University of Bristol claim they have absolutely no records of anything relating to their Fox Study (funded) along with all its gear (funded) or.... anything. That is a good definition of the "President Nixon" denial.
I should point out that University Bristol were contacted regarding all of this back in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004 and so on up until 2025. Despite receiving requests for information I received no responses of any kind (email or letter) and on the phone I was given the run around. It was for this reason that I decided to put in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request.
As a disclaimer events discussed took place between 1994/1995 and so it is very unlikely than anyone who was in authority or working on the projects at the time are still present. This does not, of course, excuse the repeatedfailures to respond to requests when they did have the records.
Thirty-two years have passed and the objective has always been to make any data relating to the massive "outbreak" of mange in 1994'1995 which killed some 94% of Bristol's fox population. A fox population in which mange was unknown up until one study fox allegedly left the City (it was radio collared but "lost") and later suddenly reappeared with mange.
I was first made aware of "strong rumours at the University" that mange was deliberately released into the population in 2004 by an ex faculty member. Two years later a former student who was involved in the biological sciences department told me the same thing. In total, some five unconnected people made this claim to me privately-one actually challenged me assumiong that I had taken part in the study. I was not.
The FOIA requests and responses can be found at this link https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/former_mammal_study_group_data_o?nocache=incoming-3618198#incoming-3618198
Below is the internal revue response.
Dear Terry
Internal review of response to freedom of information request FOI2627-120
I write in response to your request for an internal review of the
University of Bristol's answer to your freedom of information request.
Your Request
On 24 September 2026, you submitted the following request for information,
made under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 ("the
Act"):
“I would like to request any statistics, documentation including relating
to funding to Dr Stephen Harris and the University Mammal Study Group and
the 1994/1995 fox mange outbreak and any involvement with this involving
the University”
Our Response
On 29 September 2026, we wrote to seek clarification of the scope of your
request, asking you to specify the nature of the ‘statistics’ you are
seeking (i.e. to what topics they relate) and the types of ‘documentation’
you are seeking.
You responded the same day, providing the following clarification:
“I am seeking the data gathered by the University Mammal Study Group in
relation to fox mange, on which their research outputs were based, as
well as statistics about the Study Group and their work more broadly
to sources of funding)
I am looking for correspondence, meeting notes and minutes, research
papers, funding applications etc) covering research, planning, funding,
publication of papers, regarding the above.”
You subsequently emailed again, on 3 October, when you expanded your
original request to include
“…any involvement with this involving the University and the Ministry of
Agriculture Fisheries and Food(MAFF)/Department of Environment Farming and
Rural Affairs (DEFRA)”
On 7 October 2026, we responded that the University does not hold
information relevant to your request. On the same date, you requested an
internal review of the University’s response.
Internal Review
To reassure you that your request for an internal review has been dealt
with fairly, I confirm that I did not have any direct involvement in the
handling of your freedom of information request and the response provided.
I have assessed two elements of the University's response to your request
as part of the internal review:
· The University’s procedural compliance with the Act;
· The University’s assessment that the information requested is
not held.
The handling of the request – procedural compliance with the Act
The request was handled in a professional manner, and the response was
formulated in line with the obligations conferred on the University by
section 1, i.e. the response confirmed whether or not the information
requested was held.
The response was sent within the statutory 20 working day period during
which the University was required to answer your request.
The University’s assessment that the information requested is not held
Following receipt of clarification of the scope of your request on 29
September 2026, we conducted relevant searches to determine in which
academic School or Faculty the information you requested was likely to be
held. We identified that Stephen Harris worked in the School of Biological
Sciences. However, the School informed us that, having enquired with
administrative staff, the current Head of School and former Heads, they
had no knowledge of any relevant information held by the School.
Upon receipt of your request, on 7 October 2026, for an internal review of
the University’s response to your freedom of information request, we made
further enquiries with the School of Biological Sciences and with the
University archivists. The University archivists conducted a manual search
of three boxes of papers relating to the School of Biological Sciences,
and found no information relevant to your request. The School has
confirmed that they have no knowledge of when information pertaining to
the Mammal Study Group was transferred to the University archives, if at
all, and without specific information about when this took place it will
not be feasible to conduct further searches.
The University’s Records Retention Schedule stipulates that information
relating to project proposals should be retained for up to 10 years
following the end of the research, and information relating to managing
research grants for up to 6 years following the end of the research. The
University’s records retention schedule is available to view here:
[1]https://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/....
Given that the research to which your request relates was conducted some
twenty years ago, it is highly unlikely that the University would have
retained correspondence or meeting notes relating to research planning,
funding, or publication of papers.
However, I note that in your email of 29 September, clarifying the scope
of your request, you also referred to ‘research papers’. The Bristol
Research Portal ([2]https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/) is a
publicly-available digital archive of research outputs from members of the
University. It provides free access to abstracts, and in some cases to the
full manuscript, where the publishers’ policies permit. You can read the
terms of Bristol Research Portal terms of use here:
[3]https://www.bristol.ac.uk/research-innov....
Information that is reasonably accessible to an applicant by means other
than a request under the Act is exempt from disclosure under section 21 of
the Act.
In conclusion, I consider that the University’s response to your freedom
of information request should be partially upheld. While I accept that the
University’s response should have referred to the availability of research
outputs on the Bristol Research Portal, it is reasonable to conclude,
given the significant elapse of time, that no additional information
relevant to your request is held by the University.
Information Commissioner's Office
If you remain dissatisfied with the University’s response then it is your
right under section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to submit a
complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Further details can be
found at [4]www.ico.org.uk, or you can write to:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113
Yours sincerely
Henry
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Henry Stuart
Information Compliance Manager & Data Protection Officer
Information Compliance Team- Office of the University Secretary
References
Visible links
1. https://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/...
2. https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/
3. https://www.bristol.ac.uk/research-innov...
4. http://www.ico.org.uk/
No comments:
Post a Comment