Home Ed Review - Response from Staffordshire CC

Dear Mr Hupfield,

Thank you for your recent email. A reply will be sent to you as soon as
possible (where a response is required). For information, the
departmental standard for correspondence received is that responses
should be sent within 15 working days or 20 working days if you are
requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2009/0027267

Thank you.

Central Allocation Team

Public Communications Team

Tel: 0870 0002288
www.dcsf.gov.uk

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Dear Mr Hupfield
I apologise for not being able to respond to your email request before
now. I am dealing with your request and hope to be able to forward you
a reply by Friday 1 May.
Yours sincerely

Jo Bell (Mrs)
Independent Schools Partnerships and Strategy Team
Ext 62701 (01325 392701)

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Dear Mr Hupfield,
Thank you for your e-mail request which we received on 23 March for copies
of Staffordshire County Council's responses to a questionnaire sent to all
local authorities in respect of the independent review of home education.

In response to your request I can now advise you that the information you
have requested is being withheld under the Freedom of Information Act
2000. The exemptions which apply to this information are: sections 36 (2)
(b and c) of the Freedom of Information Act. I can confirm that we hold
information falling within the terms of your request.

Qualified Exemptions - requiring a public interest test

Section 36 is engaged because the disclosure of the information would, or
would be likely to, prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs and
inhibit the free and frank provision of advice and exchange of views for
the purposes of deliberation. As required under the Act, the opinion of
the Department's `qualified person' (a Minister) has been obtained to the
effect that the exemption is engaged.

The Department considers that section 36 is engaged in respect of the
whole of the information received from local authorities. These
exemptions require public interest balancing tests. The tests are
summarised in the attached document.

The results of the public interest tests carried out by the Department are
that it is not in the public interest for any of the information in
respect of which the exemptions are engaged to be released.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote our reference number in any future communications.

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 me within two calendar months of the date of this
letter.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted our complaints/review
procedure.
Yours sincerely,

Josephine Bell (Mrs)

Independent School Partnerships and Strategy Team
[email address]
[1]www.dcsf.gov.uk

Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2009/0027267.

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References

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I am writing to acknowledge your emails dated 24 April (ref 2009/0037774)
asking why we considered the information you requested exempt and also
your follow-up sent on 27 April asking for a response.

I can confirm that your emails have been noted and are being dealt with.
A reply will be forwarded as soon as possible.
Jo Bell (Mrs)
Independent Schools Partnerships and Strategy Team

Department for Children, Schools and Families
[1]http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/index.htm

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References

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Dear Mr Hupfield

I am replying to your email dated 5 May about your emails ref 2009/0037774
(dated 24 April) and 2009/0040412 (dated 29 April) concerning the reply we
sent to you on 23 April.

I am dealing with your requests and I would expect to forward you a reply
by 26 May.

Yours sincerely

Jo Bell (Mrs)

Independent Schools Partnerships and Strategy Team

Ext 62701 (01325 392701)

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Dear Mr Hupfield,

Thank your for your emails dated 24 April, 29 April and 18 May seeking
clarification about the exemption which the Department applied to your
earlier request under the Freedom of Information Act (the Act) for a copy
of Staffordshire County Council's response to the independent review of
home education (our reference 2009/0027267).

You have indicated that the information you requested has subsequently
been released by the local authority. That is a matter entirely for the
local authority to decide as a public authority in its own right under the
Act. The application of exemptions by this Department under the Act is
subject to our own assessment of the information concerned, and of the
balance of public interest in release or withholding. Such assessments may
differ from one public authority to another, and it would seem that
Staffordshire as the originating authority has decided that the balance of
public interest from their point of view falls in favour of release.

You have asked that we now release Staffordshire's response because they
have done so themselves. However, section 21 of the Act would therefore be
engaged (information reasonably accessible by other means). This is an
absolute exemption which does not require a public interest test.

You have also asked if the information from the questionnaires will be
released after the review is published. The Department will publish
aggregated information about local authorities' responses when the review
is published.
Yours sincerely,

Josephine Bell (Mrs)

Independent Schools Partnerships and Strategy Team
[email address]
[1]www.dcsf.gov.uk

Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2009/0037774.

