Financial Reports submitted to the SFC
Dear University of Dundee,
To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
I understand that I do not have to specify particular file or document names and it is the relevant department's responsibility to provide the information I require. If you need further clarification please contact me by email.
I would like the information to be emailed to me in electronic form at the following email address: [email address]
If you cannot provide the complete responses to my requests within the scope mentioned below, please provide what available information you have and an explanation for why you cannot provide the data requested.
I ask that you justify all omissions by reference to specific exemptions of the act.
I reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to charge excessive fees.
If there are any omissions under Section 21 of the act, I would politely request that the information is clearly signposted in the response to my request, in the interests of accessibility.
As the information requested in i. and ii. has already been compiled, and recently at that, I would hope this would avoid any omissions under Section 12.
I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request. I look forward to your response within 20 working days as outlined by the statute.
Information Requested:
i.
All of the information submitted to the Scottish Funding Council on 18/01/2021 in response to the Call For Information, reference “SFC/CI/01/2021” , outlined in the following:
http://www.sfc.ac.uk/web/FILES/callsfori...
ii. All of the information submitted to the SFC outlined in the Call For Information, reference “SFC/CI/01/2021” document under points 2. and 3. (see above for the website address):
“2.Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, universities provided two main financial 2.returns to SFC in the course of the year:•Forecasts submitted at the end of June (outturn forecast for the current year and forecasts for the following three years). •Annual accounts submitted at the end of December (audited financial statements and supporting reports by institutions’ audit committee, internal and external auditors)”
“3. As result of the COVID-19 pandemic, SFC requested institutions to provide 3.additional financial returns, comprising updated forecasts for 2019-20 and 2020-21, by the end of April and the end of July 2020. These replaced the main 2020 Strategic Plan Forecast return. Institutions also provided updated financial forecasts at the end of November 2020”
Kind Regards,
Harrison Bott
Greater Glasgow Student Tenants’ Union.
Thank you for your email. If your message contains a request for
information the University will respond no later than 20 working days from
its receipt (or one month from receipt in the case of requests for your
own personal information).
Kind regards,
Dr Richard Parsons
Director LLC & CI
University of Dundee
Dundee DD1 4HN
The University of Dundee is a registered Scottish Charity, No: SC015096
Dear Mr Bott,
Thank you for your request for information from the University of
Dundee.
As you will be aware, universities operate in a competitive commercial
marketplace. Releasing this information would allow competitor
institutions to benchmark themselves against the University of Dundee, or
seek to obtain commercial advantage, in a manner likely to be
substantially prejudicial to the University’s commercial interests. As
such, per S.16 and S.33(1)(b) of FoI(S)A, the University claims that this
information is exempt from disclosure.
The University is required to have regard to the public interest in the
application of this exemption. The University recognises the interest in
its activities, but suggests that this interest is served by the extensive
information published online. You can view the Universities financial
statements online
here: [1]https://www.dundee.ac.uk/finance/financi...
the most recent accounts for 2019/20 will be uploaded to this webpage
soon. Financial sustainability is often discussed at University Court, you
can view the minutes of Court and other committees
here: [2]https://www.dundee.ac.uk/governance/gove....
Furthermore, the University asserts that there is a public interest in it
being able to conduct international student recruitment and student
accommodation activities in support of its functions on a
without-prejudice basis. As such, the balance of the public interest
favours withholding information on this occasion.
In addition to this, the University further notes that this information is
exempt from disclosure per S.40(b) of FoI(S)A. Scottish universities
derive a large proportion of their income from the SFC. To receive this
income, the university is obliged to submit forecasts, annual accounts and
plans to the SFC for them to audit. Releasing audit information in this
manner is likely to prejudice substantially the exercise of the SFC to
carry out the required examinations.
Kind regards,
Alan
--
Alan Coull
Information Governance Officer
Culture & Information
University of Dundee
Dundee DD1 4HN
t: 01382 385615
[3]http://www.dundee.ac.uk/information-gove...
This email is not legal advice and should not be considered in that
way.
Should you wish to appeal any decision concerning the release of
information under FoI(S)A by the University please respond
to [4][University of Dundee request email]. The University will then review
your appeal according to the procedures
at [5]http://www.dundee.ac.uk/information-gove...
If you are unhappy with the outcome of that review please forward your
appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner, Kinburn Castle,
Doubledykes Rd, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS
([6]www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal).
If you remain dissatisfied following an appeal to the Scottish Information
Commissioner your recourse is to the Court of Session on a point of
law.
If you are unhappy with the handling of a request for personal data,
please refer to the University in the first instance
at [7][email address]. If you remain dissatisfied, please
forward your appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office (see the
information
here [8]https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/you...). You
can also seek to enforce your right through judicial remedy.
For more information on how the University uses personal data (including
data sharing with the Higher Education Statistics Agency) please
see [9]www.dundee.ac.uk/information-governance/dataprotection.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Greater Glasgow Student Tenants Union
<[FOI #720564 email]>
Sent: 21 January 2021 23:15
To: FreedomOfInformation <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Financial Reports submitted to
the SFC
Dear University of Dundee,
To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act
2000.
I understand that I do not have to specify particular file or document
names and it is the relevant department's responsibility to provide the
information I require. If you need further clarification please contact me
by email.
I would like the information to be emailed to me in electronic form at the
following email address: [email address]
If you cannot provide the complete responses to my requests within the
scope mentioned below, please provide what available information you have
and an explanation for why you cannot provide the data requested.
I ask that you justify all omissions by reference to specific exemptions
of the act.
I reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or
to charge excessive fees.
If there are any omissions under Section 21 of the act, I would politely
request that the information is clearly signposted in the response to my
request, in the interests of accessibility.
As the information requested in i. and ii. has already been compiled, and
recently at that, I would hope this would avoid any omissions under
Section 12.
I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received
this request. I look forward to your response within 20 working days as
outlined by the statute.
Information Requested:
i.
All of the information submitted to the Scottish Funding Council on
18/01/2021 in response to the Call For Information, reference
“SFC/CI/01/2021” , outlined in the following:
[10]http://www.sfc.ac.uk/web/FILES/callsfori...
ii. All of the information submitted to the SFC outlined in the Call For
Information, reference “SFC/CI/01/2021” document under points 2. and 3.
(see above for the website address):
“2.Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, universities provided two main
financial 2.returns to SFC in the course of the year:•Forecasts submitted
at the end of June (outturn forecast for the current year and forecasts
for the following three years). •Annual accounts submitted at the end of
December (audited financial statements and supporting reports by
institutions’ audit committee, internal and external auditors)”
“3. As result of the COVID-19 pandemic, SFC requested institutions to
provide 3.additional financial returns, comprising updated forecasts for
2019-20 and 2020-21, by the end of April and the end of July 2020. These
replaced the main 2020 Strategic Plan Forecast return. Institutions also
provided updated financial forecasts at the end of November 2020”
Kind Regards,
Harrison Bott
Greater Glasgow Student Tenants’ Union.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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The University of Dundee is a registered Scottish Charity, No: SC015096
References
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3. http://www.dundee.ac.uk/information-gove...
4. mailto:[University of Dundee request email]
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