Disciplinary/Police Reports by School against pupils/parents re Anti Trans Gender Education.
Dear Argyll and Bute Council,
Per FOISA, please supply me with information contained within your records as follows:
1. Per School, please provide the number of pupils that have been:
a) Officially disciplined by the school for alleged discriminatory or homophobic behaviour or views against trans gender EDUCATION?
b) Reports made to the police for alleged discrimination or homophobic behaviour or views against trans gender EDUCATION?
2. Per School, please provide the number of parents/guardians that have been:Officially reported by the school for their child/pupils alleged discriminatory or homophobic behaviour or views against trans gender EDUCATION?
Yours faithfully,
[name removed]
[name removed]
Thank you for your email to Argyll and Bute Council in relation to Freedom
of Information Requests. We will endeavour to respond to your email as
soon as possible.
Many Thanks
FOI team
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Dear [name removed]
Request for information: Gender re-assignment - Schools
Thank you for your information request which we have logged as reference
argyllbuteir:14998.
It has been passed to the relevant service(s) for attention and you should
receive a response under either the Freedom of Information (Scot) Act 2002
or the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 by 2022-12-06
00:00:00. We hope to respond within this timescale but, due to the
staffing/capacity issues with COVID-19, some requests may take little
longer.
Please quote the reference number above in any correspondence you may have
with the Council in regard to this request.
Regards
FOI Officer
Privacy information: Any personal information you have provided in
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Classification: OFFICIAL
Dear [name removed]
I am in receipt of your six FOI requests on the topic of transgender
education and gender reassignment. Before I may continue, I require some
clarification from you. Please could you confirm what time period you
require data for – it is the current academic year, 2022-2023?
Please note that the timeframe for our response will now pause until I
hear back from you.
Many thanks.
Kind regards,
cid:image001.jpg@01D2EC02.4FE19800
Suzanne Harper
Admin Officer
Argyll and Bute Council
Education Services
Argyll House, Alexandra Parade, Dunoon, PA23 8AJ
Email: [1][email address]
Tel: 01369 708527
My normal work pattern is Monday to Friday 09:00-12:30, during school
term-time.
[2]www.argyll-bute.gov.uk
cid:image003.png@01D2F703.AFB409A0roundel_fc_cmyk_with_initials_signature_0_0cid:image014.jpg@01D7C4E7.20C35280
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Argyll and Bute Council's e-mail system (also used by LiveArgyll)
classifies the sensitivity of emails according to the Government Security
Classifications.
Privileged/Confidential Information may be contained in this message. If
you are not the addressee indicated in this message (or responsible for
delivery of the message to such person), you may not disclose, copy or
deliver this message to anyone and any action taken or omitted to be taken
in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful.
In such case, you should destroy this message and kindly notify the sender
by reply email. Opinions, conclusions and other information in this
message that do not relate to the official business of Argyll and Bute
Council or LiveArgyll shall be understood as neither given nor endorsed by
them.
All communications sent to or from Argyll and Bute Council or LiveArgyll
may be subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance with relevant
legislation.
This email has been scanned for viruses, vandals and malicious content.
References
Visible links
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2. http://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/
Dear Harper, Suzanne,
Hello the last three academic years would be perfect. thanks.
Yours sincerely,
[name removed]
Classification: OFFICIAL
Many thanks for your response.
Could I just check, do you mean 2020-2021, 2021-2022 and currently in 2022-2023 or alternatively 2019-2020, 2020-2021 and 2021-2022?
For further clarification, can I just check the following:
By 'manifestation of an intention to undergo gender reassignment' do you mean pupils expressing that they may wish to undergo gender reassignment in the future?
By 'proposal to undergo gender reassignment' do you mean pupils expressing that at present they do wish to undergo gender reassignment.
Kind regards,
Suzanne Harper
Admin Officer
Argyll and Bute Council
Education Services
Argyll House, Alexandra Parade, Dunoon, PA23 8AJ
Email: [email address]
Tel: 01369 708527
My normal work pattern is Monday to Friday 09:00-12:30, during school term-time.
