Dear Tabs Noreen,
 
Thank you for your request for information below which has been given
reference FOI 3402. Please quote this on any correspondence regarding your
request.
 
In order to proceed with your request, we require further clarification as
to the information you are requesting.
 
You requested information relating to joint initiatives or research
projects with ""arms and defence companies” and stated your request
‘'includes but is not limited to, companies such Airbus, Babcock
International, BAE Systems, Boeing, Chemring, Elbit Systems, General
Dynamics, General Electric, Honeywell, Huntington Ingalls, JCB, L3Harris
Technologies, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, Meggitt, Northrop Grumman,
QinetiQ, Rolls-Royce PLC, RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies), Smiths
Group and Thales."
 

• Firstly, please can I ask for clarification of what you mean by 'joint
initiatives'?

• Secondly, retrieving information about research projects will require
us to search for specific company names in our systems. Please could
you clarify the names of any and all companies that will be relevant
to your request, in order that we can conduct the necessary searches?

 
Once you have clarified the above, the University of Central Lancashire
will respond to your request within 20 working days. If there will be a
charge for disbursements e.g. photocopying in order to provide the
information, we will inform you as soon as possible to see if you wish to
proceed.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
 
Corporate Records Manager
Legal and Governance
University of Central Lancashire
Email: [1][email address]
Pronouns: (She/Her/Hers)
BA,PgD
Confidentiality: This email, its contents and any attachments are intended
only for the above named. As the email may contain personal data,
confidential or legally privileged information, if you are not the above
named or the person responsible for delivery of the message to the above
named or suspect that you are not the intended recipient, please delete or
securely destroy any copies of the message and any attachments immediately
and inform the sender of the error.

Please consider the environment before printing
 
 
 

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Dear Tabs Noreen,
 
Thank you for responding to my request for clarification, and for
confirming the list of companies which are relevant to your request.
 
I believe The University will hold information about any ongoing research
projects that have been funded by the listed companies. Please can you
confirm that this is relevant to your request, in terms of research?
 
I am still not clear on what is meant by ‘joint initiative’, based on the
following explanation’ ‘please provide informations on any involvement,
such as financial dealings (whether in terms of incomings or outgoings) or
research projects, between the university and the arms industries. We
would like to know about any means through which the university and these
companies collaborate.'' I understand you are interested in information
about current or active initiatives only. I can advise that the University
might collaborate with companies in a multitude of ways including
research, teaching, work experience, apprenticeships, bids, and commercial
projects. Not all of these activities would involve financial
transactions/ exchanges of monies and the records and information relating
to them will be dispersed across the institution which may present us with
difficulty in providing a timely response. Are you able to specify which
activities are relevant to the scope of your request so we can best
proceed?
 
Could I also confirm, in your other FOI request Ref FOI 3401 you have
asked for information of current investments in the same companies, to
avoid overlap between the two requests could I confirm that you do not
wish to receive information about university investments in the listed
companies, in response to this second request?
 
Thanks again for your advice,
 
Corporate Records Manager
Legal and Governance
University of Central Lancashire
Email: [1][email address]
Pronouns: (She/Her/Hers)
BA,PgD
Confidentiality: This email, its contents and any attachments are intended
only for the above named. As the email may contain personal data,
confidential or legally privileged information, if you are not the above
named or the person responsible for delivery of the message to the above
named or suspect that you are not the intended recipient, please delete or
securely destroy any copies of the message and any attachments immediately
and inform the sender of the error.

Please consider the environment before printing
 
 
 
 
 

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Dear Tabs Noreen,

Thank you for coming back to me regarding your Freedom of Information Request.

Can I confirm that research projects that have documented involvement by the listed companies for which our Research and Knowledge Exchange service, will be relevant? Are you only interested in knowing about current or active research projects or should a search be conducted for a specific date range?

Could I also ask what date range we should search in our financial systems, for any transactions with the listed companies?

Thanks again,
Zoe

Zoe Cooper
Corporate Records Manager
Legal and Governance
University of Central Lancashire
Email: [email address]
Pronouns: (She/Her/Hers)
BA,PgD
Confidentiality: This email, its contents and any attachments are intended only for the above named. As the email may contain personal data, confidential or legally privileged information, if you are not the above named or the person responsible for delivery of the message to the above named or suspect that you are not the intended recipient, please delete or securely destroy any copies of the message and any attachments immediately and inform the sender of the error.

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Dear Tabs Noreen,
 
Thank you for responding to my request for clarification, regarding the
scope of your Freedom of Information Request.
 
I have drafted the final request below, to reflect clarifications made.
 

• Does the university have any joint initiatives or research projects
(records held centrally by the Research and Knowledge Exchange
Service) with (involvement with the following) arms and defence
companies: Airbus, Babcock International, BAE Systems, Boeing,
Chemring, Elbit Systems, General Dynamics, General Electric,
Honeywell, Huntington Ingalls, JCB, L3Harris Technologies, Leonardo,
Lockheed Martin, Meggitt, Northrop Grumman, QinetiQ, Rolls-Royce PLC,
RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies), Smiths Group and Thales. What
is the nature of these relationships?

• I would be happy for it to be restricted to research projects and any
transactions through which the university receives money from said
companies.

• Regarding the time range, please would you be able to provide me with
information on any ongoing projects or those that have ended in the
past year (ie. since the beginning of October 2023).

 
The term ‘research projects’ could be interpreted very broadly to include
all projects that may include research, held across a multitude of
university repositories and managed by a large number of staff and
students, across 10 schools. Due to limitations of searching across
systems and repositories it would not be possible for the University to
respond to a request with such a broad scope, within a 20-day deadline and
within the cost limit set by the FOIA. As previously suggested however, we
could conduct a search of records held by our Research and Knowledge
Exchange Service who will hold records about all funded projects and those
which have been though the ethical approval process. Could I confirm that
this will be sufficient to meet the element of your request that mentions
research activities?
 
Thanks,
Zoe
 
 
Zoe Cooper
Corporate Records Manager
Legal and Governance
University of Central Lancashire
Email: [1][email address]
Pronouns: (She/Her/Hers)
BA,PgD
Confidentiality: This email, its contents and any attachments are intended
only for the above named. As the email may contain personal data,
confidential or legally privileged information, if you are not the above
named or the person responsible for delivery of the message to the above
named or suspect that you are not the intended recipient, please delete or
securely destroy any copies of the message and any attachments immediately
and inform the sender of the error.

Please consider the environment before printing
 
 
 
 
 

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Dear Tabs Noreen,

Thank you for your clarification.

The University of Central Lancashire will respond to your
request as soon as possible and within 20 working days.

Yours sincerely,

Zoe Cooper
Corporate Records Manager
Legal and Governance
University of Central Lancashire
Email: [email address]
Pronouns: (She/Her/Hers)
BA,PgD
Confidentiality: This email, its contents and any attachments are intended only for the above named. As the email may contain personal data, confidential or legally privileged information, if you are not the above named or the person responsible for delivery of the message to the above named or suspect that you are not the intended recipient, please delete or securely destroy any copies of the message and any attachments immediately and inform the sender of the error.

Please consider the environment before printing

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