Investments and Links with Arms Industry

The request was refused by University of Bristol.

R Boardman-Pattison

Dear University of Bristol,

I am writing to request information on the financial relationships
the university holds with the arms trade (specifically, but not
limited to BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, QinetiQ, Rolls Royce, GKN,
Smiths Group, Cobham, VT Group, Elbit, Finmeccanica , Halliburton,
L3 Communications, Northrup Grumman and Raytheon). Please include
the following information:

1) The total amount, in pounds sterling, that the university has
received in research funding, industrial consultancy fees, and
industrial research fees from arms trade companies in the last five
financial years. Details should be broken down for each company,
year-by-year for the last five financial years and also broken down
for each department, year by year for the last five financial
years.

2) The total amount, in pounds sterling, that the university has
received in research funding, industrial consultancy and industrial
research fees from the Ministry of Defence over the last five
financial years. Details should be broken down, year-by-year for
the last five financial years.

3) A portfolio statement for the fund(s) the university has
investments in. If you do not have a copy of this, please send me a
list of the names of the fund(s) and the corresponding management
companies. Details should be broken down, year-by-year for the last
five financial years.

4) Please also confirm if any shares are held in arms trade
companies as part of a pension fund or endowment, either directly
or indirectly through an externally managed fund. Details should be
broken down, year-by-year for the last five financial years.

I would wholeheartedly encourage the university to adopt an ethical
investment policy that excludes the arms trade, and would
appreciate it if you could tell me if this is something that the
university is working towards.

Yours faithfully,

R Boardman-Pattison

University of Bristol FOI mailbox, University of Bristol

Thank you for your e-mail.  The University will endeavour to respond to
your request under the Freedom of Information Act within 20 working days.
 However, we are currently experiencing a delay in providing responses.

We are currently short staffed and have a significant backlog
of requests which we are working through as quickly as we can.  This means
that some responses may be delayed beyond the statutory 20 days.  We
apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause. We have contacted the
Information Commissioner’s Office to explain the situation.

 

We may need to ask you certain questions to clarify your request to ensure
we fully understand what information is being requested. If so, the 20
working day deadline will be calculated once we have received such
clarification. 

 

The University's A-Z index can help in locating information that is
publicly available on the University's
website: [1]http://www.bristol.ac.uk/index/

 

Our Publication Scheme is available
at: [2]http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/s...

 

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) annually publish certain
data about students and higher education, and also have a bespoke data
request service: [3]https://www.hesa.ac.uk/

 

For further information about the University's FOI procedure, please
see: [4]http://www.bristol.ac.uk/secretary/foi/

References

Visible links
1. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/index/
2. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/s...
3. https://www.hesa.ac.uk/
4. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/secretary/foi/

University of Bristol FOI mailbox, University of Bristol

Dear R Boardman-Pattison,

 

Freedom of Information Request: Financial Relationships (FOI17- 380)

 

I refer to your Freedom of Information Request received on 14^th October
2017. We apologise for the delay in providing our response. 

 

Further to Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the “Act”) we
confirm that the information requested is held by the University of
Bristol (the “University”) however some of the information is exempt from
disclosure.

 

Your Request

 I am writing to request information on the financial relationships the
university holds with the arms trade (specifically, but not limited to BAE
Systems, Lockheed Martin, QinetiQ, Rolls Royce, GKN, Smiths Group, Cobham,
VT Group, Elbit, Finmeccanica, Halliburton, L3 Communications, Northrup
Grumman and Raytheon). Please include the following information:

1) The total amount, in pounds sterling, that the university has received
in research funding, industrial consultancy fees, and industrial research
fees from arms trade companies in the last five financial years. Details
should be broken down for each company, year-by-year for the last five
financial years and also broken down for each department, year by year for
the last five financial years.

2) The total amount, in pounds sterling, that the university has received
in research funding, industrial consultancy and industrial research fees
from the Ministry of Defence over the last five financial years. Details
should be broken down, year-by-year for the last five financial years.

This information (parts 1 and 2) is exempt from disclosure under section
41(1) of the Freedom of Information Act as the disclosure of this
information to the public would constitute an actionable breach of
confidence. Details of such funding is the subject of confidentiality
clauses within the funding agreements.

 

The disclosure of such information is also exempt under section 43(2) of
the Freedom of Information Act where the public disclosure of this
information would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial
interests of the University. In an increasingly competitive higher
education sector, disclosing details of the origins and amounts of the
University’s research funding and consultancy into the public domain (that
may then be seen by our competitors) would be likely to affect the
University’s ability to attract such funding in future.