Dear Harper, Suzanne,
2020-2021, 2021-2022 and currently in 2022-2023
Yours sincerely,
[name removed]
Classification: OFFICIAL
Thank you very much.
Please could you clarify re 'manifestation' and 'proposal', below?
Kind regards,
Suzanne Harper
Admin Officer
Argyll and Bute Council
Education Services
Argyll House, Alexandra Parade, Dunoon, PA23 8AJ
Email: [email address]
Tel: 01369 708527
My normal work pattern is Monday to Friday 09:00-12:30, during school term-time.
Dear Harper, Suzanne,
What does guidance say about gender reassignment?
The EHRC Technical Guidance for Schools102 sets out that gender reassignment “is a
personal process (rather than a medical process) that involves a person moving away from
his or her birth sex to his or her preferred gender and thus expressing that gender in a way
that differs from, or is inconsistent with, the physical sex with which he or she was born.
This personal process may include undergoing medical procedures or, as is more likely for
school pupils, it may simply include choosing to dress in a different way as part of the
personal process of change. A person will be protected because of gender reassignment
once:
• he or she makes his or her intention known to someone, regardless of who this is
(whether it is someone at school or at home, or someone such as a doctor);
• he or she has proposed to undergo gender reassignment, even if he or she takes no
further steps or decides to stop later on;
• there is manifestation of an intention to undergo gender reassignment, even if he or
she has not reached an irrevocable decision
• he or she starts or continues to dress, behave or live (full-time or part-time) according
to the gender with which he or she identifies as a person;
• he or she undergoes treatment related to gender reassignment, such as surgery or
hormone therapy; or
• he or she has received gender recognition under the Gender Recognition Act 2004. It
does not matter which of these applies to a person for him or her to be protected
because of the characteristic of gender reassignment”
103
.
https://www.gov.scot/publications/suppor...
Yours sincerely,
[name removed]
Classification: OFFICIAL
Good afternoon
As per my email of 10:37 this morning, please could you clarify if our understanding of 'manifestation' and 'proposal' is correct? The information you have provided in your response below does not explain the distinction between manifesting an intention to undergo gender reassignment and proposing to undergo gender reassignment. For the purposes of your request please could you clarify exactly what information you are looking for?
By 'manifestation of an intention to undergo gender reassignment' do you mean pupils expressing that they MAY wish to undergo gender reassignment in the future?
By 'proposal to undergo gender reassignment' do you mean pupils expressing that at present they DO wish to undergo gender reassignment.
Kind regards,
Suzanne Harper
Admin Officer
Argyll and Bute Council
Education Services
Argyll House, Alexandra Parade, Dunoon, PA23 8AJ
Email: [email address]
Tel: 01369 708527
My normal work pattern is Monday to Friday 09:00-12:30, during school term-time.
Dear Harper, Suzanne,
Might be best if you re read the original request it’s very clear and makes no mention of the terms you are seeking clarification on: If you could read this it would stop putting an unnecessary burden on yourself and our organisation. LA’s are happy to use the term vexatious against requester’s however this is manifestly unreasonable the continued clarification on essentially how many kids have been disciplined for hate crime on the basis of their views on Trans Education and not toward any individual. For example as a matter of faith? They don’t want taught trans education, and this has led to issues with the school and it is known in some cases parents could be at risk as they have parental responsibility over the child, and could beeb reported to the police.
Its not a difficult request.
Dear Argyll and Bute Council,
Per FOISA, please supply me with information contained within your records as follows:
1. Per School, please provide the number of pupils that have been:
a) Officially disciplined by the school for alleged discriminatory or homophobic behaviour or views against trans gender EDUCATION?
b) Reports made to the police for alleged discrimination or homophobic behaviour or views against trans gender EDUCATION?
2. Per School, please provide the number of parents/guardians that have been:Officially reported by the school for their child/pupils alleged discriminatory or homophobic behaviour or views against trans gender EDUCATION?
