Staff and payment details
Dear Murray Edwards College, Cambridge,
This is a formal request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Could you please provide the following pieces of information:
College pay spine
Staff headcount (aggregated) for the past year
Staff headcount (disaggregated by grade) for the past year
The number of fixed-term contracts, open-ended and permanent contracts for the past year. If the College operates a grade system, please provide a breakdown by grade.
The number of individuals providing piecework for the College in the past year
Undergraduate supervisors headcount for the past year (aggregated)
Supervisors headcount for the past year disaggregated by staff category (UTO, postdoc, CTO, graduate students)
Pay rates for piecework (DoSing, supervisions, admission interviews)
Pay awards made to staff in the past 3 years
A template of a DoS letter of appointment
A template of a contract for a College Tutor
A template of a contract for a College Junior Research Fellow. If contracts are not issued for this post, please provide a template letter of appointment or terms and conditions.
A template of contract for a College Teaching Officer
Please provide an index of related documents.
If you are to invoke Section 43 to withhold information in relation to any of these questions please note you must provide details of the exact FOIA exemption, details of who would be prejudiced by this information, and a public interest test justifying a conclusion with arguments for and against the release of the information.
If you are to invoke Section 12 to withhold information in relation to any of these questions please provide details of how locating, retrieving and extracting this information would exceed the appropriate limit of £450 as set out in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. Please also be aware of your duty under section 16 (1) of the Act to advise and assist me in narrowing my request to bring it within the appropriate limit.
Thank you very much for your assistance with this request. If you would like any clarification on the information I have asked for, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
In its guidance the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) says that the requirement to respond 'promptly' and the requirement to respond no later than 20 working days are to be considered as separate obligations. Public bodies should be able to justify why it took them as long as 20 days to respond to requests in cases where they do not act more promptly than that "long stop" deadline. I look forward to receiving your response in the next 20 working days. If you are unable to provide a response in the next 20 working days please provide an updated timeline by the deadline 06/04/23.
Yours faithfully,
Max Long
Dear Mr Long
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request.
Please find the reply below.
Yours sincerely,
Robert Hopwood
RJ Hopwood MBA FCCA
Bursar and Fellow
Murray Edwards College
Huntingdon Road
Cambridge, CB3 0DF
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of this decision,
you should write to The Bursar, Murray Edwards College, Huntingdon Road,
Cambridge, CB3 0DF who will then assign an appropriate person to conduct
the internal review. If subsequently you are not content with the outcome
of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner
for a decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a
decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by
the College.
The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF.
Dear Murray Edwards College, Cambridge,
This is a formal request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Could you please provide the following pieces of information:
College pay spine
Staff headcount (aggregated) for the past year
Staff headcount (disaggregated by grade) for the past year
The number of fixed-term contracts, open-ended and permanent contracts for
the past year. If the College operates a grade system, please provide a
breakdown by grade.
The number of individuals providing piecework for the College in the past
year
Undergraduate supervisors headcount for the past year (aggregated)
Supervisors headcount for the past year disaggregated by staff category
(UTO, postdoc, CTO, graduate students)
Pay rates for piecework (DoSing, supervisions, admission interviews)
Pay awards made to staff in the past 3 years
A template of a DoS letter of appointment
A template of a contract for a College Tutor
A template of a contract for a College Junior Research Fellow. If
contracts are not issued for this post, please provide a template letter
of appointment or terms and conditions.
A template of contract for a College Teaching Officer
Please provide an index of related documents.
We have reviewed the information you asked for and the amount of time
required to provide the information. It will take considerably longer to
provide the information than the 18 hours stipulated in section
12. Various exemptions will also apply to some of the information
requested. For example, we have a small number of JRFs and this would
make them identifiable and disclose their terms of employment.
If you are to invoke Section 43 to withhold information in relation to any
of these questions please note you must provide details of the exact FOIA
exemption, details of who would be prejudiced by this information, and a
public interest test justifying a conclusion with arguments for and
against the release of the information.
If you are to invoke Section 12 to withhold information in relation to any
of these questions please provide details of how locating, retrieving and
extracting this information would exceed the appropriate limit of £450 as
set out in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate
Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. Please also be aware of your duty under
section 16 (1) of the Act to advise and assist me in narrowing my request
to bring it within the appropriate limit.
Thank you very much for your assistance with this request. If you would
like any clarification on the information I have asked for, please
don’t hesitate to get in touch.
In its guidance the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) says that the
requirement to respond 'promptly' and the requirement to respond no later
than 20 working days are to be considered as separate obligations. Public
bodies should be able to justify why it took them as long as 20 days to
respond to requests in cases where they do not act more promptly than that
"long stop" deadline. I look forward to receiving your response in the
next 20 working days. If you are unable to provide a response in the next
20 working days please provide an updated timeline by the deadline
06/04/23.