 

The public interest in disclosure has been considered in the application
of the section 43(2) exemption. It is accepted that there is a public
interest in the research conducted by the University and the need to be
transparent about research activities, as far as possible. The University
makes a lot of information available about its research:
[1]http://www.bristol.ac.uk/research/

 

However, in addition to the commercial prejudice outlined above, the
public disclosure of this information would make it less likely that
companies or organisations would provide the University with commercially
sensitive information in future and consequently affect the University's
ability to conduct research of this sort. Research funding is a vital
source of income to the University and its commercial interests would also
be affected as a result of any loss of funding. It is on this basis that
we consider the public interest falls in favour of applying the exemption.

 

3) A portfolio statement for the fund(s) the university has investments
in. If you do not have a copy of this, please send me a list of the names
of the fund(s) and the corresponding management companies. Details should
be broken down, year-by-year for the last five financial years.

 

The University's endowment investments are managed on its behalf by
Sarasin and Partners (a special charity manager). This investment is
through the Alpha CIF2 fund. We are unable to provide the portfolio
statement for Sarasin & Partners as that information is exempt from
disclosure under section 43(2) of the Act.  

 

The details of the investments underlying the Alpha CIF funds reflect the
professional decisions made by the University’s appointed fund managers.
The University’s fund managers provide services on the basis of their
ability to make these decisions more appropriately than other fund
managers; to allow the requested information into the public domain would
therefore put Sarasin & Partners at a commercial disadvantage with respect
to their competitors. Disclosure of the requested information would also
be to the detriment of the University as it would assist competitors
within the higher education sector.

 

The public interest in disclosure of this information has been considered
in the application of this exemption. It is accepted that the University
should be transparent in relation to its financial matters as far as
possible, however, in this case, the potential harm to the University and
Sarasin & Partners is considered to outweigh the public interest in
disclosure, and the exemption is applied. 

 

In addition, there is a confidentiality clause in the Investment
Management Terms governing the University’s relationship with Sarasin &
Partners which specifically includes details of the investments and
decisions made by the investment manager. Disclosing the information would
mean that the University would be in breach of this clause and therefore
exposed to possible legal action. Consequently, the information is also
exempt under section 41 of the Act – Information provided in confidence.

4) Please also confirm if any shares are held in arms trade companies as
part of a pension fund or endowment, either directly or indirectly through
an externally managed fund. Details should be 
broken down, year-by-year for the last five financial years.

The University does not hold any shares directly in any companies
(including those listed above).

 

Information relating to the University’s pension funds is held by pension
funds (such as UBPAS and USS), which are separate entities.

 

I would wholeheartedly encourage the university to adopt an
ethical investment policy that excludes the arms trade, and
would appreciate it if you could tell me if this is something that
the university is working towards.

 

The University’s Ethical Investment Policy is available on our website. I
have provided a link for ease of reference:
[2]http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/s...

 

 

Internal Review Procedure

 

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request then you have a
right under Section 50 of the Act to request an internal review.  All such
requests must be sent to us within 40 days and must clearly state your
reference number and your reason for your request for an internal review. 
We will respond to your request for an internal review within 20 working
days of receipt.

 

Your request for an internal review should be sent to:-

 

Director of Legal Services,

Secretary’s Office,

University of Bristol,

Senate House,

Tyndall Avenue,

Bristol,

BS8 1TH

 

Or you can email your request to [University of Bristol request email],
quoting your FOI reference number at the head of this letter.

 

Information Commissioners Office

 

Should you remain dissatisfied with the final outcome of the internal
review then you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner (the
“ICO”) for an independent review.  The ICO is the Government’s Independent
Body responsible for overseeing the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the
Data Protection Act 1998 and The Environmental Information Regulations
2004.

 

Please note the ICO will only review cases that have exhausted the
University’s internal review procedure. All correspondence to the ICO must
quote the University’s reference number and your reasons for your appeal. 
The ICO’s contact details are as follows:-

 

The Information Commissioners Office,

Wycliffe House,

Water Lane,

Wilmslow,

Cheshire,

SK9 5AF.

 

More information can be found at the ICO’s website
at [3]http://www.ico.org.uk

 

Kind Regards

 

Freedom of Information Team

University of Bristol

References

Visible links
1. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/research/
2. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/s...
3. http://www.ico.org.uk/