Yours faithfully,
[name removed]
[name removed]
Classification: OFFICIAL
Good afternoon
I had understood that my colleague within Argyll and Bute's central FOI team had been in touch with you to explain that all six of your requests would be logged under one reference number, however if this was not the case I will arrange for this to be conveyed to you formally. You will note from my original email to you this morning that I began my message with 'I am in receipt of your six FOI requests on the topic of transgender education and gender reassignment'. My apologies if this wording did not make it explicit that I was referring to more than one of your requests.
The two individual requests that I require further clarification on are as follows:
1. Per School, please provide the number of pupils that have received gender reassignment recognition. that the school have supported and that he or she has proposed to undergo gender reassignment, even if he or she takes no further steps or decides to stop later on;
a) Please break the numbers down per school for male pupils identifying as female?
b) Please break the numbers down per school for female pupils identifying as males?
and
Per School, please provide the number of pupils that have received gender reassignment recognition. that the school have supported and that there is manifestation of an intention to undergo gender reassignment, even if he or she has not reached an irrevocable decision
a) Please break the numbers down per school for male pupils identifying as female?
b) Please break the numbers down per school for female pupils identifying as males
In order for me to seek the precise information you are looking for, from our 81 schools, it is necessary for me to be sure that I understand your requests fully, in case of any queries I may receive. It is possible that, without an explicit definition of your questions, our schools may query the difference between the two phrases used or consider these to both be asking for the same information. I would like to be in a position to provide a clear answer to facilitate your request.
I would therefore reiterate my request for clarification on the distinction between the following terms and whether my following interpretations were correct:
- the proposal to undergo gender reassignment
By 'proposal to undergo gender reassignment' do you mean pupils expressing that at present they DO wish to undergo gender reassignment.
- the manifestation of an intention to under gender reassignment.
By 'manifestation of an intention to undergo gender reassignment' do you mean pupils expressing that they MAY wish to undergo gender reassignment in the future?
Unfortunately, the text that you provided in response to my earlier email asking for this distinction does not answer these questions so I am afraid I will be unable to progress with these requests until you are able to provide clarification.
Kind regards,
Suzanne Harper
Admin Officer
Argyll and Bute Council
Education Services
Argyll House, Alexandra Parade, Dunoon, PA23 8AJ
Email: [email address]
Tel: 01369 708527
My normal work pattern is Monday to Friday 09:00-12:30, during school term-time.
Dear Harper, Suzanne,
I personally do not accept the manner in which you are responding to these requests are reasonable in the slightest, you are asking for clarification on one FOI request that refers to a completely other request.
The reason that 6 different FOI requests were made was because they were asking for information on 6 differing issues and combining all 6 would likely have you use the cost exemption.
These are separate requests and for an auditing process I must insist that you deal with separately, if you are unable to do so, you are one of 32 Local Authorities that are being manifestly unreasonable to the requester. It does not look good for you and if this continues, I will appeal to OSIC.
It merely appears that you are attempting to obfuscate the process.
Yours sincerely,
[name removed]
[name removed]
Dear Harper, Suzanne,
By 'manifestation of an intention to undergo gender reassignment' do you mean pupils expressing that they MAY wish to undergo gender reassignment in the future?
YES but does not apply to this request.
By 'proposal to undergo gender reassignment' do you mean pupils expressing that at present they DO wish to undergo gender reassignment.
YES - but does not apply to this request.
Yours sincerely,
[name removed]
[name removed]
Classification: OFFICIAL
Thank you for providing this clarification. I will now seek this information from all of our schools.
Kind regards,
Suzanne Harper
Admin Officer
Argyll and Bute Council
Education Services
Argyll House, Alexandra Parade, Dunoon, PA23 8AJ
Email: [email address]
Tel: 01369 708527
My normal work pattern is Monday to Friday 09:00-12:30, during school term-time.
