Dear Sir or Madam,

I notice from http://www.securus-software.com/benefits... that
the council has installed Securus in 20 secondary schools. I
request, under the Freedom of Information Act, a list of these 20
schools, along with relevant contact details (eg postal address,
telephone number, email address) for each.

Yours faithfully,

Josh Smith

Dear Mr Smith,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request, received by us today, April 21st . We have forwarded your request to an FOI Officer within Children's Services.

Your request will be considered within the statutory timescale of twenty working days as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000. For clarification, our deadline for your request is therefore May 20th.

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions that may prevent release of the information you have requested. You will be informed if this is the case.

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 be a charge payable to cover the cost of providing this information. This will be assessed and you will be informed of the charge payable if this is the case.

Should you have any queries regarding your request, please feel free to contact us at [Norfolk County Council request email] .

Yours sincerely,

Deirdre Sharp
Corporate Freedom of Information Officer

P.S. Regarding your footnote - you have the correct e-mail address.

show quoted sections

Refusal Notice: Health and Safety (S38)

Dear Mr Smith

Refusal Notice: Disclosure likely to endanger the physical or mental health, or safety, of any individual (S38)

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST

Your request for information which we received on 21st April 2008 has now been considered and is refused.
In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 this letter acts as a Refusal Notice.

Exemption Applied
Section 38 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides a qualified exemption for release of information if its disclosure would, or would be likely to
(a) endanger the physical or mental health of any individual, or
(b) endanger the safety of any individual

Section 38(2) removes the duty to confirm or deny whether the public authority holds the information specified in the request; however we can confirm that we do hold the requested information.

This decision is based upon the following reasons:

Securus is an e - Safety product which some Norfolk Schools have purchased to complement the already existing Internet filtering provided by Children's Services. The product also monitors for activities such as illegal drug references, violence, bullying, racism etc.

Providing the requested information would specifically identify which schools utilise, and which schools do not utilise, the product. This could undermine the effectiveness of the product and subsequently endanger the physical or mental health of any individual, or endanger the safety of any individual. The information could be used to assist someone seeking to cause harm to a child/children by allowing him or her to specifically target children in schools that do not use Securus.

Public Interest Test Reasons
The Council has concluded that the public interest in maintaining this exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure. This decision is based upon the following reasons:

The Securus product is designed to protect the safety of children in schools. There is clearly a very strong public interest in not undermining this process and, for the reasons stated above, we believe this could be the case if we released the information requested. There may be a public interest in knowing how public money is spent; however we believe this is satisfied in this case by the information available on the Securus website, as mentioned in your original request.

If you are unhappy with the way in which this matter has been handled in general, you have the right to make use of the Authority's complaints procedure by setting out the grounds of your complaint in writing to the:

Records & Efficiency Manager
Room 37
County Hall
Martineau Lane
Norwich. NR1 2DL

If, after pursuing the internal complaints procedure, you remain dissatisfied, you have the right to apply to the Information Commissioner for a decision whether your request for information has been dealt with in accordance with the DPA and the requirements of Part I of the FOIA.

Contact details for the Information Commissioner are as follows:

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

Should you have any queries regarding the information provided, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Christina Hobbs
Children's Services
Room 37, County Hall
Norwich. NR1 2DL

Tel: 01603 638017
Fax: 01603 222119

The information contained in this email is intended only for the person or organization to which it is addressed. If you have received it by mistake, please disregard and notify the sender immediately. Unauthorized disclosure or use of such information may be a breach of legislation or confidentiality and may be legally privileged.

Emails sent from and received by Members and employees of Norfolk County Council may be monitored. They may also be disclosed to other people under legislation, particularly the Freedom Of Information Act 2000.

Unless this email relates to Norfolk County Council business it will be regarded by the Council as personal and will not be authorized by or sent on behalf of the Council. The sender will have sole responsibility for any legal actions or disputes that may arise.