BNP Teachers
Dear Sir or Madam,
By letter of 30 September 2009, The Secretary of State Ed Balls appointed Maurice Smith to enquire into the "promotion of racism in schools". Part of the review is aimed at determining whether members of the British National Party (BNP) should be allowed to work as teachers or in the wider school workforce.
At present there are a number of measures and safeguards in place in place to protect children and young people in schools from racially motivated discrimination and the promotion of political doctrines that advocate discrimination and promote racist views. These are:
• The requirement on schools to have equal opportunity policies
• The duty upon schools to promote racial equality
• Their duty to promote community cohesion
• The duty on governing bodies, headteachers and local authorities to forbid the teaching of partisan political activities in schools
• The powers of the GTC (England) regarding suitability of registration and where teacher conduct could bring the profession into disrepute
I would like you to provide me with evidence of how effective these measures are including whether they are sufficient to maintain trust in the profession and protect children and young people.
Please provide the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
1) What evidence is there that schools’ equal opportunity policies are effective in combating racism?
2) What are schools in your area doing to promote racial equality and promote community cohesion? Examples of measures deemed to be good practice and recognised as being successful would be useful.
3) Can you provide me with any evidence that the measures listed above have been effective (if this has not already been done)?
4) Are further measures required to either maintain trust in the teaching profession or protect children and young people?
Yours sincerely
Mark Walker
Solidarity Trade Union
www.solidaritytradeunion.org
Our Ref: 3128855
12-JAN-10
Dear Mr Walker,
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT - REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
I acknowledge your request for information received today.
Your request is being considered and if the information requested is held
by the County Council it will be sent to you 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 will 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 that may
prevent release of the information you have requested. There will be an
assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then the exempt
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.
There may a fee payable for this information to cover photocopying,
postage and any other production costs. 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.
In line with the Information Commissioner's directive on the disclosure of
information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 your request will
form part of our disclosure log. Therefore, a version of our response
which will protect your anonymity will be posted on Durham County Council
website.
If you have any queries or concerns then please contact:
Freedom of Information / Data Protection Coordinator
Durham County Council
Assistant Chief Executive's Office
Room 4/10
County Hall
Durham
DH1 5UF
Tel: 0191 383 3815
Email: [1][Durham 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 545 745
Fax: 01625 524 510
Email: [email address]
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
Yours sincerely,
Neale Boswell
Freedom of Information Team
Our Ref: 3128855
20-JAN-10
Dear Mr Walker,
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT - REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
Your request for information on BNP teachers, received on 12-JAN-2010, has
now been considered.
You requested: 1) What evidence is there that schools' equal opportunity
policies are effective in combating racism?
Our response: Durham County Council is unable to respond to this as it
requires a statement of opinion rather than recorded facts and figures.
You requested: 2) What are schools in your area doing to promote racial
equality and promote community cohesion?
Our response: Each school will approach this issue in a different way as
set out in their own Equal Opportunities policies and statements.
Examples of measures deemed to be good practice and recognised as being
successful would be useful.
Our response: Durham County Council is unable to respond to this part of
the question as it is entirely subjective.
You requested: 3) Can you provide me with any evidence that the measures
listed above have been effective (if this has not already been done)?
Our response: Durham County Council is unable to respond to this as it
requires a statement of opinion rather than recorded facts and figures.
You requested: 4) Are further measures required to either maintain trust
in the teaching profession or protect children and young people?
Our response: Durham County Council is unable to respond to this as it
requires a statement of opinion rather than recorded facts and figures.
Please find enclosed the requested information.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request please contact:
Freedom of Information / Data Protection Coordinator
Durham County Council
Adult & Community Services
Culture & Leisure
Rivergreen Centre
Aykley Heads
Durham
DH1 5TS
Tel: 0191 383 3815
Email: [Durham County Council request email]
After you have exhausted our internal appeals procedure you also have a
right of appeal to the Information Commissioner at:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 745
Fax: 01625 524 510
Email: [email address]
Most of the documents that we provide in response to Freedom of
Information Act requests will be subject to copyright protection. In most
cases the copyright will be owned by Durham County Council. The copyright
in other documents may be owned by another person or organisation, as
indicated on the documents themselves.
You are free to use any documents supplied for your own use, including for
non-commercial research purposes. The documents may also be used for the
purposes of news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for
example, by publishing the documents or issuing copies to the public will
require the permission of the copyright owner.
For documents where the copyright is owned by Durham County Council,
please contact me for details of the conditions on re-use.
For documents where the copyright is owned by another person or
organisation, you would need to apply to the copyright owner to obtain
their permission.
Yours sincerely,
Neale Boswell
Freedom of Information Team
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now