Dear Harper, Suzanne,
Due the minimal numbers that may be involved here: I do not require a breakdown per school as that may identify any individual.
Yours sincerely,
[name removed]
Dear Harper, Suzanne,
Please note I do not now require a break down of numbers per school, as I appreciate that the numbers we talking about here are minimal and may identify an individual.
To assist I require the data from academic year 2019/20 to date broken down AY on AY.
Yours sincerely,
[name removed]
Classification: OFFICIAL
Thank you. I have updated my request to schools to include 2019-2020.
Kind regards,
Suzanne Harper
Admin Officer
Argyll and Bute Council
Education Services
Argyll House, Alexandra Parade, Dunoon, PA23 8AJ
Email: [email address]
Tel: 01369 708527
My normal work pattern is Monday to Friday 09:00-12:30, during school term-time.
Classification: OFFICIAL
Dear [name removed]
Request for information: Disciplinary/Police Reports by School against
pupils/parents re Anti Trans Gender Education
Reference: argyllbuteir:14998.
I refer to your request for information which was dealt with in terms of
the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).
I note that in your email of 22^nd November you confirmed that you
required information for academic years 2020-2021, 2021-2022 and currently
in 2022-2023. On 28^th November you confirmed that, due to the minimal
numbers that may be involved you do not require a breakdown per school as
that may identify any individual, and added that you also required data
for academic year 2019-2020. To confirm, we have used academic years
2019-2020 to current and will provide an authority response (i.e. not by
individual school) for all six of your requests that were sent to us on
the same date. However, I can confirm that each request was logged, and
is being responded to, separately.
I have provided the following information in fulfilment of your request.
1. Per School, please provide the number of pupils that have been:
a. Officially disciplined by the school for alleged discriminatory or
homophobic behaviour or views against trans gender EDUCATION?
Academic Year Number of Pupils
2019-2020 0
2020-2021 2
2021-2022 0
2022-2023 0
b. Reports made to the police for alleged discrimination or homophobic
behaviour or views against trans gender EDUCATION?
Academic Year Number of Reports
2019-2020 1
2020-2021 1
2021-2022 1
2022-2023 0
2. Per School, please provide the number of parents/guardians that have
been:Officially reported by the school for their child/pupils alleged
discriminatory or homophobic behaviour or views against trans gender
EDUCATION
Academic Year Number of Parents/Guardians
2019-2020 0
2020-2021 0
2021-2022 0
2022-2023 0
If you are dissatisfied with the way in which your request for information
has been dealt with you are entitled to request a review by writing to the
Executive Director Customer Services, Argyll and Bute Council, Kilmory,
Lochgilphead, Argyll PA31 8RT, or by email to [1][Argyll and Bute Council
request email].
Your request for review must state your name and address for
correspondence, specify the request for information to which your request
for review relates and why you are dissatisfied with the response.
You must make your request for review not later than 40 working days after
the expiry of the 20 working day period for response to your initial
request by the Council, or not later than 40 working days after the
receipt by you of the information provided, any fees notice issued or any
notification of refusal or partial refusal.
If you make an application for review and remain dissatisfied with the way
in which the review has been dealt with you are entitled to make an
application to the Scottish Information Commissioner, Kinburn Castle,
Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9DS (Tel: 01334 464610) for a
further review. You can now do this online here -
[2]www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal.
You must make representation to the Scottish Information Commissioner no
later than 6 months after the date of receipt by you of the notice or
decision you are dissatisfied with or within 6 months of the expiry of the
period of 20 working days from receipt by the Council of your request for
review.
Yours sincerely
David Sinclair
Compliance and Regulatory Assistant
Legal and Regulatory Services
01546 604352
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deliver this message to anyone and any action taken or omitted to be taken
in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful.
In such case, you should destroy this message and kindly notify the sender
by reply email. Opinions, conclusions and other information in this
message that do not relate to the official business of Argyll and Bute
Council or LiveArgyll shall be understood as neither given nor endorsed by
them.
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