Correspondence from DfE to LAs about home education/home schooling

The request was partially successful.

Dear Department for Education,

Please provide copies of any correspondence from the Department to local authorities between January 2020 – December 2020 which deals with elective home education/home schooling and home educated children/young people. I understand that personal data will have to be redacted.

Yours faithfully,

J Miles

MINISTERS, Department for Education

1 Attachment

Thank you for contacting the Department for Education. If you are
contacting us about coronavirus (COVID-19) you can find advice and
guidance on [1]GOV.UK. This includes [2]guidance for educational settings
in England. You can also contact our coronavirus helpline on 0800 046
8687. Lines are open Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm and weekends 10am to
4pm.

For emails and other written enquiries you will usually receive a reply
within 15 working days. You can find out how the department processes your
personal information by reading our [3]Privacy Notice.

 

 

[4]cid:image001.jpg@01D42E43.58989C30

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
2. https://www.gov.uk/government/collection...
https://www.gov.uk/government/collection...
3. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...

ACCOUNT, Unmonitored, Department for Education

 

Dear Mr/Ms Miles

 

Thank you for your recent enquiry. 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 reference number 2020-0069873.

Department for Education

Ministerial and Public Communications Division

Tel: 0370 000 2288

Web: 

[1]https://www.education.gov.uk
Twitter: [2]https://www.twitter.com/educationgovuk
Facebook: [3]https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.education.gov.uk/
2. https://www.twitter.com/educationgovuk
3. https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk

ACCOUNT, Unmonitored, Department for Education

Dear J Miles
 

I refer to your request for information, under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000, which was received on 13 December 2020.   You requested:

‘Please provide copies of any correspondence from the Department to local
authorities between January 2020 – December 2020 which deals with elective
home education/home schooling and home educated children/young people.

I understand that personal data will have to be redacted’.

I regret that it is taking longer than expected to deal with your request
and therefore we will not be able to meet the FOI deadline of 14 January
2021. 
 

All effort is being taken to process your request as soon as possible.
 

Your correspondence has been allocated reference number 2020-0069873. If
you need to respond to us, please visit:
[1]https://www.education.gov.uk/contactus and quote your reference number.

 

As part of our commitment to improving the service we provide to our
customers, we are interested in hearing your views and would welcome your
comments via our website at:
[2]https://form.education.gov.uk/service/Po....

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Carol Gayles 

Independent Education Division

Web: [3]https://www.education.gov.uk
Twitter: [4]https://www.twitter.com/educationgovuk
Facebook: [5]https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.education.gov.uk/contactus
2. https://form.education.gov.uk/service/Po...
3. https://www.education.gov.uk/
4. https://www.twitter.com/educationgovuk
5. https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk

Dear Department for Education,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Education's handling of my FOI request 'Correspondence from DfE to LAs about home education/home schooling'.

A response was due by 14th January 2021 and it is now 6 weeks overdue with no update provided.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...

Yours faithfully,

J Miles

MINISTERS, Department for Education

1 Attachment

Thank you for contacting the Department for Education. If you are
contacting us about coronavirus (COVID-19) you can find advice and
guidance on [1]GOV.UK. This includes [2]guidance for educational settings
in England. You can also contact our coronavirus helpline on 0800 046
8687. Lines are open Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm and weekends 10am to
4pm.

For emails and other written enquiries you will usually receive a reply
within 15 working days. You can find out how the department processes your
personal information by reading our [3]Privacy Notice.

 

 

[4]cid:image001.jpg@01D42E43.58989C30

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
2. https://www.gov.uk/government/collection...
https://www.gov.uk/government/collection...
3. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...

ACCOUNT, Unmonitored, Department for Education

1 Attachment

  • Attachment

    2020 0069873 Redacted Documents.zip

    3.6M Download

Dear J Miles 

 

Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 13
December 2020. You requested:

‘Please provide copies of any correspondence from the Department to local
authorities between January 2020 – December 2020 which deals with elective
home education/home schooling and home educated children/young people.  I
understand that personal data will have to be redacted’.

I would like to offer my apologies for the delay in responding. The
Department takes very seriously its obligations under the Act, including
the requirement to respond within the statutory deadline of 20 working
days.
I am afraid that we have not been able to maintain this standard in this
instance and while there may be considered to be mitigating circumstances,
this delay is not acceptable and I am very sorry for the inconvenience
which it may have caused you.
A copy of the information which can be disclosed is attached in the format
you requested.

Section 21 and 40(2) of the Act

We consider that the absolute exemption at section 21 of the Act is
engaged because some of the information requested is already reasonably
accessible to the applicant by other means.  This relates to the
publication of a Waltham Forest Serious Safeguarding Review, which is
available at: 
[1]https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/content....

The department has withheld some of the information you have requested
under section 40(2) of the Act: -this is because the information in
question includes 3rd party personal data.  Personal data is that which
relates to a living individual who can be identified from that data, or
from that data and other information which is likely to be in, or to come
into, the possession of the requestor.  Disclosure of this information
would contravene a number of the data protection principles in the
GDPR/DPA 2018, and would be regarded as ‘unfair’.  By that, we mean the
likely expectations of the data subject that his or her information would
not be disclosed to others and the effect which disclosure would have on
the data subject.  Section 40(2) is an absolute exemption and is not
subject to the public interest test.

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

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you should
make a complaint to the department by writing to me within two calendar
months of the date of this letter.  Your complaint will be considered by
an independent review panel, which were not involved in the original
consideration of your request.  

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint to the
department, you may then contact the Information Commissioner’s Office. 

 

Yours sincerely
 

 Carol Gayles 

Web: [2]https://www.education.gov.uk
Twitter: [3]https://www.twitter.com/educationgovuk
Facebook: [4]https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk

 

 

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/content...
2. https://www.education.gov.uk/
3. https://www.twitter.com/educationgovuk
4. https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk