Dear Flo

Freedom of Information request reference L/23/089

Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

The University of Leeds aims to respond to all FOI requests within 20-working days of receipt. If this timeframe changes, I will write to provide you with an update.

The information you have requested may already be published on our website. The following links may be of use to you:

* Publication scheme - a range of information about the University, including our annual reports and accounts, and information about our staff and structure
* FOI disclosure log - copies of previous FOI responses, updated several times per year

If you have any questions about your request, please contact us at [University of Leeds request email]

Regards

Freedom of Information Officer

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Dear Flo

Freedom of Information - Request for Clarification (Our Ref: L/23/089)

Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

Your request read:

Could you confirm whether your university has an academic freedom code of conduct, guideline or another formal agreement? If so, please provide access to this document.

Could you please confirm whether the university management conducts risk assessments for academic freedom prior to entering into institutional relationships with higher education institutions in authoritarian states? If so, please provide access to this document.

Could you please outline the process for beginning new, or re-evaluating current, institutional partnerships with or receiving funding from higher education institutions or state-linked organisations (particularly those in authoritarian countries such as China)?

The University of Leeds may hold some information relevant to your request. However, we are unable to proceed with your request without further clarification.

Section 1(3) of the FOI Act states that where a public authority reasonably requires further information in order to identify and locate the information requested, and has informed the applicant of that requirement, the authority is not obliged to comply with subsection (1) unless it is supplied with that further information.

Please clarify the following:

Please provide further clarification regarding the intended meaning of 'state-linked organisations'. Furthermore, please can provide a list of countries you consider to be 'authoritarian'.

Please send your clarified request to [University of Leeds request email]. Please note that as per the Information Commissioner's Office guidance, the 20-working day timeframe will commence the next working day following receipt of the clarified request.

Sincerely
Freedom of Information Officer
University of Leeds

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Dear Flo

Freedom of Information Response (Our Ref: L/23/089 and L/23/090)

Thank you for your Freedom of Information ('FOI') request, reference L/23/089 and L/23/090.

The University of Leeds holds some of this information.

Your request read:

"Could you confirm whether your university has an academic freedom code of conduct, guideline or another formal agreement? If so, please provide access to this document.

Please find the University's Freedom of Expression protocol at the following link:

https://www.leeds.ac.uk/secretariat/docu...

Could you please outline the process for beginning new, or re-evaluating current, institutional partnerships with or receiving funding from higher education institutions or state-linked organisations (particularly those in authoritarian countries such as China)?"

The processes for developing or reviewing collaborative activity with international partners vary depending on the nature of the activity.

Any research proposals or other engagements would be scrutinised against a range of obligations and frameworks. Further information on our processes are available on the 'Trusted Research' tab of the University's Research and Innovation Service web page:

https://ris.leeds.ac.uk/

With regard to our other collaborative international partnerships, including educational partnerships, we have clearly defined internal approval and due diligence processes but requirements, processes and level of committee scrutiny varies greatly depending on the type of collaborative programme.

Please see Appendix A, attached, for a summary of our due diligence processes.

Could you please confirm whether the university management conducts risk assessments for academic freedom prior to entering into institutional relationships with higher education institutions in authoritarian states? If so, please provide access to this document.

As before, information on our research processes, including risk assessments, can be located on the 'Trusted Research' tab of the dedicated web page:

https://ris.leeds.ac.uk/

Regarding other collaborative programmes, we conduct risk assessments which are specific to the partner and programme being proposed. Our partner questionnaire asks for information about partner policies and regulations and we scrutinise these for restrictions on academic freedom or any misalignment with University of Leeds policies, regulations or values.

Please see Appendix B, attached, for a copy of the 'pack' used to source information from partners regarding PGR collaborative programmes - this includes asking them for copies of their academic regs and other associated documents.

In a separate email, initially acknowledged by us and given the reference number L/23/090, you also requested further information on this topic:

"Could you confirm whether your university has any formal guidelines for ensuring the safety of students from surveillance or coercion from those acting on behalf of foreign governments (for example, safety from surveillance, blackmail, forced pledges of loyalty and being reported on by fellow students)? If so, please provide access to this document.

Please find the University's Freedom of Expression protocol at the following link:

https://www.leeds.ac.uk/secretariat/docu...

We are especially interested in two particular examples of transnational repression of Chinese students that have been reported on in the media:

1) Has your organisation evaluated the possible risk posed by Chinese Student and Scholar Associations given evidence that they have surveilled other students, organised counter protestors and acted upon orders from the Chinese Embassy?

Information not held.

2) Are you aware of how many international students are receiving funding from the Chinese Scholarship Council stream?

Yes, we retain a record of funding providers.

The CSC is part of the Chinese education ministry and organises foreign exchange programmes and international studies for Chinese students.

Have you investigated the possible risk posed to students involved with this programme given recent evidence that agreements students sign include pledges of loyalty to the party state and threaten students' parents with debt if they fail to complete their studies?

Information not held.

Has your institution ever had to deal with a case where a student was put at risk of transnational repression and can you provide details of how your institution dealt with this situation? Feel free to keep the identity of the student anonymous.

The University may hold some information relevant to your request. However, we consider that to respond to your request would exceed the cost limit as set out in Section 12(1) of the FOI Act. Section 12(1) states that a public authority can refuse a request if complying with it would exceed the appropriate limit of £450. For the purposes of FOI, time spent on the permitted activities is calculated at the flat rate of £25 per person, per hour. The appropriate limit therefore represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 hours to determine whether the information is held, and to locate, retrieve and extract the information. In this case, establishing whether the University has ever had to deal with such a case would require the manual checking of many years of records held by several different departments. Under our Section 16 duty to advise and assist applicants, we are required to provide applicants whose requests have been refused under section 12(1) with suggested ways in which their request could be refined in order to reduce the total amount of time required. If you were able to identify a specific timeframe you are interested in this will reduce the time required and may bring your request to within the appropriate limit.

You provided the following clarification to narrow the scope of your request:

"If it is easier, could you please restrict my request only to relationships with China rather than relationships with authoritarian countries in general."

We hope this information is helpful. If you have any questions about this email, however, please do not hesitate to contact us on [University of Leeds request email]

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request, you can request an internal review. Requests for internal review should be made in writing using the following contact information:

Email: [University of Leeds request email]

Requests for internal review should be submitted within 40 working days of receiving the University's response to your request. Further information about how the University manages FOI requests and about our complaints procedure is available on our website (http://www.leeds.ac.uk/).

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the review/complaints procedure provided by the University. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Sincerely
Freedom of Information Officer
University of Leeds

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