UEA Waste £112,000 On Public Relations Consultancy During Climategate

By Paul Homewood

Following the original Climategate revelations, the University of East Anglia employed a Public Relations consultancy, called the “Outside Organisation”, to improve their public image.

Graham Stringer, MP and member of the House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology, thought the public had a right to know how much the university had spent on this PR work and made a FOI request accordingly. True to form, the UEA tried to keep the information secret, claiming commercial confidentiality. Fortunately the Information Commissioner’s Office disagreed and ordered the University to release the information.

The amount spent was £112,870.71.

One further fact is worth noting. The Managing Director of Outside Organisation is a certain Neil Wallis, and it was Wallis along with another colleague who did most of the work for the UEA. Wallis, of course, has since been arrested and bailed without charge as part of the on-going police investigation into phone hacking due to his former role as deputy editor of the News of the World.

It will come as no surprise to many that the BBC made no mention of this fact, or that the UEA had tried to hide the information, in their own report, simply quoting the sad little excuse offered by Vice Chancellor Professor Edward Acton.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-17838436

http://envirolib.org/news/uea-spent-112870-on-pr/