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Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

Visible links
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Dear Mr Hupfield,
Thank you for your e-mail request which we received on 1 June, requesting
the following -

- Confirmation of which questionnaires Staffordshire provided a
response to.

- Copies of all correspondence, electronic or otherwise, of
communication between the DCSF and Staffordshire County Council in
relation to the review and Staffordshire's response to the review.
This should include for example any emails/letters that were sent
with their response(s) and copies of any queries or guidance.

The Department has considered your request under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 ("the Act").

The Department considers that section 21 of the Act is engaged
(information reasonably accessible by other means) in respect of your
request for confirmation as to which questionnaire Staffordshire
completed. This is because in your email to me dated 18 May, you attached
a link to their response which had been released following a public
interest test. Section 21 is an absolute exemption which does not require
a public interest test.

The Department holds further information within scope of your requests but
it is being withheld because the following exemptions apply to this
information:

. Section 36 (2) (b and c) and

. Section 38

. Section 40

Section 36 is engaged because the disclosure of the information would, or
would be likely to, prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs and
inhibit the free and frank provision of advice and exchange of views for
the purposes of deliberation. As required under the Act, the opinion of
the Department's `qualified person' (a Minister) has been obtained to the
effect that the exemption is engaged.

The Department considers that section 36 is engaged in respect of the
whole of the information received from Staffordshire local authority.
This exemption requires public interest balancing tests and we have
considered the arguments for and against release and in our view the
balance of public interest falls in favour of withholding this
information. The paramount public interest lies in ensuring that the
review process is an effective method of identifying the lessons that need
to be learned as swiftly as possible, and this can only be done when
participating professionals have the necessary space and assurance of
confidentiality in order freely and frankly to provide advice and exchange
views.

Section 38(1)(a) and (b), this section provides that information is exempt
if its disclosure under the Act would, or would be likely, to

(a) endanger the physical or mental health of any individual; or

(b) endanger the safety of any individual.

This exemption is subject to the public interest test which means that
even where prejudice or likely prejudice can be demonstrated, it is still
necessary to consider whether in all the circumstances of the case the
public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public
interest in disclosure. This exemption covers events that could reasonably
be expected but do not have to be definitely foreseeable.

The case for disclosure of information protected by this exemption rests
mainly on the desirability of greater openness for the purposes of
increasing public understanding and trust, and on encouraging greater
accountability.

Conversely, it is reasonable to expect that the release of any information
which might lead to the identification of the families of those registered
as at risk might result in a deterrent effect to participation in, and
co-operation with, the appropriate safeguarding processes in the future,
leading to increased risk to vulnerable children. It is also reasonable
not to release information that may lead to the identification or possibly
to misidentification of individuals. The most effective precaution which
could be taken to prevent anticipated danger to individuals lies in not
disclosing information which could put them at risk.

Having carried out the balancing test, the Department takes the view that
it is not in the public interest for the any of the information to be
released.

Section 40. Having carefully reviewed the information in scope of your
request, the Department considers that the absolute exemption at section
40 of the Act is engaged because some of information requested constitutes
personal data, disclosure of which would contravene the data protection
principles. Data are `personal data' if, taken with `other information'
they enable a living individual to whom the data relates to be
identified.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote our reference number in any future communications.

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 me within two calendar months of the date of this
letter.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted our complaints/review
procedure.
Yours sincerely,

Josephine Bell (Mrs)

Independent Schools Partnerships and Strategy Team
[email address]
[1]www.dcsf.gov.uk

Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2009/0048119.

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Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/

Dear Mr Hupfield,

Thank you for your recent email. A reply will be sent to you as soon as
possible (where a response is required). For information, the
departmental standard for correspondence received is that responses
should be sent within 15 working days or 20 working days if you are
requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2009/0074789

Thank you.

Central Allocation Team

Public Communications Team

Tel: 0870 0002288
www.dcsf.gov.uk

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Dear Mr Hupfield

Thank you for your recent email, dated 27 August, requesting an internal
review of previous correspondence. Could you please advise the case
reference number that would have been assigned to the correspondence in
question, in order that we may consider an internal review of that case.
This current request has been allocated the reference number 2009/0074789.

Yours sincerely

Josephine Bell

Independent Schools Partnerships and Strategy Team

Department for Children, Schools and Families
[1]http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/index.htm

show quoted sections

Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/index.htm