InnovateUK assessor mark scheme

The request was successful.

Dear Innovate UK team,

I am writing to kindly request as much information as InnovateUK holds
in regards to:

i) Marking/scoring criteria sheets for InnovateUK assessors
ii)Marking/scoring criteria guidance for InnovateUK assessors
iii) Any associated information directly linked to information/training for incoming or existing assessors on their marking/scoring

To prevent this being an overbearing exercise, may I please ask that you prioritise the above in relation to:

1) Marking/scoring criteria sheets for Open programme funding competitions, including most recently closed round and next closing round
2) Marking/scoring criteria guidance literature for Open programme funding competitions, including most recently closed round and next closing round
3) Marking/scoring criteria sheet for Emerging and Enabling funding competitions, including most recently closed round and next closing round
4) Marking/scoring criteria guidance literature for Emerging and Enabling funding competitions including most recently closed round and next closing round
5) Any further recent training/briefing literature packs that an incoming assessors would have received in the course of their duties for marking/scoring of either of the above competitions that is already not in the public domain and that can be retrieved in a sensible amount of time (i.e I am expecting that you likely store such information to in a central location).

Please note that in each of the above cases (1->4) I do not expect any documents that contain specific company information (e.g. examples) to be made available in order to prevent refusal of the request under the i) commercial interests or ii) information relating to a third party exemption.

Please also note that my request is specific towards the above, and it would be unsatisfactory to receive generic powerpoint/literature in regards to "What are assessors looking for?" - which are already kindly contained within InnovateUK briefings.

Finally, if for any reason the transmission of this information is not feasible (for instance file size), then I would be happy to receive all documents in a hard copy format for which I am prepared to pay all sensible printing/mailing costs which are in line with FOI requests. If this route is the selected route then please could you also indicate whether you are willing for such documents to be uploaded by myself into the public domain and a later point.

Thank you for your time and forthcoming efforts

Yours faithfully,

Mr Wicks

Lynne Bell - UKRI, Innovate UK

Dear Mr Wicks

Ref: UKRI 2018/0077 IUK

Thank you for your information access request. It will be passed to the
appropriate UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) team to provide a response.
The response will be provided in line with the relevant information access
regime.

From 1st April 2018 the seven UK Research Councils (AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC,
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UKRI Information Governance

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Dear Lynne Bell - UKRI,

I am following up my recent FOI request (Ref: UKRI 2018/0077 IUK) to ask for an expected timeline on InnovateUKs' response.

It has now been over 20 working days since my request -in excess of the timeline stipulated by FOI Act.

Thank you again for your time in responding to my request

Yours sincerely,

Mr Wicks

Jason Johnson - UKRI PSU,

Good afternoon Mr Wicks

 

Thank you for your email.

 

According to our records we received and acknowledged your request on the
3^rd July 2018 and therefore have been working to a deadline of 31^st
July, which is 20 working days from this date.

 

Our response to your request has been drafted and is currently undergoing
some final revisions. Once these have been completed I will be able to
release our full response to you, which I expect should be before the end
of this week.

 

 

Kind Regards,

 

 

Jason Johnson

Information Manager

Professional Support Unit

 

Tel: 01793 234228 (Interal: 844228)

[mobile number]

Email: [1][email address]

 

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Dear Jason Johnson - UKRI PSU,

Thank you for your email.

End of this week/beginning of next would be great thank you. I look forward to hearing from you in due course.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Wicks

Jason Johnson - UKRI PSU,

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Wicks,

 

Please find attached our response to your Freedom of Information request,
our reference UKRI 2018/0077 IUK.

 

Kind regards

 

 

UKRI Information Governance

[1][email address]

 

If this email carries a protective marking it means the information
contained within it is sensitive and confidential. Please do not disclose
this information to individuals who do not have a legitimate right of
access to it.
Please delete this email when it is no longer needed, and securely dispose
of any printed copies you have made. Please contact the AHRC Information
Services Manager if you have any queries. Email: [email address]

<mailto:[email address]> Telephone: (01793 41 6000).

