Animal research at the University of Birmingham

[Name Removed] made this Freedom of Information request to University of Birmingham This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

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

This is a request covering the University of Birmingham and all five of it's colleges, and the University of Birmingham Medical School.

My request covers all and any research, training or experimentation involving the use of live animals at the following sites:

I will refer to the group as simply 'Birmingham University'.

I want to know the following:

How many animals were used in experiments inside Birmingham University between 1st of January 2013 and 1st of June 2014?

How many animals were held for use in experiments inside Birmingham
University between 1st of January 2013 and 1st of June 2014? (if
this differs from the above)

What were the type of animals kept or used for experiments between those dates?

What are the number of procedures that were carried out for each of
the following primary purposes:

- Breeding of HM or GM animals
- Applied studies in human medicine or dentistry
- Direct diagnosis
- Fundamental biological research
- Protection of man, animals or the environment
- Applied studies in veterinary medicine
- Toxicology

[Above categories taken from the Home Office document 'Annual
statistics of scientific procedures on Living Animals in Great
Britain'.]

I would also like to know, if research is carried out, who holds the personal licence and for what research purpose.

Yours faithfully,

Miss K Haddon

FOI, University of Birmingham

Dear Ms Haddon

Thank you for your request for information below which the University of Birmingham is processing under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, we will let you know. If a fee is payable a fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be required to pay before we will proceed to deal with your request.

If you have any queries about this email, please contact us. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Regards

Freedom of Information Team
University of Birmingham
________________________________________
From: Katie [[Cais Rhyddid Gwybodaeth e-bost #220538 ]]
Sent: 17 July 2014 10:51
To: FOI requests at University of Birmingham
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Animal research at the University of Birmingham

This is a request covering the University of Birmingham and all five of it's colleges, and the University of Birmingham Medical School.

My request covers all and any research, training or experimentation involving the use of live animals at the following sites:

I will refer to the group as simply 'Birmingham University'.

I want to know the following:

How many animals were used in experiments inside Birmingham University between 1st of January 2013 and 1st of June 2014?

How many animals were held for use in experiments inside Birmingham
University between 1st of January 2013 and 1st of June 2014? (if
this differs from the above)

What were the type of animals kept or used for experiments between those dates?

What are the number of procedures that were carried out for each of
the following primary purposes:

- Breeding of HM or GM animals
- Applied studies in human medicine or dentistry
- Direct diagnosis
- Fundamental biological research
- Protection of man, animals or the environment
- Applied studies in veterinary medicine
- Toxicology

[Above categories taken from the Home Office document 'Annual
statistics of scientific procedures on Living Animals in Great
Britain'.]

I would also like to know, if research is carried out, who holds the personal licence and for what research purpose.

Yours faithfully,

Miss K Haddon

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Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[Cais Rhyddid Gwybodaeth e-bost #220538 ]

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Dear FOI,

As I'm sure you are aware, you have failed to meet legal requirements in terms of your response times.

I expect to hear from you very soon and would like reasons as to why your response is late please.

Yours sincerely,

Katie

FOI, University of Birmingham

Dear Ms Haddon

We are currently experiencing some delay in processing our Freedom of Information Act requests for which we apologise. We can assure you, however, that we are dealing with your request and will respond as soon as we can. If you have any queries please contact [University of Birmingham request email].

Regards

Freedom of Information Team
University of Birmingham
________________________________________
From: Katie [[FOI #220538 email]]
Sent: 17 July 2014 10:51
To: FOI requests at University of Birmingham
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Animal research at the University of Birmingham

This is a request covering the University of Birmingham and all five of it's colleges, and the University of Birmingham Medical School.

My request covers all and any research, training or experimentation involving the use of live animals at the following sites:

I will refer to the group as simply 'Birmingham University'.

I want to know the following:

How many animals were used in experiments inside Birmingham University between 1st of January 2013 and 1st of June 2014?

How many animals were held for use in experiments inside Birmingham
University between 1st of January 2013 and 1st of June 2014? (if
this differs from the above)

What were the type of animals kept or used for experiments between those dates?

What are the number of procedures that were carried out for each of
the following primary purposes:

- Breeding of HM or GM animals
- Applied studies in human medicine or dentistry
- Direct diagnosis
- Fundamental biological research
- Protection of man, animals or the environment
- Applied studies in veterinary medicine
- Toxicology

[Above categories taken from the Home Office document 'Annual
statistics of scientific procedures on Living Animals in Great
Britain'.]

I would also like to know, if research is carried out, who holds the personal licence and for what research purpose.

