2 December 2009

Dear Ms MacArthur,

Re: Your request for information: 4313

Thank you for your request for information received on 25 October 2009 in which you requested:

Under the FOI Act 2000, I would like to know how many teachers, and head teachers have:

1) Signed a compromise agreement since September 2004.

2) How many of these resulted in the termination of their employment with yourselves, the council.

3) How long they had been working for the Educational Service in your Council.

4) How old they were on their day of leaving.

I would be grateful if you could let me know if there is a cost to this request.

Staffing in community schools in England is the responsibility of the schools themselves, rather than the local authority. Additionally, schools are responsible for the data they hold, and are data controllers under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998. Because of this, I can only give you the information that Southwark Council holds.

I am able to tell you that since September 2004 there have been 58 compromise agreements in community schools, all resulting in the termination of employment.

For any further information you would need to contact the schools themselves directly. A list of schools in Southwark is available on the Southwark Council website here. I should warn you that there is a strong possibility that the schools will refuse to disclose any information on age and length of service on the grounds that this is information provided in confidence, and so exempt under Section 41 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

This information is being provided as a statutory obligation under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998.

You are free to use the information provided for your own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, requires the permission of the copyright holder. You may apply for permission to re-use this information by submitting a request to [Southwark Borough Council request email]; you can find details on these arrangements at http://www.southwark.gov.uk/YourCouncil/Copyright. Detailed advice about the Reuse of Public Sector Information Regulations (PSI) 2005 is available from the Office of Public Sector Information at: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/index.htm.

If you have any queries or concerns then please contact us using the above details.

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make an appeal for a review of our decision, you should write to the Corporate Access Information Manager at:

Corporate Access Information Manager

Southwark Council

160 Tooley Street

PO BOX 64529
London
SE1P 5LX

Email: [Southwark Borough Council request email]

If you are not content with the outcome of your appeal you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have first exhausted our internal appeal procedure and you should contact him within 2 months of the outcome of your internal appeal.

Further information on the Freedom of Information Act is available through the Information Commissioner at the:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire.

SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 700
Internet: www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

Sean Harrington

Information Governance Officer - Children's Services