University of York
Incomplete, Original Response Refusal
-- Original Response (17 Nov 2014): York1.pdf
-- Public Interest Test panel notes (21 Nov 2014): York2.pdf
From: JJ Hermes
Sent: 20 October 2014 12:22
To: foi@york.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
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On Mon, Oct 20 2014 at 4:32 PM, Lucy Cook (lucy.cook@york.ac.uk) wrote (Fwd: FOI Request):
Dear Mr Hermes,
Thank you for your email of October 20 2014 in which you have submitted a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Your request is being considered and you will receive the information requested within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the (Freedom of Information) Act, subject to the information being held and not being exempt.
Lucy Cook
FOI Support Officer
University of York
Borthwick Institute
University of York
Heslington
York YO10 5DD
Tel:01904321175
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On Mon, Nov 17 2014 at 5:46 PM, admn272@york.ac.uk wrote (Re: FOI Request):
Dear Mr Hermes,
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request of 20 October 2014 concerning senior staff members making more than £150,000. I can provide the University's response which is given in the attached pdf file.
Yours sincerely,
Charles Fonge
-- Attachment: York1.pdf
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On Fri, Nov 21 2014 at 5:19 PM, Lucy Cook (lucy.cook@york.ac.uk) wrote (Freedom of Information request. F14_215 Public Interest Panel report):
Dear Mr Hermes,
Further to our initial response regarding your Freedom of Information request re senior staff members making more than £150,000 in total emoluments, I can now include the details of the ruling by the PIT panel regarding the public interest test. Please see the attached pdf.
Kind regards,
Lucy Cook
FOI Support Officer
University of York
Borthwick Institute
University of York
Heslington
York YO10 5DD
Tel:01904321175
-- Attachment: York2.pdf
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