FOI-10-21

Date 11 January 2021

Summary: University Staffing Figures from 1 October 2019 to 1 October 2020.

Request:

Q1a. Please provide the number of staff (headcount) employed by the institution on a) 01/10/2019 and b) 01/10/2020, broken down into the following categories

i) Academic and research staff
ii) Non-academic management
iii) Other staff

Please do not include casual/sessional staff in the counts.

Q1b. For each of spine points 3-30, please provide (a) the number of staff employed on 01/10/2020, (b) the number of these staff for whom this is the top spine point reachable by automatic incremental progression of the grade on which they are employed, ie the top non- discretionary spine point for the grade.

Please do not include casual/sessional staff in the counts.

Q1c. How many staff (headcount), who are not managers, academics or research staff, were employed on zero-hours contracts (a contract under which the employer has no obligation to offer work and guarantees no minimum hours of work) on 01/10/2019 and on 01/10/2020?

Q1d. How many of the staff in Q1c were employed in roles that were only available to students, e.g. student ambassadors?

Q2. Please provide the number of staff (headcount) employed on a) 01/10/2019 and b) 01/10/2020 who are i) Male, ii) Female, iii) Black Minority and ethnic staff, iv) Disabled

Please do not include casual/sessional staff in the counts.

Q3a. For those staff leaving due to redundancy between 01/10/2019 and 30/09/2020, please provide the number (headcount) taking a) compulsory redundancy, b) voluntary redundancy. If you cannot provide separate numbers for compulsory and voluntary redundancies, please provide the total numbers of redundancies. Please do not include redundancies due to the end of fixed term contracts if it is possible to exclude them from the counts.

Q3b. Please provide the number of staff taking redundancy due to the ending of fixed term contracts between 01/10/2019 and 30/09/2020.

Q4a. Please provide the number of staff leaving due to redundancy between 01/10/2019 and 30/09/2020, within each of the following categories:-

i) Academic and research staff
ii) Non-academic management
iii) Other staff

Please do not include those staff leaving due to the ending of fixed term contracts in the counts.

Q4b. Please provide the number of staff on fixed term contracts leaving due to redundancy between 01/10/2019 and 30/09/2020, within each of the following categories:-

i) Academic and research staff
ii) Non-academic management
iii) Other staff

Please only include those staff leaving due to the ending of fixed term contracts in the counts.

Q5. Please provide the number of staff leaving due to redundancy between 01/10/2019 and 30/09/2020, who are i) Male, ii) Female, iii) Black Minority and ethnic staff, iv) Disabled, v) Aged 55 years or more

Please do not include those staff leaving due to the ending of fixed term contracts in the counts.

Q6a. What is the minimum adult hourly rate of pay at the institution, including any regional pay supplement, excluding apprentice pay rates? (Hourly rate should be exclusive of holiday pay).

Q6b. What is the minimum adult hourly rate of pay for apprentices (if employed), including any regional pay supplement? (Hourly rate should be exclusive of holiday pay).

Q7. How many directly employed staff (headcount), excluding apprentices, are paid less than the Living Wage (£9.50 per hour outside Greater London and £10.85 per hour in Greater London)?

Q8. How much money, including VAT, has been spent on employment agencies (hiring agency staff) during the financial year 2019/2020?

Q9a. Does the university contract out any services in the following areas? Please give the names of the companies to whom the services are currently contracted out. When is the contract for the service up for renewal (if multiple contracts what is the earliest date)?

Q9b. Is a minimum rate of pay specified in the university’s contracts with external companies providing the following services? If so, what is the minimum rate of pay?

Q10. How much did the university pay to the Students Union as a block grant in the financial year 2019-2020? How much has the university awarded to the Students Union as a block grant for the financial year 2020-2021?

Response:

In accordance with section 1(1)(a) of the FOI Act, I can confirm that the University does hold the requested information in part, as some of the requested information does not exist.
I have decided to withhold the requested information, which exists, in part in accordance with section 21 of the FOI Act.
Section 17 of the FOI Act provides that:

17. Refusal of Request
17.—(1) A public authority which, in relation to any request for information, is to any extent relying on a claim that any provision of Part II relating to the duty to confirm or deny is relevant to the request or on a claim that information is exempt information must, within the time for complying with section 1(1), give the applicant a notice which—
a. states that fact,
b. specifies the exemption in question, and
c. states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.

Information pertaining to Questions 6a and 6b are withheld in accordance with Section 21 of the FOI Act.