Yours faithfully,

Miss K Haddon

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #220538 email]

Is [University of Birmingham request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information requests to University of Birmingham? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/change_re...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear University of Birmingham,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of University of Birmingham's handling of my FOI request 'Animal research at the University of Birmingham' due to the lack of a response. Please tell me why this is so late .

I would also like to inform you that I still require a response and would like this as soon as possible.

Yours faithfully,

Katie

FOI, University of Birmingham

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Haddon

Please find attached the response to your request for information. We regret that we have fallen behind with responding to Freedom of Information Act requests due to unexpected staffing issues. We apologise for any inconvenience this might have caused. Please confirm whether you wish us to proceed with the internal review as requested in your email of 16 September 2014.

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely

Deborah Warren
Solicitor on behalf of the Freedom of Information Team
University of Birmingham

________________________________________
From: Katie [[FOI #220538 email]]
Sent: 17 July 2014 10:51
To: FOI requests at University of Birmingham
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Animal research at the University of Birmingham

This is a request covering the University of Birmingham and all five of it's colleges, and the University of Birmingham Medical School.

My request covers all and any research, training or experimentation involving the use of live animals at the following sites:

I will refer to the group as simply 'Birmingham University'.

I want to know the following:

How many animals were used in experiments inside Birmingham University between 1st of January 2013 and 1st of June 2014?

How many animals were held for use in experiments inside Birmingham
University between 1st of January 2013 and 1st of June 2014? (if
this differs from the above)

What were the type of animals kept or used for experiments between those dates?

What are the number of procedures that were carried out for each of
the following primary purposes:

- Breeding of HM or GM animals
- Applied studies in human medicine or dentistry
- Direct diagnosis
- Fundamental biological research
- Protection of man, animals or the environment
- Applied studies in veterinary medicine
- Toxicology

[Above categories taken from the Home Office document 'Annual
statistics of scientific procedures on Living Animals in Great
Britain'.]

I would also like to know, if research is carried out, who holds the personal licence and for what research purpose.

Yours faithfully,

Miss K Haddon

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #220538 email]

Is [University of Birmingham request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information requests to University of Birmingham? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/change_re...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

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 University of Birmingham,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of University of Birmingham's handling of my FOI request 'Animal research at the University of Birmingham'.

I am not happy with either the length of time it took to effect your response, nor am I satified with your response. I am uncertain that you have the rights (as stated) to withhold this information.

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

Yours faithfully,

Katie

Please note that I accept that the following part of my original request [as follows: "... if research is carried out, who holds the personal licence and for what research purpose"] might well be covered by the mentioned exemption, and so I no longer require an answer to this specific point.

FOI, University of Birmingham

Dear Miss Haddon

Thank you for your emails of the 30th of September and the matter has been passed to me for an internal review in accordance with the University’s complaints and appeals procedure. In order that I may respond appropriately can you please confirm you are now asking and requesting the information for the following:-

1. How many animals were used in experiments inside the University of Birmingham between the 1st of January 2014 and the 1st of June 2014? (Information for the period from the 1st of January 2013 to the 31st December 2013 is available on our website and you have already been referred to that).

2. How many animals were held for use in experiments inside Birmingham University between the 1st of January 2014 and the 1st of June 2014, if that differs from the figure above? (Again you have already been provided with the information from the 1st of January 2013 to the 31st of December 2013?)

3. What were the type of animals kept or used for experiments between the 1st of January 2014 and the 1st of June 2014?

4. What are the number of procedures that were carried out for each of the following primary purposes during the period of the 1st of January 2014 to the 1st of June 2014;

-Breeding of HM or GM animals

-Applied studies in human medicine or dentistry

-Direct diagnosis

-Fundamental biological research

-Protection of man, animals or the environment

-Applied studies in veterinary medicine

-Toxicology

As my colleague has already indicated the numbers of animals held by the University will be published at the end of this year. The information is not held centrally and I therefore need to reconfirm whether or not it is possible to retrieve this information within 18 hours.

I would like to apologise again for the length of time it took to respond to your response. As my colleague indicated this was due to unexpected staffing issues over the Summer. These are now resolved and we would hope not to fall behind with such requests in the future.

I look forward to hearing from you with clarification on your appeal.

Yours sincerely

Carolyn Pike

Carolyn Pike
Director, Legal Services
The University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham B15 2TT

Telephone: 0121 414 3916
Fax: 0121 414 3200

Dear Carolyn,

I can only find the document 'Policy on the Use of Animals in Research 2014-15' on your website. Please direct me, preferably with a link, to the statistical data you claim is on your website so that points one and two can be answered.

I can then clarify that I only require answers to points three and four, as numbered in your last response.

Yours sincerely,

Katie