PUBLIC / CYHOEDDUS

Dear Benjamin Butcher

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST

We acknowledge your request for information.

We are considering your request and you should receive the information requested within the statutory timescale of 20 working days. If there are any areas of your request that need to be clarified then we will contact you at the earliest opportunity.

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Davies
University Secretary's Office/Swyddfa Ysgrifennydd y Brifysgol
University of South Wales/Prifysgol De Cymru
Treforest
Pontypridd
CF37 1DL

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PUBLIC / CYHOEDDUS

Dear Benjamin Butcher

Staff involved in obtaining the data required to respond to your request for information have asked for clarification in respect of Q4.

4. How many outstanding requests for refunds related to covid are there?

Please clarify your use of the term 'outstanding'. Does this mean requests that have not been paid yet? Or requests re covid where this could be a considered outcome when the case is completed (but outcome is still outstanding)?

Regards
Catherine

Catherine Smith
Information Compliance Support | Cymorth Cydymffurfiaeth Gwybodaeth
Compliance | Cydymffurfiaeth
University Secretary's Office |Swyddfa Ysgrifennydd y Brifysgol

+44 (0)1443 654363
[email address]

Pontypridd, Cymru, CF37 1DL
decymru.ac.uk
Pontypridd, Wales, CF37 1DL
southwales.ac.uk

The University of South Wales is a registered charity. Registration No. 1140312
Mae Prifysgol De Cymru yn elusen gofrestredig. Rhif yr elusen 1140312.
We welcome correspondence in Welsh and English. Corresponding in Welsh will not lead to a delay
Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg a Saesneg. Ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi..​

Confidential and legally privileged information may be contained in this message. If you have received this message
by mistake, please notify the sender immediately, delete it and do not copy it to anyone else or take any action
based upon its contents. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily
represent those of the University of South Wales.
Fe all cynnwys yr e-bost hwn fod yn gyfrinachol ac yn gyfreithiol freintiedig. Os derbyniwyd yr e-bost hwn trwy
gamgymeriad, dylid hysbysu’r anfonydd, dileu’r e-bost ac ni ddylid copïo’r e-bost na chyflawni unrhyw weithred ar
sail ei gynnwys. Barn neu safbwyntiau’r awdur yw’r rhai a fynegir yn yr e-bost hwn ac nid ydynt o angenrheidrwydd
yn adlewyrchu barn Prifysgol De Cymru.

For the Freedom of Information Act, the Data Protection Act or the Environmental Information Regulations, please forward your enquiry to the University’s Information Compliance Manager at [University of South Wales request email] or [email address].

Am ymholiadau yn ymwneud â'r Ddeddf Rhyddid Gwybodaeth, y Ddeddf Diogelu Data neu'r Rheoliadau Gwybodaeth Amgylcheddol, gofynnir ichi anfon eich ymholiad at Reolwr Cydymffurfiaeth Gwybodaeth y Brifysgol at [University of South Wales request email] neu [email address]

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PUBLIC / CYHOEDDUS

Many thanks for the confirmation.
I'll inform the staff who are working on obtaining the information to use the definition you provided.
Many thanks
Catherine

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PUBLIC / CYHOEDDUS

Dear Benjamin Butcher

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST

Thank you for your request for information received on 7^th June 2022 and
further clarification received on 29^th June 2022. The University’s
response is below.

 1. Did you give students any refunds for tuition fees for reasons
relating to covid, such as cancelled lectures or lack of face-to-face
tuition - if so, please can you give a breakdown of:

a) How many students received refunds? –5 or less

b) How much did they receive in total? – between £1,500 - £2,500

c) The highest amount received by a single student – see below

Owing to the small number of individuals in certain categories it is
considered that the University, if it were to disclose the level of detail
requested (that they were a student at the University of South Wales
during the time of COVID, whether or not any of their lectures or tuition
were cancelled due to COVID, whether or not any monetary compensation was
paid due to any such cancellations, the amount paid to an individual
student) would be making available data about an individual, or a small
number of individuals, from which they could be identified, either from
this information alone, or a combination of this information and other
information otherwise available to the public.  It is therefore considered
that providing further detail is exempt from disclosure by virtue of
Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (personal
information).  Personal data is defined as ‘data which relate to a living
individual who can be identified: from this data, or from this data and
other information which is in the possession of, or is likely to come into
the possession of the data controller’.

 Individuals have an expectation that their information is kept
confidentially and it is our belief that such disclosure would not meet
any of the conditions set out in Article 6 of the GDPR.

In accordance with section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act, this
letter acts as a Refusal Notice for this part of your request.

 2. Did you or a private accommodation provider give students any refunds
for accommodation for reasons relating to covid, such as being unable to
live in their halls - if so, please can you give a breakdown of:

a) How many students received refunds? – see below

b) How much did they receive in total?  - see below

c) The highest amount received by a single student  - see below

No information held on any refunds which may have been given to students
from private accommodation providers.

In respect of university owned accommodation, to provide all the
information you are requesting would take in excess of 18 hours to locate,
retrieve and collate owing to the way the data is held. It would involve
searching many individual records to identify whether a refund was in
relation to accommodation fees as a result of COVD or if a refund was in
respect of something other than accommodation and/or for a reason other
than COVID.

We are therefore refusing this part of your request, under Section 12 of
the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

This data would be exempt under The Freedom of Information and Data
Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. Section 3 (3) of
the Regulations states that the appropriate limit is £450 for a public
authority (the University) and Section 4 (3) details those costs we may
take into consideration when applying the appropriate limit

3. Please supply the total amount reimbursed to students for covid-related
reasons, including the categories mentioned in Questions 2 and Question 3.
Please give a breakdown of other areas not covered in Questions 2 and
Question 3 if possible. – see above

4. How many outstanding requests for refunds related to covid are there? –
5 or less

5. In the 2021-22 academic year, what proportion of lectures have been
given remotely in a) October 2021 and b) May 2022? If you are unable to
give an exact figure, please supply any internal estimates. - Information
not held.  The University set in principle that students would normally
receive circa 8 hours face to face teaching per week.

6. In the 2022-23 academic year, what proportion of lectures are expected
to be held remotely? If you are unable to give an exact figure, please
supply any internal estimates or internal policy.

With restrictions now being lifted, a teaching delivery model for
September 2022 onwards has been agreed:

• All teaching will be delivered face-to-face on campus.
• Teaching sessions delivered in lecture mode will be recorded (or
alternative forms of online learning support provided) to enable
flexibility.

7. Please give a current estimate of the number of staff who were working
from home in May 2022. Please give a brief description of your
work-from-home policy. – Information not held.

Should you have any further queries do not hesitate to contact the Head of
Compliance, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, CF37 1DL. If you are
not satisfied with the University’s response, you are entitled to use the
University’s complaints procedure available from
[1]http://uso.southwales.ac.uk/ig/foi/.

Further information about the Act is available from :

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF

[2]http://www.ico.gov.uk/

Yours faithfully,

Andrew Davies

University Secretary's Office/Swyddfa Ysgrifennydd y Brifysgol

University of South Wales/Prifysgol De Cymru

Treforest

Pontypridd

CF37 1DL

References

Visible links
1. http://uso.southwales.ac.uk/ig/foi/
2. http://www.ico.gov.uk/