Agreements on the Confucius Institute

The request was successful.

Dear London South Bank University,

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I request the following:

- Agreements and supplementary agreements with the Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban) and the Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine on the establishment / continuation of the Confucius Institute for Traditional Chinese Medicine in London

Yours faithfully,

Dirk Eisman

Governance : Freedom of Information, London South Bank University

Dear Dirk Eisman,

Ref FOI 2022 - Freedom of Information Act 2000

We acknowledge the receipt of your request below. Please be informed that the University is dealing with your request in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Your request will be subject to any applicable exemptions defined in the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in contact. Please quote the reference above in any future communications.

Kind regards,

Data Protection and Information Compliance Team
London South Bank University
103 Borough Road, London, SE1 0AA
Email: [London South Bank University request email]

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Governance : Freedom of Information, London South Bank University

1 Attachment

Dear Dirk Eisman,

Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Information Request Ref: FOI 2022

Further to your Freedom of Information request on 30 January 2020, London South Bank University (LSBU) has now considered your request and completed its search for the information requested.
Our response is attached.

Kind regards,

Data Protection and Information Compliance Team
London South Bank University
103 Borough Road, London, SE1 0AA
Email: [London South Bank University request email]

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Dear London South Bank University,

Please pass this on to the Group Secretary and Clerk to the Board of Governors.

I am writing to request an internal review of London South Bank University's handling of my FOI request 'Agreements on the Confucius Institute' (Ref: FOI 2022).

Especially from the point of view of current public concerns about funding from Chinese sources and whether this is influencing UK organisations, it is necessary to strive for maximum transparency and openness. Also, it's important that an organisation discloses how it receives and spends public money from China and the UK. Only then, the Institute operates transparently.

It is unacceptable that no agreements have been made available to me by the London South Bank University.

I request an internal review. I want full disclosure of the agreements that fall within the scope of my FOI request.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...

Yours faithfully,

Dirk Eisman

Governance : Freedom of Information, London South Bank University

Dear Dirk Eisman,

Ref FOI 2022 Review - Freedom of Information Act 2000

We acknowledge the receipt of your request below for an internal review of our response to FOI 2022. Please be informed that the University is dealing with your request in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We will aim to carry out the review within 20 working days, or in exceptional circumstances within 40 working days.

Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in contact. Please quote the reference above in any future communications.

Kind regards,

Data Protection and Information Compliance Team
London South Bank University
103 Borough Road, London, SE1 0AA
Email: [London South Bank University request email]

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Governance : Freedom of Information, London South Bank University

2 Attachments

Dear Dirk Eisman,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - Information Internal Review Ref: FOI 2022

Further to your Freedom of Information internal review request on 28 February 2020, London South Bank University (LSBU) has now considered your request and completed its internal review.
Our response is attached.

Kind regards,

Data Protection and Information Compliance Team London South Bank University
103 Borough Road, London, SE1 0AA
Email: [London South Bank University request email]

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Governance : Freedom of Information, London South Bank University

2 Attachments

Dear Dirk Eisman,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - REF FOI 2022

We have been corresponding with the ICO regarding your complaint and they are still reviewing the case ahead of issuing a decision. In the meantime they have asked us to send you these two earlier agreements that pre-date the version you were sent by us in response to your original FOI request.

Redactions have been made to the financial information and signatures for the same reasons outlined in our response to your initial request and the internal review outcome you were sent on 27 March 2020. The ICO may contact you to discuss these additional documents, in relation to your complaint.

Kind Regards,

Data Protection and Information Compliance Team London South Bank University
103 Borough Road, London, SE1 0AA
Email: [London South Bank University request email]

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Governance : Freedom of Information, London South Bank University

3 Attachments

Dear Mr Eisman
We have recently received a decision notice from the ICO regarding the
complaint you made about our response to FOI 2022.  They have requested
that we release copies of the agreements between LSBU and Hanban, in
relation to the Confucius Institute, without the redactions we made when
we applied exemption 43(2) Commercial interest.
I have attached the three agreements you have previously been sent, with
these redactions removed.  Please be advised that, due to a Cyber
Incident, I am currently unable to access the software LSBU uses to make
redactions to documents.  Therefore, I could not redact the signatures
from these versions of the agreements and so have had to remove the
signature pages.  The signatures were redacted under exemption 38 for
Personal Information, which was not challenged in your complaint to the
ICO, so we have withheld this information.  You have previously been
provided with these agreements including the signature page, so have now
had all the documents in full across our responses to the different stages
of your complaint.
We hope this resolves your concerns but please contact us if you need
anything further.
Many thanks
Alice
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