Yours faithfully,
Max Long
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
From: Max Long <[FOI #957291 email]>
Sent: 06 March 2023 14:09
To: Freedom of Information <[Murray Edwards College, Cambridge request email]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Staff and payment details
Dear Murray Edwards College, Cambridge,
This is a formal request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Could you please provide the following pieces of information:
College pay spine
Staff headcount (aggregated) for the past year
Staff headcount (disaggregated by grade) for the past year
The number of fixed-term contracts, open-ended and permanent contracts for
the past year. If the College operates a grade system, please provide a
breakdown by grade.
The number of individuals providing piecework for the College in the past
year
Undergraduate supervisors headcount for the past year (aggregated)
Supervisors headcount for the past year disaggregated by staff category
(UTO, postdoc, CTO, graduate students)
Pay rates for piecework (DoSing, supervisions, admission interviews)
Pay awards made to staff in the past 3 years
A template of a DoS letter of appointment
A template of a contract for a College Tutor
A template of a contract for a College Junior Research Fellow. If
contracts are not issued for this post, please provide a template letter
of appointment or terms and conditions.
A template of contract for a College Teaching Officer
Please provide an index of related documents.
If you are to invoke Section 43 to withhold information in relation to any
of these questions please note you must provide details of the exact FOIA
exemption, details of who would be prejudiced by this information, and a
public interest test justifying a conclusion with arguments for and
against the release of the information.
If you are to invoke Section 12 to withhold information in relation to any
of these questions please provide details of how locating, retrieving and
extracting this information would exceed the appropriate limit of £450 as
set out in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate
Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. Please also be aware of your duty under
section 16 (1) of the Act to advise and assist me in narrowing my request
to bring it within the appropriate limit.
Thank you very much for your assistance with this request. If you would
like any clarification on the information I have asked for, please don’t
hesitate to get in touch.
In its guidance the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) says that the
requirement to respond 'promptly' and the requirement to respond no later
than 20 working days are to be considered as separate obligations. Public
bodies should be able to justify why it took them as long as 20 days to
respond to requests in cases where they do not act more promptly than that
"long stop" deadline. I look forward to receiving your response in the
next 20 working days. If you are unable to provide a response in the next
20 working days please provide an updated timeline by the deadline
06/04/23.
Yours faithfully,
Max Long
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #957291 email]
Is [Murray Edwards College, Cambridge request email] the wrong address for Freedom of
Information requests to Murray Edwards College, Cambridge? If so, please
contact us using this form:
[5]https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[6]https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[7]https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
[8]https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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Dear Robert,
Thanks for your response. Please could your provide details of how locating, retrieving and extracting this information would exceed the appropriate limit of £450 as set out in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004?
I would expect your response to include an explanation of why Murray Edwards College would take longer to retrieve this information than other Cambridge colleges who have been able to respond in full to identical FOI requests.
Yours faithfully,
Max
Dear Mr Long
Please can I refer you to the previous response in terms of the exemptions. Several of the requests relate to individual contracts which are tailored to each individual. We are therefore unable to provide you with a template for each of specific contract as they would identify the individuals involved.
The staff headcounts and supervisor amounts result in small numbers which would identify the Individuals involved. We are also unable to disaggregate the information relating to supervisors, as not all of the information is available on the Camcors system. Therefore we do not hold this information. Attempting to generate it would take a lot of effort and a long time.
In relation to pay awards, our general policy is to follow those of the University.
Yours sincerely,
Robert Hopwood
RJ Hopwood MBA FCCA
Bursar and Fellow
Murray Edwards College
Huntingdon Road
Cambridge, CB3 0DF
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of this decision, you should write to The Bursar, Murray Edwards College, Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, CB3 0DF who will then assign an appropriate person to conduct the internal review. If subsequently you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the College.
The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
Dear Murray Edwards College, Cambridge,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge's handling of my FOI request 'Staff and payment details'.
In particular, I would like the review to consider the following:
- On the application of Section 43(2): In previous rulings, the ICO has recognised that universities operate in a climate of competition, including international competition, and that this can be considered a commercial interest. But it has also stated that in any prejudice review a satisfactory “causal link” has to be established in order to withhold information. The burden of proof for a claim this like this is very high, as set out in the ICO’s March 2012 decision concerning the University of Manchester, where the Commissioner stated that “in order for section 43(2) to be engaged, the likelihood of the prejudice claimed must be more than merely hypothetical; the risk of it occurring must be real and significant.” I don't believe that the College has fulfilled these requirements in this case.
- The College has refused to provide information held on the CAMCORS system, which other colleges have provided in response to similar requests.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Max Long
Dear Dr Long,
Your FOI request has been passed to me to review. Your current request is so wide-ranging that the systems we have would require us to spend significantly more than 18 hours answering you, which would not be a proportionate use of limited College resources. It would also make some individuals identifiable. We will consider a reframed request.
