FOI release

FOI2021/00376: Committee Members - Research Councils

This request was refused in part, so we didn't provide some of the information the requester asked for. This may include information where we can neither confirm nor deny that we hold it.

Case reference FOI2021/00376

Published 5 November 2021

Request

Request Received: 16 August 2021

The previous data [provided in FOI2020/00242] show the extent of under-representation of ethnic minority committee members in research councils. For committee members, participation appears to entirely absent in a large fraction of committee meetings. I would like to understand the factors that affect participation (see part 1 below).

It is also important to acknowledge that individual actions, policies and practices are likely to impact different ethnicities differently, as is the case of many other parts of society. It is therefore important to understand the numbers associated with particular ethnicities. This is why in the previous FOI I asked "If possible, please provide ethnicity data for each ethnic category (for example, Black, Asian or White colleagues)". I note that on that occasion it was not provided, and recognise that this was probably to protect the identities of individuals. In part 2 below, I would like to request data in a form that is specific to ethnic categories, and at the same time in a format that protects personal information and individuality. Aggregating data across time is an effective research strategy and should allow you to protect anonymity.

With this in mind, please could you provide the following data? I make the request in two parts below.

Part 1:

Any written guidance issued to UKRI staff about the process of selecting and inviting individuals in the FOI[2020/00242] to committee meetings.

The median number of invitations to committee meetings issued to individuals over the period in the last FOI. Note that this collapses across years and summarises data across individuals, so probably eliminates the risk of identifying particular individuals. Therefore, please use the following ethnic categories at minimum (Asian, Black, Mixed race, White and uncategorised). For comparability, please use data for the same individuals as those contributing in the previous data release.

Part 2:

Please look again at the data used to generate the previous FOI release, and this time provide data of the same type pertaining to specific ethnic categories (at minimum, Asian, Black, Mixed race, White and uncategorised). Please aggregate data across the five years in order to protect individual identities and confidentiality.

Response

Response Sent: 22 September 2021

Full details of this response are provided in the attached documents.

Documents

• [AHRC] Panel Building - An Introduction_Redacted.pdf (1.7 MB)
• [AHRC] Panel Building Training_Redacted.pdf (11.5 MB)
• [AHRC] Pre-Panel Process.pdf (132.7 KB)
• [BBSRC] Committee Building Overview.pdf (101.8 KB)
• [EPSRC] Interview Meeting Procedures_Redacted.pdf (428.1 KB)
• [EPSRC] Prepare and Convene a Meeting_Redacted.pdf (632.1 KB)
• [ESRC] EDI Guidelines for ESRC Panels.pdf (79.4 KB)
• [FLF] Instructions for Councils_Redacted.pdf (197.8 KB)
• [NERC] Guidance for setting up and running a panel meeting.pdf (302.3 KB)
• [NERC] Panel Meeting Best Practice_Redacted.pdf (97.5 KB)
• FOI_Response_Letter_FOI2020_00242_Redacted.pdf (1.1 MB)
• FOI_Response_Letter_FOI2021_00376_Redacted.pdf (1.0 MB)

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