Freedom of Information

Universities fall within the definition of a public authority

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 anyone has the right to request information from a public authority in the United Kingdom. Our Governance and Legal Services team are responsible for:

ensuring that our University complies with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act
providing information via a publication scheme
responding to requests for information.
finding and requesting information about our Publication Scheme

The University of East London has adopted the Information Commissioner's model publication scheme and is operating it in line with the guidance for universities.

The scheme sets out what information we publish, or intend to publish, how the information can be accessed and whether or not a charge is payable for it.

Where information falls into the following categories, it is not published as part of the scheme:

our University does not hold the information
the information is exempt under one of the Freedom of Information exemptions or Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs) exceptions, or its release is prohibited by another statute
the information is archived, out of date, or otherwise inaccessible
it would be impractical or resource intensive to prepare the material for routine release.

With a few exceptions, most of the information that we publish is freely available on our website (uel.ac.uk). If you do not have access to the internet, paper copies of the information can be obtained by writing to the Head of Governance and Legal Services, University of East London, University Way, London E16 2RD.

If you have any questions about the publication scheme, or wish to request information that is not available on our website, please contact the Compliance Officer by email at: foi@uel.ac.uk or by post at: Governance and Legal Services, University of East London, University Way, London E16 2RD

Publication Scheme

Our publication scheme is arranged in the following sections:

who we are and what we do;
what we spend and how we spend it;
what our priorities are and how we are doing;
how we make our decisions;
our policies and procedures;
lists and registers;
services that we offer; and
who we are and what we do.

Who we are and what we do

1.1	Legal Framework	This sub-section contains information relating to how the University was established and its standing from the point of view of the law. The University of East London is a higher education corporation under the provisions of the Education Reform Act 1988 and the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. View Education Reform Act 1988	web	none
1.2		View Further and Higher Education Act 1992 Information relating to the legal and regulatory framework within which the University operates is set out in the Governance pages of our University website: Visit our governance pages	web	none
1.3		Specifically: Our University's legal status is set out in the Instrument and Articles of Government Download	web	none
1.4		Articles of Government Download	web	none
1.5	How our University is organised	This sub-section contains information about the management structure of the University.	web	none
		Organisational structure.	Paper copies	none
		View our: Leadership Structure Academic Schools and Professional Services	web	none
1.6		Terms of reference, membership and descriptions of boards and committees are available on our University's Governance pages: View Specifically: Board of Governors of the Higher Education Corporation and its committees View	web	none
1.7		Academic Board and its committees. View	web	none
1.8		The University has two wholly owned subsidiary companies: Knowledge Dock (UEL) Ltd was established to provide consultancy services on behalf of our University and it also operated the business incubation units. View	web	none
1.9		How to contact the university. View	web	none
1.10		This sub-section includes information relating to the operation and activities of the Students' Union (UELSU) and other clubs, associations and non-academic activities. Students' Union Constitution: View University of East London Students' Union Code of Practice: View UELSU Executive Officers: View Sport at UELSU: View Societies at UELSU: View	web	none

What we spend and how we spend it

This section covers financial information relating to projected and actual income and expenditure, procurement, contracts and financial audit.

Information that may damage the University's commercial interests will be excluded from publication.

The accounts of the wholly-owned subsidiary company (Knowledge Dock (UEL) Ltd is lodged at Companies House.

The University of East London Students' Union is a separate legal entity; its accounts are therefore a matter for the UELSU and are not consolidated into the University's accounts. Our University neither holds nor publishes copies of these accounts.

2.1	Finance	This class contains information relating to budgets and accounts, contracting, goods and services, pensions, salary scales and employment benefits.
2.2		HEFCE revenue: View	HEFCE website	At HEFCE's discretion
2.3		Financial performance by operating unit and income and expenditure categories: View	HESA website	At HESA's discretion
2.4		Financial Statements for 2003 onwards: View	web	none
2.5		Financial Statements for earlier years may be available on request We keep financial records to meet our own operational requirements and to fulfil our obligations to our internal and external auditors and to meet our statutory obligations. Archived records that are no longer required are subject to destruction after defined time periods.	Hard copy available on request (subject to availability).	none
2.6		Contracting: View	web	none
2.7		Insurance: View	web	none
2.8		Pensions: View	web	none
2.9		Salaries and benefits View salary information View benefit information	web	none
2.10		Travel and Subsistence: TBC	web	none
2.11	Resource planning	This class includes information that defines how the University undertakes its planning and resource allocation, how it regulates the deployment of resources and how it publishes the outcomes.
2.12		Financial regulations, including procurement policy View Financial Regulations View procurement policy	web	none
2.13		Planning and budgeting procedures View planning information View budgeting information	web	none
2.14		Strategic plan (Transformation for Excellence 2010-2015): View	web	none

What our priorities are and how we are doing

This section covers strategies and plans, performance indicators, audits, inspections and reviews.

3.1	Strategies and plans	Strategic plan: Transformation for Excellence 2010-2015: View	web	none
3.2		Assessment, Learning and Teaching strategy: View	web	none
3.3	Academic quality and standards	Information on our University's internal procedures for assuring academic quality and standards View	web	none
3.4	External review information	External review information, including annual monitoring and review: View Outcome of the Quality Assurance Agency's institutional audits: View Outcome of the Funding Councils' Research Assessment exercise: View	web	none

How we make decisions

The classes in this section cover information on decision making processes and records of decisions.

4.1

Decision-making processes and records of decisions

Membership profiles, terms of reference, agenda, minutes (unless specified) of our University's committees

Board of Governors and its committees

web

none

Academic Board and its committees

Paper Copies

none

Executive Groups

web

none

Our policies and procedures

5.1	Policies and procedures for conducting University business	This class of information includes our University's governing documents View Instrument and Articles of Government.	web	none
5.2	Policies and procedures relating to academic services	This class includes information related to academic quality and assessment. View information about academic quality and assessment	web	none
5.3	Policies and procedures relating to student services	This class includes policies and procedures on student admission and registration, accommodation and student regulations View Admissions and Registration View information about student accommodation	web	none
5.4	Procedures and policies relating to human resources	This class includes our University's full range of human resources policies and procedures View our University's HR policies	web	none
5.5	Procedures and policies relating to recruitment	This class includes recruitment policies and current vacancies View the recruitment policy View current job vacancies	web	none
5.6	Equality and Diversity	This class includes policies, statements, procedures and guideline related to equality and diversity View our University's Equality and Diversity policies	web	none
5.7	Health and Safety	This class includes information about health and safety procedures and policies. View current policies	web	none
5.8	Records	This class contains our University's data protection policy View data protection policies	web	none
5.9	Research policy and strategy	This class includes information on research, research ethics and knowledge transfer View information on research ethics View information about knowledge transfers	web	none
5.10	Estate management	This class includes information on estates strategy, facilities management, grounds and buildings maintenance View details about maintenance	web	none

Lists and registers

This section covers currently maintained lists and registers.

6.1

Registers of interest

Governors and Senior Post-Holders' registers of interest

Available for inspection on request

none

The services that we offer

This section contains information about the services that our University offers.

7.1	Prospectus	Course descriptions (included in the University prospectus) View our prospectus	web	none
7.2	Services for outside bodies	This class includes services that the University provides to external bodies. View Services to Business View Conferencing and Hospitality	web	none
7.3	Welfare and Counselling	This class includes information about our University's counselling services. Details of Student Services	web	none
7.4	Careers	This class includes information about our University's careers advisory services View	web	none
7.5	Chaplaincy services	TBC	web	none
7.6	Sports and recreational facilities	This class includes details of our University's sports and recreational facilities View	web	none
7.7	Libraries	This class includes information about the University's libraries, including opening times, facilities and services available and details of the collections View	web	none
7.8	Media releases	This class includes University press releases.	web	none

Request for information

You have the right under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request any information held by a public authority which it has not already made available through its publication scheme.

Requests must be made in writing and, in general, the University has 20 working days to respond. A fee may be charged, which will be calculated according to Fees Regulations. We are not required to release information to which an exemption in the Act legitimately applies.

However, public authorities may be required to explain to the applicant why they are not releasing information and they may also have to justify this to the Information Commissioner.

Contact us

If you have any questions about the publication scheme or a request, please contact our compliance officer by email at foi@uel.ac.uk or by post at Governance and Legal Services, University of East London, University Way, London E16 2RD.

Information Rights Requests

If you would like to find out what information the University holds about you as an individual or you want to use any of your other information rights, you can submit an Information Rights request by contacting dpo@uel.ac.uk.

You can find more information about your rights here. Information rights fall under the Data Protection Act 2018 rather than the Freedom of Information Act 2000. There is no fee to make an Information Rights request in most cases, and we will respond within 30 calendar days.

Complaints

If you wish to make a complaint about the service you have received in relation to the University's obligations under the Freedom of Information Act, you may write to the Head of Governance and Legal Services (at the above address) in the first instance.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the University's complaints procedure.

The objectives of the Freedom of Information Act are promoted by the Office of the Information Commissioner. This is an independent body that seeks to resolve problems where individuals feel that their rights have been breached. It also has powers of enforcement.

The Information Commissioner can be contacted on +44 (0)1625 545700 or by post at The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.