Senior management salaries

The request was refused by London School of Economics.

Dear London School of Economics,

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In order to assist you with this request, I am outlining my query as specifically as possible.
I would like to know the yearly salary of the pro directors and how much that has increased since 2012, year-to-year.
I would be interested in any information held by your organization regarding my request. I understand that I do not have to specify files or documents and that it is the institution’s responsibility to provide the information I require. If you need further clarification, please contact me by email.
I would like to receive the information electronically.
If my request is denied in whole or in part, I ask that you justify this by reference to specific exemptions of the Act. I will also expect you to release all non-exempt material. I reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to charge excessive fees.
I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing/by email that you have received this request. I look forward to your response within 20 working days, as outlined by the statute.

Yours faithfully,

David Roberts

Dear London School of Economics,

I recently asked for information under the FoI Act. By law, public authorities must respond within 20 working days. This has not happened. Please can you explain why you have not responded in accordance with the law, and please can you pass the information I have requested, to me?

Yours faithfully,

David Roberts

GLPD.Info.Rights, London School of Economics

Dear David,

With reference to your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act, I am writing to inform you that your request has been refused.

While it is the School’s policy to respond as fully as possible to requests for information, it is not always able to do so. All refusals must be justified by reference to an exemption from the obligation to disclose the information specified in the FoI legislation. In this instance, the exemption under Section 43(2) has been applied. This is because the salaries provided to academic staff are commercial in confidence information. The School competes internationally for academic staff and needs to be able to offer competitive salaries. As release under FoI is a release to the public domain, it would allow out competitors to know what we are offering academic staff.

This exemption was subject to the public interest test, however, in applying the test the School's ability to keep internationally excellent academic staff and thereby attract students and research funding outweighed the transparency in providing this information.

However, should you wish to appeal the decision, put your appeal in writing to Louise Nadal, School Secretary, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE. We will then review the response to your request and get back to you within 20 working days. You can also contact the Information Commissioner's Office http://www.ico.gov.uk/, though they expect the internal review to be carried out before receiving a complaint directly.

I apologise for the late response, which is due to pressures of work.

Yours sincerely,
Rachael Maguire
Records Manager
London School of Economics

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