Handling of complaints re funding to Cotham School

Anna Caple made this Freedom of Information request to Education and Skills Funding Agency This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was partially successful.

Dear Education and Skills Funding Agency,

Please provide copies of correspondence with Cotham School/reports/minutes of meetings & calls concerning CIF grant CRM 012700178 from 1 January 2021 to date. You will be aware that public concerns have been reported in Private Eye (7 and 21 July 2021) & elsewhere so it is a matter of public interest to know how ESFA has responded to complaints about discrepancies in the amount of funding claimed for various elements of this bid, how it has investigated the matter & action taken to protect the public purse.
Yours faithfully,

Anna Caple

MINISTERS, Education and Skills Funding Agency

1 Attachment

Thank you for contacting the Department for Education.

 

Exam Results

 

If your enquiry is about 2021 exam results, we will endeavour to get a
response to you as soon as possible.

 

If your enquiry is related to exam appeals or priority appeals, we
recommend that students should discuss the appeals process with their
school or college in the first instance. JCQ have also published a student
guide to appeals which can be found here:
[1]https://www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/upload....
If a student wishes to appeal a VTQ result they should refer to the
guidance on their specific Awarding Organisation’s website.

 

Students can also contact the National Careers Service helpline for advice
and support regarding their results, including for advice on appeals, on
0800 100 900. 

 

 

Other enquiries

 

Thank you for contacting the Department for Education. If you are
contacting us about coronavirus (COVID-19) you can find advice and
guidance on [2]GOV.UK. This includes [3]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 [4]Privacy Notice.

 

 

 

References

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ACCOUNT, Unmonitored, Education and Skills Funding Agency

Dear  Anna Caple 

Thank you for your recent enquiry which was received on 16/01/2022.

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 2022-0001908 

 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, Education and Skills Funding Agency

Dear Ms Caple

Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 16
January 2021. You requested:

“copies of correspondence with Cotham School / reports / minutes of
meetings and calls concerning CIF grant CRM 012700178 from 1 January 2021
to date”.

I am dealing with your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(“the Act”). The Department holds the information you have requested.
However, I consider that the following exemption applies to your request:

Section 36(2) of the Act – where, “in the reasonable opinion of a
qualified person” (for a Government Department, a Minister), disclosure
would (b)(i) inhibit the free and frank provision of advice; (b)(ii) would
inhibit the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of
deliberation; or (c) otherwise prejudice, or would be likely otherwise to
prejudice, the effective conduct of public affairs.

The Act obliges the Department to respond to requests promptly, and in any
case no later than 20 working days after receiving your request. However,
where the exemption above is applicable, the Department must consider
whether the greater public interest lies in disclosing or withholding the
information. In these circumstances, the Act allows the time for response
to be longer than 20 working days.

In this case, the Department estimates that it will take an additional 20
working days to take a decision on where the balance of the public
interest lies. It is anticipated that you will receive a full response by
14 March.  If it appears that it will take longer than this to reach a
conclusion, we will keep you informed.

I will explain how we are applying the exemption when I write to you again
with a full response to your request.

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 was 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

Capital Correspondence Team
 

Dear Education and Skills Funding Agency,

Ref: 2022-0001908

What has prompted this request is that the issues are very much in the public domain; they have been highlighted on social media and featured in Private Eye on 7 and 21 July 2021.
Clearly there is significant public interest in demonstrating that the Funding Agency has fully investigated the issues, otherwise there is a risk to the public purse that other schools might make bids for capital funding grants where there are unexplained discrepancies between the amount they expect a project item to cost, and they amount of funding they claim for it.

In addition to this, previous correspondence is in the public domain detailing the figures involved in this matter which makes it clear that the school has given several different figures for what the project actually cost.

Also, information has been published by the school which specifically told its parent community that it had kept the costs down to £65k through good project management and value for money principles so it’s a matter of great concern if they have misled their parent community as well.

Unfortunately, withholding information on this rather public matter could be seen as a lack of transparency and unfortunately is likely to leave those with concerns having more questions about the reasons for the inconsistencies rather than less.

I would not wish to undermine the confidence that must exist between your agency and those you deal with, but while I appreciate the justifications outlined in your response, I am hopeful that the information you might give will offer an explanation for the variations in the sums presented and put an end to unfavourable speculation.

Yours faithfully,

Anna Caple

MINISTERS, Education and Skills Funding Agency

1 Attachment

Thank you for contacting the Department for Education.

 

Exam Results

 

If your enquiry is about 2021 exam results, we will endeavour to get a
response to you as soon as possible.

 

If your enquiry is related to exam appeals or priority appeals, we
recommend that students should discuss the appeals process with their
school or college in the first instance. JCQ have also published a student
guide to appeals which can be found here:
[1]https://www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/upload....
If a student wishes to appeal a VTQ result they should refer to the
guidance on their specific Awarding Organisation’s website.

 

Students can also contact the National Careers Service helpline for advice
and support regarding their results, including for advice on appeals, on
0800 100 900. 

 

 

Other enquiries

 

Thank you for contacting the Department for Education. If you are
contacting us about coronavirus (COVID-19) you can find advice and
guidance on [2]GOV.UK. This includes [3]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 [4]Privacy Notice.

 

 

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/upload...
2. https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
3. https://www.gov.uk/government/collection...
https://www.gov.uk/government/collection...
4. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...

