We are currently experiencing some temporary resourcing constraints within
the Data Protection and Freedom of Information function, together with
high levels of demand for support. As a result, on an interim basis we are
having to prioritise activity that requires urgent action, as well as
ensuring that UCL continues to comply with its statutory responsibilities
in relation to the relevant legislation. As a result, we may not be able
to deal with your query within the timeframe that we would typically
expect to.​
If you have submitted a Freedom of Information request please accept this
email as acknowledgement that your request has been received. You should
expect a response from us within 20 working days.

Dear Naeem,

 

I am writing in response to your request for information received by UCL
on 24 February. Please accept our apologies for the fact that we were not
able to respond within 20 working days.

 

Please find attached information relevant to your request. The information
we hold relating to questions 1-4 and 7 can be found in attachment 1 and
the information relevant to questions 5 and 6 is in the second attachment.

 

You may wish to note that:

 

1. The list in attachment 1 may not include all philanthropic payments to
UCL, only those known to Development and Alumni Relations Office (DARO),
donations may also come straight into UCL departments via the finance
system and are recorded locally in which this case this information may
not be held centrally. In order to determine whether or not this is the
case we would need to check with each UCL academic department and we are
unable to provide this information. The number of individual academic
staff across UCL is considerable and we have estimated that it would cost
University College London more than £450 to comply with your request. 
This figure, known as the ‘appropriate limit’, is specified by regulation,
representing the cost of one person spending 18 hours determining whether
we hold the information, and locating, retrieving and / or extracting it.

 

In estimating whether complying with the request would exceed the
appropriate limit, and in accordance with Regulation 4 (3) of the Freedom
of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees)
Regulations 2004, we have taken into account the costs we would reasonably
expect to incur in:

 

•           determining whether the University holds the information;

 

•           locating the information, or a document/s containing it;

 

•           retrieving the information, or a document/s containing it; 

 

•           extracting the information from a document/s containing it;
and

 

•           Collating the information.

 

 

We have calculated that the cost of complying with your request would be
in excess of the appropriate limit. Consequently, we are not obliged by
the Freedom of Information Act to comply with this element of your
request. This response acts as a refusal notice under section 17(1) of the
Act for this element of your request.

 

2. DARO does not hold information on donor nationalities. This document
includes donations from people and organisations that have their primary
address in the requested list of countries, or we know from the Student
Information System (SITS) that the Alumni country of domicile is in the
requested list.

3. DARO only stores ‘donor intention’ & many donations are to be used for
“general purposes”. These monies may later be used to fund research or
posts by a department. DARO does not track this.

4. Our response to question 6 indicates the salary element where
applicable in the award data as this is the only information available to
the Research Services team. Once again to establish the exact number of
research and teaching posts specifically funded by funds from the
countries you have requested would require us to check with each academic
department. This would be a significant task and would in addition to the
work required to carry out the task referred to above would exceed the
appropriate limit.

5. We don’t store subject area specifically so we have provided department
names, project titles and sponsor names to identify relevant projects.

 

You are free to use any information supplied for your own use, including
for non-commercial research purposes. The information may also be used for
the purposes of news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for
example by publishing or issuing copies to the public, will require the
permission of the copyright owner.

 

If you are unhappy with our response to your request and wish to make a
complaint or request a review of our decision, please email
[1][email address]. Emails should include the words ‘Internal
Review’ in the subject and be marked For the Attention of the Vice Provost
Operations, alternatively you should write to:

 

Vice Provost Operations

University College London

1-19 Torrington Place

London WC1E 7HB

 

Please note, complaints and requests for internal review received more
than two months after the initial decision will not be handled.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you may
apply directly to the Information Commissioner at the address given
below.  You should do this within two months of our final decision.

 

If you have any queries or concerns, please contact me using the details
provided in this letter and including the request reference number.

 

Further information on the Freedom of Information Act is available from
the Information Commissioner’s Office:

 

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

SK9 5AF

 

Telephone       01625 545700

[2]www.ico.gov.uk

 

Regards,

 

 

Alex Daybank

Data Protection & FOI

Legal Services

University College London

 

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