University investment in the defence industry

Joshua Carroll made this Freedom of Information request to University of Manchester This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

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Waiting for an internal review by University of Manchester of their handling of this request.

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please could you provide me with a breakdown of any items in the Universtity of Manchester's shares portfollio which could be classified as investments in the defence industry?

Please include the name of the company followed by the number of shares and their monetary value.

If possible please also detail any research carried out by the Universty in conjuction with or with the aid of any company or organisation which could be classified as representing the defence industry. A brief outline of the nature of the research and, where possible, an external link would be sufficient. If it is not possible to list all such research carried out without exceeding the costs limit specified in the Freedom of Information act, then please detail as much as possible, starting from the most recent project, and going back in time until the costs limit is reached.

Yours faithfully,

Adam Smith

Dear Adam

I acknowledge receipt of your request under section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

I am today contacting the relevant department at The University of Manchester with details of your request and will contact you again as soon as I receive a response.

Regards

Mary Clare

Mary Clare
Records Officer
Records Management Office
The University of Manchester
Room G.011
John Owens Building
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PL
Tel: +44 161 275 5782
Fax: +44 161 275 8402

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Dear Adam

Further to your recent request under section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please see the University's website below which details our research activity in order of A-Z or by academic department.

http://www.manchester.ac.uk/research/dir...

The University's investment portfolio changes constantly. It may be more practical to provide a snapshot of the University's investments at a given time. Previous requesters have been satisfied to receive a snapshot of the University's investments at six monthly intervals. These are produced around April and September each year.

Would the provision of this satisfy your request?

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Dear Mary Clare,

Yes that would be fine. Perhaps the two most recent snapshots available?

Yours sincerely,

Joshua Carroll

Dear Mary Clare,

As I specified before. The two most recent snapshots of the university shares portfolio would be fine. So from September and April this year.

The link you provided me with was I'm afraid not very useful for me. The site does not specify where research contracts are made with members of the defence industry. Nor does there seem to be a comprehensive list of research contracts entered into by the University. Would it not be possible to contact the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering to ask them directly about recent research contracts with a connection to the defence industry?

Yours sincerely,

Adam Smith

Dear Adam

Thank you for your email. The Directorate of Finance are getting the two most recent reports ready for me to send to you.

I will contact the School of MACE today and get back to you as soon as I receive a response from them.

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Dear Adam

Please see the School of MACE website below which details all research grants, the principle investigator, funder and the amount of funding from 2001 to 2010.

http://www.mace.manchester.ac.uk/researc...

Does this information satisfy the research area of your request.

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Dear Adam

Further to my email below I wonder whether the link to research in the School of MACE was any use to you.

I have spoken to the Research Office at The University of Manchester and they have asked me to ask you if you could be more specific in naming companies and organisations you want information on.

If you have any queries or wish to discuss this please do not hesitate to contact me.

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Dear Mary Clare,

For simplicity's sake, could I have all the information they have on BAe Systems, ITT Corporation, Brimar Ltd and Raytheon Company.

Yours sincerely,

Joshua Carroll

Dear Joshua

Thank you for your clarification. I will have this information retrieved and provided to you at the earliest possible moment.

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Dear Joshua

Further to your request under section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information
Act 2000, I have received confirmation from the Research Office at The
University of Manchester that we have no current research funding from BAE
and we have never had funding from the three other companies.

I trust that this concludes your request but if you require any further
information please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards

Mary Clare

Mary Clare
Records Officer
Records Management Office
The University of Manchester
Room G.011
John Owens Building
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PL
Tel: +44 161 275 5782
Fax: +44 161 275 8402

Dear Mary Clare,

Many thanks. Could you please provide details of the funding recieved from BAE?

Yours sincerely,

Joshua Carroll

Dear Joshua

I will contact the Research Office at The University of Manchester and contact you again as soon as I receive a response.

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Dear Joshua

I have received confirmation from the Research Office at The University of Manchester that we do not receive any current funding from BAE.

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Dear Mary Clare,

I was hoping to see details of previous funding from BAe, since the word 'current' implies that BAe has provided funding in the past.

Yours sincerely,

Joshua Carroll

Dear Joshua

Do you have a time period you would like us to report on. Financial information only has to be kept for a period of six years plus the current. Would you like me to see what we hold, if anything, over this period.

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Dear Mary Clare,

Yes that would be great. I look forward to seeing all and any financial information the university has with regards to my request. Of course, if financial information does exist which has been kept for longer, I would also be very grateful for that as well.

Yours sincerely,

Joshua Carroll

Dear University of Manchester,

I am still awaiting receipt of the shares portfolio snapshots from last September and April which you informed me about in November. Please could you forward these to me as soon as possible?