References

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1. mailto:[email address]

Dear Jason Johnson - UKRI PSU,

Thank you for your reply and my sincere apologies for the delay in getting back to you.

I am of course disappointed by your initial response, which for the sake of public transparency, states that whilst you hold the information requested you are unable to provide any of that information.

Before I can write a corresponding reply in full, I have drafted (and will soon request) an additional FOI request which relate to InnovateUK assessor policy. This request addresses inter-linking questions, however as they were not included within my original request I understand that they would likely not be covered under clarifying comments.

Once I have this information I will be in a better position to understand and address your response to my original request and will be sure to write a reply in due course. In the mean time could I please highlight that this FOI is still considered ongoing.

Thank you for your time and ongoing efforts.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Wicks

Jason Johnson - UKRI, Innovate UK

Good morning Mr Wicks

Thank you for your email.

I can appreciate that you may be disappointed by our decision, however as per the explanations within the response provided, we careful consider each FOI request on its own merits before reaching a decision as to whether we are able to release this information.

We have recently received your follow up request which will be forwarded to the relevant area of UKRI to prepare a response. You will receive a confirmation email for this shortly.

If you wish to contest the response we have provide to 2018/0077 IUK you are welcome to challenge this using the procedure outlined in our response letter and we will review the case.

To clarify for your awareness, as a formal response has been issued for 2018/0077 IUK it has been closed on our records, however this will be re-opened should you submit a request for a review.

Kind Regards,

Jason Johnson
Information Manager
Professional Support Unit

Tel: 01793 234228
[mobile number]
Email: [email address]

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Dear Mr Johnson and Innovate UK team,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I would like to appeal InnovateUKs decision to not disclose information requested under my FOI request (Ref: UKRI 2018/0077 IUK) and would please ask for InnovateUK(/UKRI) to conduct an internal review on the decision.

I accept that there are points for and against disclosure, however I believe that the arguments laid out in the response letter are not sufficiently strong to warrant withholding information which is both accessible and in the public interest.

Most notably, it seems that the arguments put forward fail to fully recognise the strong possibility that InnovateUK assessors are able to share their insight and knowledge of mark schemes with friends, family and professional network. This creates a foreseeable situation where a set of potential applicants, namely InnovateUK assessor past and present + their personal network, are put in a stronger position than applicants who have no links to the process - representing an asymmetry of information access and a competitive bias (by design).

From my viewpoint a reasonable, cost-effective and fair way to re-align this asymmetry would be to freely publish and upload all InnovateUK assessor marking guidelines directly upon the InnovateUK website so that all potential applicants, regardless of their links to the process, have access to the same information and insight.

I am a strong supporter of InnovateUK and am confident that such a step towards transparency would further strengthen the reputation and respect the business community holds for InnovateUK. I hope your review will agree with this sentiment.

Thank you again for your time

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/i...

UKRI FOI Requests, Innovate UK

Dear Mr Wicks,

UKRI Reference: 2018/0077 IUK

I can confirm we have received your request for an internal review of your Freedom of Information request 2018/0077 IUK.

Your request will be handled, and responded to, in due course.

Kind regards,

UKRI Information Governance
[email address]

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UKRI FOI Requests, Innovate UK

Dear Mr Wicks,

Further to our email below I am writing to let you know that we are still conducting the internal review and will provide you with a response in due course.

Kind regards,

UKRI Information Governance
[email address]

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Dear UKRI FOI Requests,

Further to our previous correspondence, I would like to please remind the department that there is an expectation that internal reviews are carried out within a reasonable timeline. Over 10 weeks has now passed since I filed my request for an internal review.

Please would you kindly provide me with a further update on the progress of your internal review and outline whether you will be able to deliver the result of this review by EOB this week (14/12/2018).

Thank you for your efforts

Yours sincerely,

Mr Wicks

UKRI FOI Requests, Innovate UK

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Wicks,

As requested we have now completed the internal review, please find attached our response.

Regards,

UKRI Information Governance
[email address]

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Dear UKRI FOI Requests,

Thank you for your time and efforts sorting this- it's appreciated.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Wicks