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Frontline welfare staff recruitment and training

H. Brown made this Freedom of Information request to Murray Edwards College, Cambridge as part of a batch sent to 31 authorities Automatic anti-spam measures are in place for this older request. Please let us know if a further response is expected or if you are having trouble responding.

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To whom it may concern,

This is a formal request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

I am writing to you on the back of a ‘safety in colleges forum’ that was hosted on 12/03, during which students raised serious concerns about porter recruitment and training. A story in Varsity last week detailed profiling by frontline welfare staff and its concerning impact on student mental health. We have been tasked by students to get more information about the recruitment, training and professional background of college porters.

With this in mind, could you please provide the following pieces of information:

(1) How many porters have been recruited since 2020? Please attach any candidate information packs or equivalent relating to porter recruitment issued since 2020.

(2) Details of any mandatory training undertaken by College porters, and additional training available to porters and frontline welfare staff.

(3) i) the aggregate number of current college porters who have previously been employed by the armed forces or the police.
ii) the total number of porters currently employed by the college.

(4) The aggregate number of student complaints made to the college concerning porter conduct since 2020.

Please provide an index of relating documents.

If you are to invoke Section 43 to withhold information in relation to any of these questions please note you must provide details of the exact FOIA exemption, details of who would be prejudiced by this information, and a public interest test justifying a conclusion with arguments for and against the release of the information.

If you are to invoke Section 12 to withhold information in relation to any of these questions please provide details of how locating, retrieving and extracting this information would exceed the appropriate limit of £450 as set out in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. Please also be aware of your duty under section 16 (1) of the Act to advise and assist me in narrowing my request to bring it within the appropriate limit.

Thank you very much for your assistance with this request. If these questions should be more specific, we would be grateful for your help in refining them. If you would like any clarification on the information I have asked for, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Yours sincerely,

Harvey Brown

Freedom of Information, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge

1 Attachment

Dear Mr H. Brown

Thank you for your email.

Please find the reply below.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Hopwood

RJ Hopwood MBA FCCA

Bursar and Fellow

Murray Edwards College

Huntingdon Road

Cambridge, CB3 0DF

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of this decision, you should write to The Bursar, Murray Edwards College, Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, CB3 0DF who will then assign an appropriate person to conduct the internal review. If subsequently you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the College.

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

(1) How many porters have been recruited since 2020? Please attach any candidate information packs or equivalent relating to porter recruitment issued since 2020.

We don't use candidate information packs, but I have attached the JD for the role which is used to advertise.

(2) Details of any mandatory training undertaken by College porters, and additional training available to porters and frontline welfare staff.

Mandatory training:

H&S Essentials

Bullying & Harassment for Employees

Fire Awareness

First Aid

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

GDPR UK: Essentials

Display Screen Equipment

Manual Handling

Mental Health Champion

PCI

Prevent

Additional training is provided as and when identified as necessary for individuals/teams.

(3) i) the aggregate number of current college porters who have previously been employed by the armed forces or the police. 3

ii) the total number of porters currently employed by the college. 11

(4) The aggregate number of student complaints made to the college concerning porter conduct since 2020.

There was none raised as a complaint under the student complaint procedure.

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We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are H. Brown please sign in and let everyone know.