Yours faithfully,

Joshua Carroll

Dear Joshua

I have reminded the Directorate of Finance just now and will forward this to you without further delay.

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Dear Mary Clare,

Given that the deadline imposed by FOI Legislation has long passed, I will be requesting an internal review unless I receive all the information which I made in my original request. I feel I have offered more than enough clarification. It is clear that I simply wish to be informed of the University's connections with a certain and specific industry. I don't see why this should be a problem or require much in the way of clarification, less a list of individual businesses. It is well within the cost limits imposed by the legislation for you to make the necessary enquiries and perform the necessary research in order to ascertain a broadly satisfactory response for me. I suspect that had I asked for links to the British transport industry, you would have been far more forthcoming and that my request is being deliberately convoluted because of the sensitive nature of the information and its potential to damage the reputation of the University among people of a certain political disposition. Please prove me wrong. I will request the internal review unless I receive a satisfactory response to my original request on or before next Wednesday, giving you three working days.

Yours sincerely,

Joshua Carroll

Dear University of Manchester,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of University of Manchester's handling of my FOI request 'University investment in the defence industry'.

The deadline for responding to this request has long since passed. Furthermore what little information I was provided with was immensely vague. I was provided links to generic sites about research projects and no attempt to consolidate the information (which could easily have been done within the spending limits imposed by the legislation) was made. I also feel I was asked unnecessarily for clarification on points to which I had already responded and did not see why a list of specific companies was necessary since 'defence industry' clearly means any company which makes or sells equipment for military and combative purposes. It should not be difficult to discern which companies fall into this category and which do not.

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

Yours faithfully,

Joshua Carroll

Dear Mr Carroll,

I am writing to acknowledge your request for an internal review of the handling of your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 of November 2009.

The University aims to complete such reviews in as short a time scale as possible, and in any case within 30 working days of receipt.

If you wish to correspond further regarding your appeal in the meantime, please use the contact details below.

Yours sincerely

Alan Carter
Records Manager
The University of Manchester
G.011 John Owens Building
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PL

Tel: 0161 2758111
Fax: 0161 2758402
Email: [email address]

Date: Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:05:40 +0000 [10:05 GMT]
From: Joshua Carroll <[FOI #22723 email]>
To: FOI requests at University of Manchester <[University of Manchester request email]>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - University investment in the defence industry

Dear University of Manchester,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of University of
Manchester's handling of my FOI request 'University investment in
the defence industry'.

The deadline for responding to this request has long since passed.
Furthermore what little information I was provided with was
immensely vague. I was provided links to generic sites about
research projects and no attempt to consolidate the information
(which could easily have been done within the spending limits
imposed by the legislation) was made. I also feel I was asked
unnecessarily for clarification on points to which I had already
responded and did not see why a list of specific companies was
necessary since 'defence industry' clearly means any company which
makes or sells equipment for military and combative purposes. It
should not be difficult to discern which companies fall into this
category and which do not.

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

Yours faithfully,

Joshua Carroll

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Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #22723 email]

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Dr Lisa Crawley
Records Officer
Records Management Office
Room G011, John Owens Building
The University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL

Tel: 0161 275 8400
Fax: 0161 275 8402
Email: [email address]

UOM INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO AS AT 31 MARCH 2009.pdf

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Dear Joshua

I apologise for the delay. As you may be aware I have been on annual leave.

I have attached a snapshot of the University's investment portfolio as at 31 March 2009. The snapshot as at 30 September 2009 is being prepared.

I have once again asked the Research Office to provide the amount of funding (if any) received from BAE over the last six financial years. Hopefully, I will receive this by return and I will forward it straight to you.

My colleague informs me that you have requested the information on behalf of Student Direct. If so, did you know that Student Direct has agreed to apply for a copy of the snapshot attached every six months? I have just asked the Directorate of Finance whether they applied for it recently and I was informed that they only asked for it once last year. But just to let you know that it should be available every six months. If this is not the case, you will still be entitled to ask for it as an individual.

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Dear Joshua

I have today been advised that The University of Manchester has received
research funding of £307571.00 over the last six financial years.

Regards

Mary Clare

Mary Clare
Records Officer
Records Management Office
The University of Manchester
Room G.011
John Owens Building
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PL
Tel: +44 161 275 5782
Fax: +44 161 275 8402

Dear Mary Clare,

Many thanks. Is that an aggregate figure or the amount received from BAe specifically?

Yours sincerely,

Joshua Carroll

Dear Joshua

Yes that is the total amount over the last six financial years from BAE alone.

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University investment in the defence industry

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