BNP Teachers

Mark Walker made this Freedom of Information request to Leicestershire County Council

The request was successful.

From: Mark Walker

29 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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Leicestershire County Council

31 December 2009

Mr Mark Walker
<<ContactAddress>>

[FOI #25190 email]

31/12/2009

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST

FOI Request Number : 1675
Description : BNP Teachers

Dear Mr Mark Walker

I acknowledge your request for information received on 29/12/2009 14:36.

Your request is being considered and you will receive the information requested within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third party.

If appropriate, the information may be provided in paper copy, normal font size. If you require alternative formats, e.g. language, audio, large print, etc. then please let me know.

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions which may prevent release of the information you have requested. There will be an assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then the information will not be released. You will be informed if this is the case, including your rights of appeal.

If the information you request contains reference to a third party then they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or not to release the information to you. You will be informed if this is the case.

There may a fee payable for this information. This will be considered and you will be informed if a fee is payable. In this event the fee must be paid before the information is processed and released. The 20 working day time limit for responses is suspended until receipt of the payment.

If you have any queries or concerns then please contact the Business Partner(Information Management) at Leicestershire County Council, County Hall, Glenfield, Leicester, LE3 8TG, telephone 0116 305 8250, e-mail [Leicestershire County Council request email].

Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner at: Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

If you wish to contact Leicestershire County Council concerning this request please use the request number above as a reference.

Yours sincerely

Mike Challands

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Leicestershire County Council

11 January 2010

Mr Mark Walker
[FOI #25190 email]

11/01/2010

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST

FOI Request Number :1675
Description :BNP Teachers

Dear Mr Mark Walker

I can confirm that the information requested is held by Leicestershire County Council. Your request for information has now been considered and the information is available from http://www.leicsfoi.org.uk/disclosureLog....

Most of the content provided by Leicestershire County Council as a result of a request for information will be subject to copyright protection. In most cases the copyright will be owned by Leicestershire County Council. We will notify you by marking the content where Leicestershire County Council does not own the copyright.

You may use the content for non-commercial research purposes. Any other re-use, e.g. publication or supply to the public, will require permission from the copyright holder.

For content where copyright belongs to a third party (i.e. not Leicestershire County Council), you would need to apply to the copyright holder.

If you are unhappy with the way Leicestershire County Council has handled your request you may ask for an internal review. You should contact the Business Partner(Information Management) at Leicestershire County Council, County Hall, Glenfield, Leicester, LE3 8TG, telephone 0116 305 8250, e-mail [Leicestershire County Council request email] if you wish to complain quoting the FOI Request Number.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you also have a right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF 
Telephone:   01625 545 700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Andrew Williams

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