Research and Financial Relationships with the Arms Trade

The request was refused by Loughborough University.

Dear Loughborough University,

I am writing to request information on the research and financial relationships the university holds in the following companies: BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, QinetiQ, Rolls-Royce, GKN, Cobham, Elbit Systems, Leonardo, L3 Technologies, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Thales, Boeing, General Dynamics, Airbus, United Technologies, Babcock International, Serco, Meggitt, AirTanker, Chemring and Ultra Electronics and any other arms companies.

Additionally, I am writing to request information on the contracts the university holds with the Ministry of Defence and equivalent bodies and armed forces of other countries.

Please include the following information:

1) For each of the above companies/bodies please list all the projects, industrial consultancy and industrial research that the university has received funding for over the past four academic years, 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. Details should be broken down by each university department, showing the company or government body who have provided funding, the start and end date of each contract, title of the project/research, and total funding of each project/research year-by-year for the past four academic years. Lastly, please list all external organisations and bodies that are also participants in the projects/research identified.

2) Does the university have, or is it working towards, an ethical research policy that excludes, or could exclude, the companies listed above?

Please provide the information in a machine readable form and spell out all acronyms.

Yours faithfully,

Jessica Poyner

Dear Loughborough University,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Loughborough University's handling of my FOI request 'Research and Financial Relationships with the Arms Trade'.

I sent an FoI request via email on 19th July, 2017. By law, a response was required within 20 days. I have received no response to this email. Please could you let me know when I can expect a response to my FoI request and the results of the internal review.

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

Yours faithfully,

Jessica Poyner

Loughborough University Freedom of Information, Loughborough University

Dear Ms Poyner,

Ref: FOI1329

Thank you for your email. Please accept my apologies for the fact that you have not yet received a response. I will chase up colleagues who were asked to provide the details and be in touch at the earliest possible time.

Yours sincerely,

Catherine Smethurst
Freedom of Information Officer
Loughborough University, LE11 3TU

Tel: 01509 228616
Email: [Loughborough University request email]

Loughborough University Freedom of Information, Loughborough University

Catherine Smethurst
Freedom of Information Officer
Rutland Building, Loughborough University
Leics., LE11 3TU

Web: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/

24 October 2017

Name: Jessica Poyner
Address: By email

Ref: FOI1329

Dear Ms Poyner,

In response to your Freedom of Information request dated 19 July 2017, please find below information relating to your enquiry. Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in responding.

For the first question, we have taken the decision to refuse your request for information in accordance with Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The information for which you have asked is not easily accessible and to collate it would require members of staff to read through individual contracts and associated information. We estimate that this would take significantly in excess of the time limit set out in the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 (18 hours for a public body).

For the second question, please refer to the current ethical policy framework which is available at: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/committees/ethics/. Work is currently being undertaken to update this policy and a revised version will be published in due course.

I hope this information is useful but if you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

If, for any reason, you are dissatisfied with the way in which your request for information has been handled, you may invoke the following complaints procedure: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/admin/ar/policy/f...

Yours sincerely,

Catherine Smethurst