ACCOUNT, Unmonitored, Education and Skills Funding Agency

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Caple,
 
I refer to your request for information which was received on 17 January
2022. You requested:
 
“Please provide copies of correspondence with Cotham
school/reports/minutes of meetings & calls concerning CIF grant CRM
012700178 from 1 January 2021 to date. You will be aware that public
concerns have been reported in Private Eye (7 and 21 July 2021) &
elsewhere so it is a matter of public interest to know how ESFA has
responded to complaints about discrepancies in the amount of funding
claimed for various elements of this bid, how it has investigated the
matter & action taken to protect the public purse”.
 
The Department holds the information you have requested. Copies of
information which can be disclosed, between the date requested and the
date of your original request, are enclosed, with some redactions under
the following exemptions:
 

* Section 36(2)(b)(ii) - disclosure would be likely to inhibit the free
and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation.

 

* Section 36(2)(c) - disclosure would be likely otherwise to prejudice,
the effective conduct of public affairs

 

* Section 38(1) - disclosure under this 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.  

 

*  Section 40(2) – 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.    

 

* Section 41(1)(b) – disclosure of the information to the public by the
public authority holding it would constitute a breach of confidence.

 
Section 36(2) of the Act provides for information to be exempt where
disclosure would be likely to inhibit the free and frank exchange of views
for the purposes of deliberation under section 36(2)(b)(ii); or would be
likely otherwise to prejudice, the effective conduct of public affairs
under section 36(2)(c). Under Section 36(2), the Department is not
required to provide information, if in the reasonable opinion of a
qualified person (a Minister in the case of Government Departments)
disclosure of the information under the Act would otherwise prejudice, or
would be likely otherwise to prejudice, the effective conduct of public
affairs. In relation to your request, a Minister has decided that, in
their reasonable opinion, disclosure of some of the information in scope
is likely to have this prejudicial effect and therefore the exemption in
Section 36 applies.
 
Section 36(2) is a qualified exemption and therefore a public interest
test has been carried out. In doing so the following factors have been
taken into consideration. In favour of disclosure, providing citizens with
correspondence relating to a capital project would provide them some
assurance that public funds are being correctly managed and due process is
taking place. Set against this is the need for schools to be able to
converse freely and frankly with the department on the state of their
project. Schools must have the confidence to be entirely transparent with
us about the delivery of capital projects. We also need to be able to
discuss and negotiate with the school about acceptable project details and
final project costs, without having to share sensitive information with
third parties. Full disclosure of such information would be likely to
inhibit free and frank discussions in the future and thereby damage the
quality of advice and decision making. In conclusion, we determined that
arguments in favour of withholding a proportion of the information
outweigh the arguments in favour of disclosing it. 
 
Part of the information you have requested has been withheld under section
38(1) of the Act. This applies to information that if disclosed would be
likely to put the physical or mental health or the safety of any
individual at risk or greater risk. The individual does not need to be
identifiable and may be a member of the public. This can also equally
apply to a group or class of people.    
 
Section 38 is a qualified exemption and therefore requires a public
interest test to reach a decision on where the balance of public interest
lies. In doing so, the following factors have been taken into
consideration. We acknowledge that there is a general public interest in
disclosure because of the need for there to be open and transparent
government and that the sharing of information with the public should be
free and open. However, it is also reasonable not to release information
that may lead to the identification or possibly to misidentification of
individuals and which would be likely to endanger the physical or mental
health or safety of any individual/s. The most effective precaution which
could be taken to prevent anticipated danger to individuals lies in not
disclosing information which could put these individuals at risk. We have
considered the factors for and against release and believe the balance of
public interest lies in withholding this information.  
 
We have also redacted some of the information requested under section
40(2) (personal data) because some of the information requested includes
third 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 General Data Protection Regulations/Data
Protection Act 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.                  
 
Finally, part of the information requested has been withheld under section
41 of the Act. Section 41 provides that information is exempt where it is
obtained by the public authority from any other person, and where its
disclosure would give rise to an actionable breach of confidence. It is
our view that part of the information requested was provided to us in
circumstances where there was an explicit or implied obligation of
confidence. The section 41 exemption is therefore engaged. While the
exemption at section 41 is an absolute exemption and does not require
consideration of the public interest test, its application is subject to
public interest considerations which apply to the law of confidence. In
making these considerations we have determined that disclosure may
undermine the principle of confidentiality, by inhibiting the sharing of
confidential information. 
 
The information supplied to you continues to be protected by copyright.
You are free to use it for your own purposes, including for private study
and non-commercial research, and for any other purpose authorised by an
exception in current copyright law. Documents (except photographs) can be
also used in the UK without requiring permission for the purposes of news
reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, would
require the permission of the copyright holder
 
Most documents produced by a government department or agency will be
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re-used under the Open Government Licence
(http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/o...). For
information about the OGL and about re-using Crown Copyright information
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Copyright in other documents may rest with a third party. For information
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Property Office’s website at [1]www.ipo.gov.uk
 
If you have any queries about this letter, please get in touch via the
link here: [2]Contact us. 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
requesting an internal review via the link here: [3]Contact us within 2
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
 
Capital Correspondence Team
 
 
 

References

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2. https://form.education.gov.uk/service/Co...
3. https://form.education.gov.uk/service/Co...