Dear Sir or Madam,

By letter of 30 September 2009, The Secretary of State Ed Balls
appointed Maurice Smith to enquire into the "promotion of racism in
schools". Part of the review is aimed at determining whether
members of the British National Party (BNP) should be allowed to
work as teachers or in the wider school workforce.

At present there are a number of measures and safeguards in place
in place to protect children and young people in schools from
racially motivated discrimination and the promotion of political
doctrines that advocate discrimination and promote racist views.
These are:

• The requirement on schools to have equal opportunity policies

• The duty upon schools to promote racial equality

• Their duty to promote community cohesion

• The duty on governing bodies, headteachers and local authorities
to forbid the teaching of partisan political activities in schools

• The powers of the GTC (England) regarding suitability of
registration and where teacher conduct could bring the profession
into disrepute

I would like you to provide me with evidence of how effective these
measures are including whether they are sufficient to maintain
trust in the profession and protect children and young people.

Please provide the following information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

1) What evidence is there that schools’ equal opportunity policies
are effective in combating racism?
2) What are schools in your area doing to promote racial equality
and promote community cohesion? Examples of measures deemed to be
good practice and recognised as being successful would be useful.
3) Can you provide me with any evidence that the measures listed
above have been effective (if this has not already been done)?
4) Are further measures required to either maintain trust in the
teaching profession or protect children and young people?

Yours sincerely

Mark Walker
Solidarity Trade Union
www.solidaritytradeunion.org

Dear Mr Walker,

Thank you for your request for information. Your request was received
on 31 December 2009 and we are dealing with it under the terms of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I
will let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be
required to pay before we will proceed to deal with your request.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact Sue Smith or
myself on telephone number 01254 585761. Alternatively, our email
address is [Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council request email]

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

Yours sincerely,

Stephen Hughes
Audit & Assurance Officer (Information Governance)
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
F Floor
Town Hall
Blackburn
Lancashire
BB1 7DY

www.blackburn.gov.uk
[email address]

Telephone: 01254 585 852

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Dear Mr Walker,

I am writing to confirm that the Council has now completed its search
for the information which you requested on 31 December 2009. The
answers to your questions are in the attached document.

The information supplied to you is protected by the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your own purposes,
including any noncommercial research you are doing and for the purposes
of news reporting. Any other reuse, for example commercial publication,
would require the permission of the council.

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to
your request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our
decision, you should write to Susan Smith at the address at the bottom
of this message. If you are not content with the outcome your complaint,
you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision.
Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless
you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the council. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire
SK9 5AF.

If you have any queries about this message please contact me, quoting
reference 9589.

Yours sincerely,

Stephen Hughes
Audit & Assurance Officer (Information Governance)
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
F Floor
Town Hall
Blackburn
Lancashire
BB1 7DY

www.blackburn.gov.uk
[email address]

Telephone: 01254 585 852

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