School internet use

Dan Perry made this Freedom of Information request to Leicestershire County Council

The request was successful.

From: Dan Perry

24 November 2009

Dear Freedom of Information Officer,

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. In order to assist you with this request, I
am outlining my query as specifically as possible.

For the following questions I would like the figures for both
primary schools and secondary schools:

1) Does the County Council offer internet censoring software to
schools in Leicestershire?

2) If yes, what is the name of the software and how many schools
use it?

3) How many schools have decided to use their own internet
censorship software?

4) Have any schools opted not to censor/filter their internet
access at all? How many have made this decision?

5) How many incidents have there been in which pupils/students at
primary and secondary schools have managed to breach the internet
filters and view inappropriate (violent/pornographic etc.) material
in the past five years? Pleae could you provide me with the dates
and details of these breaches.

I would be interested in any information held by your organisation
regarding my request. I understand that I do not have to specify
particular files or documents and that it is the department’s
responsibility to provide the information I require.

If my request is denied in whole or in part, I ask that you justify
all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act. I
will also expect you to release all non-exempt material. I reserve
the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to
charge excessive fees.

I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing/by email that
you have received this request. I look forward to your response
within 20 working days, as outlined by the statute.

Regards,

Dan Perry

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Leicestershire County Council

24 November 2009

Mr Dan Perry
[FOI #23660 email]

24/11/2009

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST

FOI Request Number : 1627
Description : School Internet Use

Dear Mr Perry

I acknowledge your request for information received on 24/11/2009 08:55.

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

Andrew Williams

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Leicestershire County Council

24 November 2009

Mr Dan Perry
[FOI #23660 email]

24/11/2009

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST

FOI Request Number :1627
Description :School Internet Use

Dear Mr Dan Perry

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 as follows:

1) Does the County Council offer internet censoring software to schools in Leicestershire?

All but three of the authority's schools are connected to EMBC (the East Midlands Broadband Consortium) and they receive filtering centrally from EMBC which censors internet pages.

2) If yes, what is the name of the software and how many schools use it?

The software is Netsweeper. and 284 schools use it.

3) How many schools have decided to use their own internet censorship software?

The three schools that are not on EMBC use their own software. Some of the other schools deploy additional filtering over the top of EMBC but we do not keep records of this and thus cannot identify numbers or the software used.

4) Have any schools opted not to censor/filter their internet access at all? How many have made this decision?

No schools have opted not to censor or filter their internet access.

5) How many incidents have there been in which pupils/students at primary and secondary schools have managed to breach the internet filters and view inappropriate (violent/pornographic etc.) material in the past five years? Please could you provide me with the dates and details of these breaches.

We do not hold records on this as schools do not have to report it to us.

If you require further details on school-level information, you may wish to contact the schools directly. Lists of authority schools and their contact details can be obtained from our website:
http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/education/...

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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