Best wishes,
Andrew
Dr Andrew Rudd FSA
Senior Tutor
Murray Edwards College | Huntingdon Road | Cambridge | CB3 0DF
E: [email address]
Web: http://www.murrayedwards.cam.ac.uk/
Dear Andrew,
Many thanks for your response.
In your review, did you consider the fact that the college does hold some of the information that I am asking for on Camcors? As this is information which you do hold and is easily accessible, the 18 hour rule doesn't apply in this case.
I don't really understand your argument that this information would constitute personal data. Could you please explain the logic behind this? I don't believe that releasing information such as the number of supervisors, interviewers etc employed by the college would lead to individuals being any more identifiable than they currently are via the college website. If you deem it necessary you could carry out a balancing test as set out in the ICO's guidance on applying section 40 of the FOI act, but in this case that would seem to me like a waste of the college's resources.
I would also like to point out that I have made similar requests to a number of other Cambridge colleges, receiving responses in full from most of them.
Yours sincerely,
Max
Dear Max,
I can assure you that the two statements I made to you are true; your request would require significantly more than 18 hours for us to respond to and would identify individuals. I cannot speak for other colleges but our invitation to you to reframe your request stands.
Best wishes,
Andrew
Dear Andrew,
Below is a revised list of requests - I have removed the request for contract templates.
College pay spine.
Staff headcount (aggregated) for the academic year 2021-2.
Staff headcount (disaggregated by grade) for the academic year 2021-2.
The number of fixed-term contracts, open-ended and permanent contracts for the academic year 2021-2. If the College operates a grade system, please provide a breakdown by grade.
The number of individuals providing piecework for the College in the academic year 2021-2.
Undergraduate supervisors headcount for the academic year 2021-2 (aggregated).
Supervisors headcount for the past year disaggregated by staff category (UTO, postdoc, CTO, graduate students).
Pay rates for piecework (DoSing, supervisions, admission interviews).
Pay awards made to staff in the past 3 years academic years (2021-2, 2020-1, 2019-20).
As a reminder, if you are to invoke Section 43 to withhold information in relation to any of these questions please note you must provide details of the exact FOIA exemption, details of who would be prejudiced by this information, and a public interest test justifying a conclusion with arguments for and against the release of the information.
Yours sincerely,
Max
Dear Max,
I am afraid the time-consuming parts of the request are still there.
Best wishes,
Andrew
Dear Andrew,
Understood. I am happy for you to provide assistance with regards to what you believe would be a reasonable request, as per section 16 of the FOIA.
Yours sincerely,
Max
Dear Max,
Apologies for the delay. We had a busy week with graduation.
Yes, of course. The time-consuming parts are (1) the number of individuals providing piecework for the College in the past year - this information, which covers a large number of individuals on and off payroll, isn't held centrally; (2) Supervisors headcount for the past year disaggregated by staff category (UTO, postdoc, CTO, graduate students) - again, it's a large number of individuals on and off payroll who choose which category they're in. We would need to contact them individually to provide a meaningful answer and they may not reply.
As my colleague mentioned before, we don't have contract templates for College posts, just written agreements with individuals.
Is this okay? Please let me know if you'd like to proceed.
Best wishes,
Andrew
Dear Andrew,
Thanks for your message. My understanding with regard to the supervisor headcount is that you do possess the data but have doubts about the data because it is self-reported (though I don’t really understand why someone would self-report erroneously!). Because this information is accessible via CAMCORS, anonymous, and easily processed within the time limit, I would expect you to be able to release this in response to the request.
I’d be happy for the college to add a background explanation for the data if you think that’s appropriate, but otherwise I believe that if the college refuses this request it would be in breach of the FOI Act.
Yours sincerely,
Max Long
Dear Max,
Regarding the supervisor headcount, the issue is not that people self-report erroneously, but that CAMCORS uses different categories to those in your request, and supervisors chose which category they are in. Here are the categories in CAMCORS:
Supervisors
A - University Professor and Fellow of this college
B - University Professor and Fellow of another college
C - University Professor but not a Fellow of any college
D - University Reader and Fellow of this college
E - University Reader and Fellow of another college
G - University Senior Lecturer and Fellow of this college
H - University Senior Lecturer and Fellow of another college
I - University Senior Lecturer but not a Fellow of any college
J - University Lecturer and Fellow of this college
K - University Lecturer and Fellow of another college
L - University Lecturer but not a Fellow of any college
M - College Teaching Officer of this college
N - College Teaching Officer not of this college
O - College Research Fellow of this college
P - College Research Fellow not of this college
Q - Other College Fellow of this college
R - Other College Fellow not of this college
S - Post-doctoral Researcher, Research Associate or University Research Staff
T - Graduate Student (MEC student)
U - Other
If you are content to map the data we hold against these categories onto your own, I can supply it, along with the other information.
Please let me know.
Best wishes,
Andrew
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