Sixth Form funding shortfall

Dear Mr Harding

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

Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2009/0033681

Thank you.

Central Allocation Team

Public Communications Team

Tel: 0870 0002288
www.dcsf.gov.uk

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Dear Mr Harding,
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request of 11^th April. I am
writing to confirm that we have now completed our search for the
information you requested on 11^th April 2009.

Your request was in two parts:

* to see "Any emails or communications between the LSC and Treasury that
relate to the funding shortfall from when it was first discovered"

o I can confirm that the LSC and Treasury have not had any
communications regarding the 2009-10 16-18 funding allocations;

* to see "the contingency plans the DCSF has in place to minimise the
disruption the shortfall is going to cause"

o I can confirm that any papers relating to any contingency
plans that the DCSF have in relation to the "funding shortfall" will not
be released as they are exempt under section 35(1)(a) (formulation of
Government policy) of the Freedom of Information Act.

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,

David McVean

Head of 14-19 Funding and Finance Division

Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2009/0033681.

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

Dear Mr Harding,

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

Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number
2009/0041208.

Thank you.

Central Allocation Team

Public Communications Team

Tel: 0870 0002288
www.dcsf.gov.uk

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Dear Mr Harding,
Response to Your Freedom of Information Review Request

I refer to your request for an internal review which was received on 6^th
May 2009.

You requested:

I would like to request an internal review of your decision to
withhold the second part of my request.

I believe Section 35 has been incorrectly applied to my request as
the legislation states that information can be withheld if
it"relates to the formulation or development of government policy".
I requested the contingency plans that the Department has in place
(and presumably unannounced) rather than any proposals still being
formed into actual policy..

The Department has now completed its internal review process and has
carried out a thorough review of the case, chaired by a senior officer who
was not involved with the original request. The Department has decided to
uphold the original decision not to disclose the information concerned,
for the following reasons:

The Department holds the information you requested, but it is being
withheld because the following exemption(s) apply to this information:

sections 36 (2) (b)(i) and (ii) of the act.

In your request you asked to see copies of the contingency plans the DCSF
has in place to minimise the disruption the 16-18 funding shortfall would
cause. The process of allocating 16-18 funding to schools and colleges is
based on a dialogue between the Learning and Skill Council (LSC) and
Further Education (FE) providers, schools with sixth forms (SSF) and other
providers. Once this dialogue is complete the LSC advises the DCSF of the
funding it thinks is necessary to fund 16-18 participation the following
year.

The Department has contingency plans set out in risk registers to ensure
that there is adequate funding for learners planned. In general, these
refer to contingencies to be put in place during the planning process, and
not to deal with surges in demand, such as that - at an unprecedented
level - we now anticipate in 2009/10.

We have a legal obligation to inform schools of their budgets by the end
of March. We therefore had to write to all providers by the end of March
setting budgets within the funding envelope we had at the time. However,
we announced in those letters to all providers that we were working across
government to secure additional funding. We have interpreted your request
as being to see correspondence relating to those cross government
discussions.

The DCSF followed Departmental procedures to identify and secure the
additional funding necessary to meet the pressure on the 16-18 budget.
DCSF was successful in securing additional funding as announced by the
Chancellor in Budget 2009. The subsequent revised allocations announced to
FE colleges, schools sixth forms and other providers should ensure there
will be no funding shortfall in the 2009/10 academic year and funding for
the September Guarantee is now in place. The advice provided to secure
this additional funding is protected under section 36 of the act.

Section 36 is a qualified exemption, subject to a public interest test.
This requires officials to identify if the public interest in applying the
exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
This test has been carried out. It is accepted that there is a significant
public interest in releasing correspondence relating to how the Government
allocates funding for 16-18 year olds and the contingency plans it has in
place to mitigate against shortfalls. However it is our considered opinion
in this case that the balance of public interest is against disclosure for
the following reasons.

The Act says at section 36(2) that certain information is exempt from
disclosure if, in the reasonable opinion of a qualified person, (in the
case of government departments, a Minister) disclosure of the information
under the Act would, or would be likely to, inhibit-

i) the free and frank provision of advice, or

ii) the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of
deliberation, - section 36(2)(b)

It is standard government practice for departments to enter into a
dialogue with Treasury when they assess they are short of funds to meet
their commitments. It is essential that these discussions can be both
candid and robust. Disclosure of the e-mails and papers in this case could
have the following prejudicial effects in the future:

It could inhibit LSC (and its successor bodies) from advising of potential
funding shortfalls

It could limit the provision of advice and options to Ministers to only
those which are likely ultimately to prove, thereby weakening the
Department's negotiating position

Exchanges between DCSF and Treasury to agree funding for a priority that
is affordable could be inhibited.

The level of funding 16-18 providers will receive in 2009-10 and the
volume of places in learning this is intended to buy will be published.
This will be done through an amendment to the LSC's Grant Letter for
2009-10. The level of extra funding secured in the budget will mean that
there should be no shortfall in funding for providers.

If you are unhappy with this decision, you have the right to appeal
directly to the Information Commissioner. The Information Commissioner can
be contacted at:

The Case Reception Unit

Customer Service Team

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Further information about the Information Commissioner's complaints
procedure can be found on the Information Commissioner's Office website:
[1]http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/freedom...
Yours sincerely,

Anna Paige
[2][email address]
[3]www.dcsf.gov.uk

Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2009/0041208.

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

References

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