Dear Ms Corderoy,

Freedom of Information Act Request - our reference 2020-024.

Thank you for your email dated 7 February 2020 requesting information from
Oxford Brookes University about communications between the Vice-Chancellor
and China.

The University will respond on or before 6 March 2020, the date on which
the 20 working day response period permitted by the Freedom of Information
Act ends.

I may need to contact you again if the request needs to be clarified; this
is to ensure that we provide you with the information you require.

Please note that in certain cases some information you have requested may
not be provided to you; this will only be information that can be withheld
by law. In these cases the reasons will be explained to you along with
your copy of any information that can be released to you.

Yours Sincerely

Vanna Leathart
--
Vanna Leathart
University Records Manager
IT Services
Oxford Brookes University
Tel: +44 (0)1865 484046
Please note my normal working days are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Dear Ms Corderoy,
We are dealing with your request about communications with China, but the
Vice-Chancellor's Office have asked me to request clarification on one
point.  The Vice-Chancellor receives generic newsletters from a number of
organisations like the CBI and Universities UK.  Some of these newsletters
may mention the Chinese government, but they are not specifically directed
at our Vice-Chancellor nor do they relate to Oxford brookes University. 
For example, some recent ones mention the Chinese government's reaction to
the Coronavirus outbreak.  Would you like these newsletters be included in
the information we send to you, or should we restrict the search to
information that relates to our University?
Once we have received your clarification we will reconfirm the date by
which we will respond and continue to work on your request.
Yours sincerely
Vanna Leathart

Dear Ms Corderoy
I wanted to send you an email informally at this stage to acknowledge
receipt of your clarification about your FOI request.  Brookes will revert
to you with a more formal acknowledgement in the next day or two. 
best wishes

show quoted sections

Dear Ms Corderoy
Freedom of Information Act Request - our reference  2020 - 024 
Many thanks for your clarification. If we have any additional questions 
we will contact  you with further details. 
 
The University proposes to  respond on or before 13 March 2020 being the
revised date on which the 20 working day response period falls, permitted
by the Freedom of Information Act.   
 Please may I ask you to contact us via our generic email address which is
[1][Oxford Brookes University request email] should you need to, rather than reply to me
directly. This is to ensure that your query can be picked up by any of the
team. 

Yours sincerely
--
Katherine Phizackerley
Information Compliance Manager
IT Services 
Oxford Brookes University
01865 485420

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Oxford Brookes University request email]

Dear Ms Corderoy, 

Freedom of Information Act Request - our reference 2020-024.

Further to your email dated 7 February 2020 asking for information from
Oxford Brookes University about communications between the Vice-Chancellor
and China, I am able to provide the following information in response to
your request.

You asked:

Please provide the following information:

(1) All internal correspondence and communications that the
Vice-Chancellor may have received that mentions, or refers to, the
Chinese embassy.

(2) All internal correspondence and communications that the
Vice-Chancellor may have received that mentions, or refers to, the
Chinese government.

(3) All external correspondence and communications held by the
Vice-Chancellor that mentions, or refers to, the Chinese embassy. I
would expect this to include any correspondence and communications
between the Vice-Chancellor and the Chinese embassy.

(4) All external correspondence and communications held by the
Vice-Chancellor that mentions, or refers to, the Chinese government.

As for a timeframe, please search your records from 1st January 2019 to
the current day. I am happy for you to conduct an electronic search
only.

By ‘correspondence and communications’, I define this as including, but
not limited to, the following:

- Emails (and their attachments)

- Letters

- Reports/briefings

- Memos

- Research documents

- Presentation slides

- Notes taken during telephone conversations

- Minutes/notes taken during meetings

- Invitations

Response:

Please find attached the correspondence and communications you have
requested.  You will see that some parts of some of the emails have been
redacted as they refer to matters not relevant to your request.  In
addition, some documents have been withheld.  This is because we believe
that section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies here.
Section 43 (2) states that information is exempt from disclosure if its
disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice the commercial
interests of any person or organisation.  The information that has been
withheld is regarded as commercially sensitive as it may be damaging to
our business if seen by a competitor(s).

If this information does not address your requirements under the Freedom
of Information Act or you wish to complain about any aspect of the
handling of this request, then you should contact the undersigned in the
first instance. Should you remain dissatisfied, then you may apply for an
internal review by contacting the Director of Marketing and Communications
at Oxford Brookes University, Headington Campus, Gipsy Lane, Oxford OX3
OBP (email: [1][email address]). Your request for internal
review should be submitted to us within 40 working days of receipt by you
of this response.

During the independent review the handling of your information request
will be reassessed by staff who were not involved in providing you with
this response. If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your
request or complaint, you have a right to appeal to the Information
Commissioner at The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF. Further contact information and
details of the role and powers of the Information Commissioner can be
found on the Commissioner's website: [2]http://www.ico.org.uk/

Please note that the Information Commissioner is unlikely to investigate
your case until the University’s internal review process has been
completed.

Yours sincerely

Victoria Whittenbury 

--
Victoria Whittenbury
Information Governance Officer
IT Services 
Oxford Brookes University
01865 484354
Please note my usual working days are:
Monday to Wednesday (9:00am - 2:00pm) and Thursday (9:30am - 1:00pm)

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.ico.gov.uk/