BNP Teachers

Mark Walker made this Freedom of Information request to Plymouth City Council

Plymouth City Council did not have the information requested.

From: Mark Walker

17 December 2009

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

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From: FOIChildrensServices
Plymouth City Council

21 December 2009

Dear Mark Walker
Thank you for your email requesting information on issues relating to the
'promotion of racism' in schools. The application was received on 17
December 2009 and allocated the reference IMT0974MW.

The Council will seek to provide the information that you have requested
within the next 20 working days or let you know from where else it can be
obtained. We may not be able to provide everything if we do not hold the
information, or if an exemption to releasing the information applies.

Information is often provided free of charge, but if there could be a fee
for processing and delivering the information to you this will notified to
you before we progress.

We will usually provide the information in either an electronic or paper
format according to how you contacted us. If you require the information
in another specific format please contact me to discuss your needs.

Any future correspondence or questions you may have in relation to this
matter should be sent to me.
Yours sincerely,

Rebecca Shearing
Information and Communication Support Officer
Communications Team
Services for Children and Young People
Plymouth City Council
PL1 2AA
Tel: 01752 307425
Fax: 01752 307403
email: [email address]
[1]www.plymouth.gov.uk

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From: IMT (CHILDREN'S SERVICES)
Plymouth City Council

1 February 2010

Dear Mark Walker
Your application for information that was received by the Council on 17
December 2009 has now been considered and this email is a full response to
that application. Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in
responding to your request.

Your request asked for the following information:
'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?'

Response:
We do not hold any relevant recorded information.
Please note that the information supplied to you continues to be protected
by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You can use the
information supplied for your own purposes, including any non-commercial
research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other
reuse such as commercial publication would require the permission of the
Council.

If you are not satisfied with the way your request has been handled you
may ask for an internal review to take place.
I hope that we have supplied the information that you expected to receive.
If you wish to discuss this email or the information that is supplied then
please contact me through the direct line telephone number 01752 307425,
but please leave a contact telephone number if I am unavailable. I can
also be contacted by email [email address]

Rebecca Shearing
Information and Communication Support Officer
Communications Team
Services for Children and Young People
Plymouth City Council
PL1 2AA
Tel: 01752 307425
Fax: 01752 307403
email: [email address]
[1]www.plymouth.gov.uk

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