LSHTM ServiceDesk
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Re: Freedom of Information request - Common Law Duty of Care in HE

Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act.  We will process your request as soon as possible and
will respond within 20 working days.

Information on how we process Freedom of Information requests is available
on the LSHTM website at :
[1]https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/aboutus/organisa...

We may need to contact you again if we require further information from
you in order to process your request.
 
We will also contact you as soon as possible if we determine that a fee
will be payable for reprographics costs (such as photocopying or printing)
or postage costs associated with your request.

Please do not hesitate to contact us by reply to this email if you have
any questions relating to your request.

Regards,
Freedom of Information team

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT UK |  [2]www.lshtm.ac.uk

References

Visible links
1. https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/aboutus/organisa...
2. http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/

LSHTM ServiceDesk
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Re: Freedom of Information request - Common Law Duty of Care in HE

Gillian Green via [1][FOI #1005879 email]
FOI Reference: 2307 - 4412
23 November 2023

Freedom of Information Response

Dear Gillian Green

We write in response to your freedom of information request to the London
School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). We received your repeated
request on 3 November 2023, and we have handled your request inline with
the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the FOI Act). Please find our
response below your request.

Your request
"Universities have a general duty of care to their students - not to cause
harm by careless acts or omissions – commensurate with their role and
capabilities as settings for adult education" (Universities UK, 2023).
Please supply any internal or external university documentation that
explains the nature and extent of this Common Law duty of care, placed on
every member of staff, and owed to each enrolled student.

Our response
Our Student Charter
([2]https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/sites/default/fi...)
contains the relevant principles. However, our duty of care to our
students is at the very core of everything we do. Therefore, there are
references to it as well in our safeguarding framework, in the standard
operating procedures of all our activities in any way involving students
(including for instance travelling and in policies of all kinds. Links are
available within the Charter.

Our Registry, Programme Administration Office and Student Support Services
are dedicated to ensuring the principles of the Student Charter outlined
above are met to the highest standards and rely on the support of other
functions across the school.

If you would like more specific information on a particular aspect of how
we meet our duty of care and evolve in our efforts to protect our
students, please do not hesitate to reach out again.

We hope the information provided to you is helpful.

Re-use of the information supplied to you.
The copyright of information supplied to you is owned by LSHTM unless
otherwise indicated. To re-use you must obtain written permission from
LSHTM. Please send your enquiry about the re-use of material to the
Archivist & Records Manager by email: [3][email address].

Your right to appeal.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your Freedom of Information
or Environmental Information request, you may ask for a review by
contacting the LSHTM secretary at [4][London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine request email] within 12 months of
receipt. Further information about your right to appeal to the Information
Commissioner is available on the Commissioner's website
([5]http://www.ico.gov.uk/).
 
Yours sincerely,
Information Compliance Team
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

School staff and students can visit the [6]ServiceDesk Portal and
[7]update their call under My Requests.

Alternatively, you can reply to this email or phone us quoting reference
2307-4412

LSHTM ServiceDesk
[8]servicedesk.lshtm.ac.uk
+44 (0)20 7927 2186
 

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT UK | +44 (0)20 7636 8636 |
[9]www.lshtm.ac.uk

References

Visible links
1. E-mail
mailto:[FOI #1005879 email]
2. https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/sites/default/fi...
3. E-mail
mailto:[email address]
4. E-mail
mailto:[London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine request email]
5. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
6. http://servicedesk.lshtm.ac.uk/
7. http://lshtm.topdesk.net/tas/public/cont...
8. http://servicedesk.lshtm.ac.uk/
9. http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/

LSHTM ServiceDesk
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Re: Re: Freedom of Information request - Common Law Duty of Care in HE

Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act.  We will process your request as soon as possible and
will respond within 20 working days.

Information on how we process Freedom of Information requests is available
on the LSHTM website at :
[1]https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/aboutus/organisa...

We may need to contact you again if we require further information from
you in order to process your request.
 
We will also contact you as soon as possible if we determine that a fee
will be payable for reprographics costs (such as photocopying or printing)
or postage costs associated with your request.

Please do not hesitate to contact us by reply to this email if you have
any questions relating to your request.

Regards,
Freedom of Information team

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT UK |  [2]www.lshtm.ac.uk

References

Visible links
1. https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/aboutus/organisa...
2. http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/

LSHTM ServiceDesk
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Re: Re: Freedom of Information request - Common Law Duty of Care in HE

Gillian Green via [1][FOI #1005879 email]
Reference: 2311-6202
15 December 2023

Freedom of Information Response- 2

Dear Gillian Green

We write in response to your freedom of information request to the London
School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), which we received on 29
November 2023.

Your request

I am in search of university policies, guidance, and training material
that can help me gain a better understanding of your institution's
overarching Common Law duty of care towards its students. I appreciate
your response, but the referenced documentation doesn't explain the Common
Law duty of care itself. I was hoping for greater clarity on the nature
and extent of any such legal obligation.
Could you kindly confirm whether there is any specific, standalone
guidance on the Common Law duty of care owed to students? Your assistance
in this matter is greatly appreciated.

Our response

Thank you for acknowledging our response of 23 November 2023. We have
handled this request inline with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.  
As mentioned in our previous response to you, the LSHTM Charter contains
the relevant principles for our students. Also included in the school
Charter are other links that provides more guidance on duty of care
towards our students. Here is the link to the school Charter again
([2][2]https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/sites/default/fi...).
We do not have a single guidance or training materials covering various
requirements. We do however have published information that you may want
to consider for a better understanding of the Schools’ Common Law duty of
care to our students. Please find our published information in the links
below. We have engaged section 21 of the Act because this information is
reasonably accessible by other means.

 1. [3]Duty of Care Guidance - Report + Support - London School of Hygiene
& Tropical Medicine (lshtm.ac.uk)
 2. [4]Report + Support - London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
(lshtm.ac.uk)
 3. [5]LSHTM Student Protection Plan
 4. [6]Policy template (lshtm.ac.uk) – Duty of care when travel.

We hope the information provided to you is helpful.

Re-use of the information supplied to you.

The copyright of information supplied to you is owned by LSHTM unless
otherwise indicated. To re-use you must obtain written permission from
LSHTM. Please send your enquiry about the re-use of material to the
Archivist & Records Manager by email: [7][email address].

Your right to appeal.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your Freedom of Information
or Environmental Information request, you may ask for a review by
contacting the LSHTM secretary at [8][London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine request email] within 12 months of
receipt. Further information about your right to appeal to the Information
Commissioner is available on the Commissioner's website
([9]http://www.ico.gov.uk/).
 
Yours sincerely,

Information Compliance Team
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

School staff and students can visit the [10]ServiceDesk Portal and
[11]update their call under My Requests.

Alternatively, you can reply to this email or phone us quoting reference
2311-6202

LSHTM ServiceDesk
[12]servicedesk.lshtm.ac.uk
+44 (0)20 7927 2186
 

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT UK | +44 (0)20 7636 8636 |
[13]www.lshtm.ac.uk

References

Visible links
1. E-mail
mailto:[FOI #1005879 email]
2. https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/sites/default/fi...
3. https://reportandsupport.lshtm.ac.uk/pag...
4. https://reportandsupport.lshtm.ac.uk/
5. https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/files/student-pr...
6. https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/sites/default/fi....
7. E-mail
mailto:[email address]
8. E-mail
mailto:[London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine request email]
9. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
10. http://servicedesk.lshtm.ac.uk/
11. http://lshtm.topdesk.net/tas/public/cont...
12. http://servicedesk.lshtm.ac.uk/
13. http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/