,
Peter Dinsdale
Information Security Officer (Compliance)
Tel: 0191 208 6950
On Tue, Nov 18, 2014 at 12:38 PM, JJ Hermes wrote (RE: FOI request):

Apologies for the insistence. Thank you for your response and addressing the request!

Cheers,
JJ Hermes
On Fri, Nov 28, 2014 at 9:10 AM, JJ Hermes wrote (RE: FOI request):

Hi Peter,

Any update on this? I did not receive anything from you on 18 Nov. Thanks.

Cheers,
JJ
On Wed, Dec 3, 2014 at 9:03 AM, JJ Hermes wrote (RE: FOI request):

Hi Peter,

I would appreciate a response in the next two business days, or I will formally complain to the Information Commissioner's Office. Thank you for your attention to this matter. 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.

Cheers,
JJ
On Thu, Dec 4, 2014 at 9:49 AM, nrecman (rec-man@newcastle.ac.uk) wrote (RE: FOI request):

Hello JJ,

Apologies for the delay. Our HR department received a large number of similar but different requests within the space of about a week, and the same person who could provide the information for this was also working on our statutory HESA return at the same time. Added to my being out of the office last week, this has meant a bit of a delay in our being able to respond fully to these requests. I have the information for you, and will get it out today. I apologise for any inconvenience.

Regards,
Peter Dinsdale
Information Security Officer (Compliance)
Tel: 0191 208 6950
On Thu, Dec 4, 2014 at 3:06 PM, nrecman (rec-man@newcastle.ac.uk) wrote (RE: FOI request):

Dear JJ,

Thank you for your request for information received on 20 October 2014 and clarified on 21 October. I apologise for the delay in responding to you.

The information you require is attached. Please note that we have provided generic job titles, and remuneration is shown in bands of £10,000. This follows the approach approved in the recent Information Tribunal decision involving King's College London (http://www.informationtribunal.gov.uk/DBFiles/Decision/i1390/Kings%20College%20London%20EA.2014.0054%20(30.09.14).pdf).

The salaries of identifiable academic members of staff are exempt from disclosure under the following sections of the Freedom of Information Act:

-- Section 40(2)/40(3)(a)(i) -- relating to disclosure of personal information

There is no doubt that this information consists of personal data relating to the individuals in question, and it is not in the reasonable expectations of these staff that their salary data will be published. Neither is it a requirement for us to publish this level of data under our publication scheme. Disclosure would therefore not be fair processing of that data, which would breach the first data protection principle.

-- Section 43(2) -- prejudice to commercial interests

Disclosure would also be likely to prejudice our commercial interests, as it could impact on our ability to recruit and retain high calibre individuals to these roles. We operate in a highly competitive market, both nationally and internationally, and our success in this market depends in part upon our ability to recruit the best people. Disclosure of the salary levels of existing staff would put us at a competitive disadvantage as it would allow competitor organisations to know what salary level they would have to offer to attempt to lure people away. We feel that any public interest in transparency of the salary levels of staff is met through disclosure of the attached information, and that identification of individuals would add little to the public debate. We therefore believe that the public interest in withholding this information outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

Please note that clinical academics are all on our professorial scale but are in receipt of performance payments based on their clinical duties for the NHS.

If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your request you can ask for an internal review.

Details of how to do this can be found at:
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/foi/access/complaints/

If you are not happy with the outcome of the internal review, you then have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner's Office for a decision.

Details of how to do this can be found at:
http://ico.org.uk/concerns

Regards,
Peter Dinsdale
Information Security Officer (Compliance)
Tel: 0191 208 6950

-- Attachment: Newcastle1.xlsx
On Tue, Dec 9, 2014 at 3:28 PM, JJ Hermes wrote (RE: FOI request):

Dear Peter,

Thank you for your positive response on 4 Dec 2014 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.

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

Instead of separating the information out annually, could you please provide the information per member of staff, so that their annual salaries can be tracked over this five-year period? Additionally, please identify by name and title all members of the University's senior administrative staff (e.g., pro-vice-chancellors, chief financial officer, chief operating officer, directors of institutes, etc.) in the response?

Supporting evidence for identifying the senior administrative staff by name comes from a First-Tier Tribunal has ruled in a very similar case that universities 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 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 10:32 AM, JJ Hermes wrote (RE: FOI request):

To whom it may concern,

On 9 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, Jan 27, 2015 at 2:06 PM, nrecman (rec-man@newcastle.ac.uk) wrote (RE: FOI request):

Hello,

I'm sorry, this must have just slipped under the radar over the Christmas closure period, so I can only apologise for the inconvenience due to this oversight.

I've attached an amended version of the data, hopefully set out in a way that will meet your needs. There are only two non-academic members of staff on Executive Board who are contained within the scope of this request -- the Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar. Their job titles have now been included in the information. Details of our current Executive Board members can be found on our website: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/executive/board/members/

I believe that this now meets the principles set out in the First Tier Tribunal that you have quoted, and hopefully it also meets the requirements of your request.

Regards,
Peter Dinsdale
Information Security Officer (Compliance)
Tel: 0191 208 6950

-- Attachment: Newcastle2.pdf