FOI-7-22 

Date: 13 January 2022 

Summary: Student mental health  

Request:   

• In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, I would be grateful if you could comply with the following requests on student mental health between the following year ranges:  

• 9 June 2019 - 9 June 2020  

• 10 June 2020 - 9 June 2021  

• In your response, please do the following:  
   

1. Detail the amount spent on mental health and whether you have a dedicated mental  health budget  
2. Detail the amount of a) counsellors b) other clinical staff employed  
3. Detail the a) median b) longest wait to see a counsellor  
4. Detail the number of students enrolled  
5. Detail the number of students engaged with counselling

Response:  

In accordance with Section 1(1)(a) of the FOIA, I can confirm, the requested information is held by the University of Wolverhampton in part, as the information pertaining to the scope of your request is not available in the format you have requested, or the records that are held cannot provide an answer to your request.   

Information pertaining to question 3b cannot be provided using the records that the University holds. Information pertaining to question 5 can only be answered in part with the records held by the University.  

Information pertaining to question 1, regarding spend on mental health services, and budgetary information, is not held or available in a way that we can provide a monthly split. We have therefore provided annual figures, which is held.   

Please note that the information required for the date range provide within the original scope of your request involves two periods of academic years. Therefore, some of the information has been presented from August to July, the financial year. Registration for the Mental Health and Wellbeing service commenced from Sept 2019  

I have decided to withhold the requested information, in part, in accordance with Section 21 of the FOIA.  

Section 17 of the FOIA provides that:  

17. Refusal of Request  

17. —(1) A public authority which, in relation to any request for information, is to any extent relying on a claim that any provision of Part II relating to the duty to confirm or deny is relevant to the request or on a claim that information is exempt information must, within the time for complying with section 1(1), give the applicant a notice which— 

1. states that fact,  
2. specifies the exemption in question, and  
3. states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.  

Section 21  

Section 21 of the FOI Act provides that:   

21. Information accessible to applicant by other means  

21. (1) Information which is reasonably accessible to the applicant otherwise than under section 1 is exempt information.  

(2). For the purposes of subsection (1)-   

(a) Information may be reasonably accessible to the applicant even though it is accessible only on payment; and   

(b) Information is to be taken to be reasonably accessible to the applicant if it is information which the public authority or any other person is obliged by or under any enactment to communicate (otherwise than by making the information available for inspection) to members of the public on request, whether free of charge or on payment.   

The FOIA gives rights of public access to information held by public authorities. The purpose of Section 21 of the FOIA is to ensure that there is no right of access to information via the FOIA/FOI process, if it already available to the applicant via another route.   

This exemption applies if the requested information is already accessible to you as the Applicant/Requester. This exemption is applied where it is either know that, you already hold the information or it is available to you (with the information already being in the public domain).   

When the University is applying this exemption, it has a duty to confirm or deny whether it holds the information and where possible inform you of how you can access the information.   

Given that the information is available in the public domain, it is entirely reasonable and appropriate to withhold disclosure of the requested information pertaining to question 4, in accordance with Section 21 of the FOIA. The requested information can be found on the Higher Education Statistics Agency’s website, https://www.hesa.ac.uk/about   

Please find the requested information below: