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'Alleged Campaigns'.
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Stephen Gregory Date: 25th January 2010
Our ref: FOI.10.6177
Dear Mr Gregory
Freedom of Information Request
I refer to your recent Freedom of Information Request. Your request asked for the following information: -
Your request
During 2009, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) claimed that two related campaigns were being conducted.
1. A campaign to vilify Graham Badman, author of a report into home education.
2. A campaign to inundate the DCSF with Freedom of Information requests.
Recent comments by a senior official in the DCSF suggested that these alleged campaigns might have spread to include local authorities.
I would like you to provide me with the following information.
1. Please confirm whether or not you have observed these alleged campaigns.
2. Please confirm whether or not you have exchanged any correspondence with the DCSF regarding these alleged campaigns.
3. If you have exchanged correspondence with the DCSF on this issue then please provide me with copies of that correspondence.
Council's response
I can confirm the following information with regards to your FOI request above.
We know that Graham Badman has attracted some comments in the past but we not aware of any campaign of any sort.
I hope this information is of assistance to you.
Copyright procedure
The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use this information for your own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and news reporting. Any other re-use of this information, for example commercial publication requires the permission of the Council as the Copyright holder. All re-use requests will be treated under the Re-Use of Public Information Regulation 2006.
Appeal procedure
Should you wish to appeal against the decision made about this matter you can write to the Records Management Team Leader to have your case reviewed by our Internal Review Panel. This should be sent to us within four weeks and must clearly state the reasons for your appeal and your FOI reference number. The Records Management Team address is as follows: Records Management Team, Town Hall and Civic Buildings, Westoe Road, South Shields, Tyne and Wear, NE33 2RL.
Information Commissioner's office (ICO)
Should you remain dissatisfied, you can appeal against our final decision by writing to the Information Commissioner to have your case independently reviewed.
The Information Commissioner is the Government's Independent Body responsible for overseeing the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
Please do note that the ICO will only review cases that have exhausted the Council's internal appeal procedures. All correspondence to the ICO must quote the Council's reference number and your reasons for your appeal.
The ICO's contact details are as follows: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF. More information can be found on the ICO's website at www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.
If you have any further queries about this matter then please do not hesitate to contact me on the number below:
Yours sincerely
Ron Weetman
Assistant Head of Streetscape
Tel: 0191 427 2681
Email: [email address]