Section 21 of the FOI Act provides that:

21. Information accessible to applicant by other means

21. (1) Information which is reasonably accessible to the applicant otherwise than under section 1 is exempt information.

(2). For the purposes of subsection (1)-

(a) Information may be reasonably accessible to the applicant even though it is accessible only on payment; and

(b) Information is to be taken to be reasonably accessible to the applicant if it is information which the public authority or any other person is obliged by or under any enactment to communicate (otherwise than by making the information available for inspection) to members of the public on request, whether free of charge or on payment.

The FOI Act gives rights of public access to information held by public authorities. The purpose of Section 21 of the FOI Act is to ensure that there is no right of access to information via the Act/FOI process, if it already available to the applicant via another route.

This exemption applies if the requested information is already accessible to you as the Applicant/Requester. This exemption is applied where it is either know that, you already hold the information or it is available to you (with the information already being in the public domain).

When the University is applying this exemption, it has a duty to confirm or deny whether it holds the information and where possible inform you of how you can access the information.

Given that the information is available in the public domain, it is entirely reasonable and appropriate to withhold disclosure of the requested information pertaining to Questions 6a and 6b in accordance with Section 21 of the FOI Act. The requested information can be found at:

Question 6a:

Living wage as per https://www.livingwage.org.uk/

Question 6b:

Apprentice rate as per https://www.gov.uk/apprenticeships-guide/pay-and-conditions

 For the sake of ease as much of the format of your request will be replicated in the schedule below, however, you will note that some Questions pertaining to the scope of your request could not be answered as the University does not hold such information.

In summary information pertaining to the following Questions does not exist:
• Question 1d;
• Question 9a- under the columns ‘companies’ and ‘date contract is up for renewal’; and
• Question 9b.

This decision has been made after all reasonable steps have been taken to locate the above-referenced requested information. Whilst I acknowledge that it is the principle object of the Act to provide public access to documents, I am satisfied that the above-referenced requested information does not exist.

Please find the requested information, which exists, contained within Schedule 1 of this Decision Notice.

Q1a. Please provide the number of staff (headcount) employed by the institution on a) 01/10/2019 and b) 01/10/2020, broken down into the following categories

i) Academic and research staff
ii) Non-academic management
iii) Other staff

Please do not include casual/sessional staff in the counts.

Q1b. For each of spine points 3-30, please provide (a) the number of staff employed on 01/10/2020,

(b) the number of these staff for whom this is the top spine point reachable by automatic incremental progression of the grade on which they are employed, ie the top non-discretionary spine point for the grade.

Please do not include casual/sessional staff in the counts.

Q1c. How many staff (headcount), who are not managers, academics or research staff, were employed on zero-hours contracts (a contract under which the employer has no obligation to offer work and guarantees no minimum hours of work) on 01/10/2019 and on 01/10/2020?

Q1d. How many of the staff in Q1c were employed in roles that were only available to students, eg student ambassadors?

Q2. Please provide the number of staff (headcount) employed on a) 01/10/2019 and b) 01/10/2020 who are i) Male, ii) Female, iii) Black Minority and ethnic staff, iv) Disabled

Please do not include casual/sessional staff in the counts.

Q3a. For those staff leaving due to redundancy between 01/10/2019 and 30/09/2020, please provide the number (headcount) taking a) compulsory redundancy, b) voluntary redundancy. If you cannot provide separate numbers for compulsory and voluntary redundancies, please provide the total numbers of redundancies. Please do not include redundancies due to the end of fixed term contracts if it is possible to exclude them from the counts.

Q4a. Please provide the number of staff leaving due to redundancy between 01/10/2019 and 30/09/2020, within each of the following categories:-

i) Academic and research staff
ii) Non-academic management
iii) Other staff

Please do not include those staff leaving due to the ending of fixed term contracts in the counts.

Q4b. Please provide the number of staff on fixed term contracts leaving due to redundancy between 01/10/2019 and 30/09/2020, within each of the following categories:-

i) Academic and research staff
ii) Non-academic management
iii) Other staff

Please only include those staff leaving due to the ending of fixed term contracts in the counts.

Q5. Please provide the number of staff leaving due to redundancy between 01/10/2019 and 30/09/2020, who are i) Male, ii) Female, iii) Black Minority and ethnic staff, iv) Disabled, v) Aged 55 years or more

Please do not include those staff leaving due to the ending of fixed term contracts in the counts.

Q10. How much did the university pay to the Students Union as a block grant in the financial year 2019-2020? How much has the university awarded to the Students Union as a block grant for the financial year 2020-2021?