Education Counsellors Supporting Pupils in Education Information

C McEwan made this Freedom of Information request to Kent County Council

The request was successful.

From: C McEwan

5 June 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

1. Does your Local Authority presently employ Education
Counsellors* (rather than ‘buying in’ such a service from an
external provider)?

2. If the answer to Question 1 is ‘yes’, please state for each
Education Counsellor employed by the Local Authority:

• Whether they have been deemed to be eligible to join the Teachers
Pension Scheme and

• The date when they joined the Teachers Pension Scheme

• Whether they are employed on Teachers Terms and Conditions of
Employment

3. If your Local Authority does not presently employ Education
Counsellors have they done so in the past?

4. If the answer to Question 3 is ‘yes’, please state for each
School Counsellor employed by the Local Authority since 31 March
2004:

• Whether they were deemed to be eligible to join the Teachers
Pension Scheme and

• When they joined the Teachers Pension Scheme

* Education Counsellors meaning those employed to support pupils in
education

Yours faithfully,

C McEwan

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Kent County Council

5 June 2009

Dear Mr McEwan

Thank you for your email.

I acknowledge your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. Assuming we hold this information, I will endeavour
to supply the data to you as soon as possible but no later than 3rd July
2009 (20 working days from date of receipt).

I will advise you as soon as possible if we do not hold this information
or if there are exemptions to be considered and/or any costs for providing
the information. Please quote our reference - FOI/09/636 - in any
communication regarding this particular request.

Best regards

Corporate Access to Information Team, Chief Executive's Department
Kent County Council, Legal & Democratic Services, Room 1.94, Sessions
House, County Hall, Maidstone. ME14 1XQ.
Tel: 01622 696265 or 01622 694261 - Fax: 01622 694383
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...

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Kent County Council

8 June 2009

Dear Mr McEwan

To enable KCC to proceed with your request could you please clarify what
you mean by Education Councillors'.

Your definition of Education Counsellor is not clear: Education
Counsellors meaning those employed to support pupils in education. This
could include teaching assistants in schools, is this what you mean?

You were advised previously that you could expect a response to your
original request by 3 July, this time frame will now stop and will resume
on receipt of your response. Once I have more detailed information from
you, I will be able to instruct the relevant officers to conduct a search
of our systems and provide you with the information you seek. I will also
inform you of the new completion date.

Best regards

Michelle Hunt
Access to Information Co-ordinator
Communication & Information Governance
Children, Families & Education Directorate
Kent County Council
Room 2.35, Sessions House
Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1XQ
External: 01622 696692
Internal: 7000 6692
Email: [email address]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Freedom of Information - CED
Sent: 05 June 2009 16:24
To: 'C McEwan'
Subject: FOI/09/636 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO FOI REQUEST RECEIVED 5th JUNE 2009
Importance: High

Dear Mr McEwan

Thank you for your email.

I acknowledge your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. Assuming we hold this information, I will endeavour
to supply the data to you as soon as possible but no later than 3rd July
2009 (20 working days from date of receipt).

I will advise you as soon as possible if we do not hold this information
or if there are exemptions to be considered and/or any costs for providing
the information. Please quote our reference - FOI/09/636 - in any
communication regarding this particular request.

Best regards

Corporate Access to Information Team, Chief Executive's Department
Kent County Council, Legal & Democratic Services, Room 1.94, Sessions
House, County Hall, Maidstone. ME14 1XQ.
Tel: 01622 696265 or 01622 694261 - Fax: 01622 694383
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...

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From: C McEwan

10 August 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

My only definition is that they are employed as specialist
education/school counsellors with a counselling qualification.

They are not employed to undertake any other function but as
specialist counsellors.

Yours faithfully,

C McEwan

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From: C McEwan

11 August 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

My only definition is that they are employed as specialist
education/school counsellors with a counselling qualification.

They are not employed to undertake any other function but as
specialist counsellors.

Yours faithfully,

C McEwan

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Kent County Council

11 August 2009

Dear C McEwan

Thank you for clarifying the definition of 'Education Counsellor'.

We can now proceed with your request and I can confirm that the new
completion date is 2 September 2009.

Best regards

Michelle Hunt
Access to Information Co-ordinator
Communication & Information Governance
Children, Families & Education Directorate
Kent County Council
Room 2.35, Sessions House
Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1XQ
External: 01622 696692
Internal: 7000 6692
Email: [email address]

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Kent County Council

21 August 2009

Dear C McEwan

Thank you for your request for information made under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

The answer is no KCC does not employ Education Counsellors. I have been
advised that the School Counselling Service is part of the NHS and I
therefore suggest that you contact Eastern & Coastal Kent PCT at the
following link : http://www.easternandcoastalkent.nhs.uk/ and West Kent
PCT : http://www.westkentpct.nhs.uk/ for this information.

If you are unhappy with this response, and believe KCC has not complied
with legislation, please ask for a review by following our complaints
process; details can be found at this link
http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...
s/complaints-procedure.htm#foi on our website. Please quote reference
FOI/09/636.

If you still remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you can
appeal to the Information Commissioner, who oversees compliance with the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Details of what you need to do, should
you wish to pursue this course of action, are available from the
Information Commissioner's website
http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/freedom...

Regards

Michelle Hunt
Access to Information Co-ordinator
Communication & Information Governance
Children, Families & Education Directorate
Kent County Council
Room 2.35, Sessions House
Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1XQ
External: 01622 696692
Internal: 7000 6692
Email: [email address]

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