Documents relating to voluntary aided status of the Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls School
Dear The Learning Trust,
Please can you provide me with copies of the application or request for the Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls School to become voluntary aided and all related forms, correspondence, notes, minutes etc.
Yours faithfully,
P Johnson
Dear P Johnson,
Thank you for your email dated 8 February.I should firstly point out that The Learning Trust is not a “public authority” under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the Act”). The Learning Trust is a private company limited by guarantee which carries out the majority of the functions of Hackney Council as a Local Education Authority under a Contract entered into pursuant to a Direction of the Secretary of State dated 31st July 2002.
The Learning Trust was incorporated in May 2002 for the sole purpose of carrying out the functions transferred pursuant to that Direction from 1st August 2002. There is a power under Section 5 of the Act for the Secretary of State to designate a company such as The Learning Trust as a public authority but to date that power has not been exercised in respect of The Learning Trust.
Consequently, The Learning Trust is not bound by the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. However as a body exercising public functions The Learning Trust is committed to doing so openly and transparently. The Learning Trust has developed a policy which, so far as its constitution allows, complies with the provisions of the Act.
With regard to your request; Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls School has been a voluntary aided school since September 2005. There is no active or recent application or related forms, correspondence etc. Can you please clarify if you are requesting documents from 2005?
Kind regards,
.......................................................
Sean O’Regan
Information Officer
Legal Team Administrator
The Learning Trust
1 Reading Lane, London, E8 1GQ
1020 8820 7382
0 sean.o'[email address]
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Dear Sean O'Regan,
Thank you for your response.
I am requesting documents from 2005 and all other periods relating to the establishment of the school and/or its conversion to voluntary aided status.
Yours sincerely,
P Johnson
Dear Sean O'Regan,
I was expecting a reply to my request by 10 April 2012 and I would be grateful for the information requested or an update.
Yours sincerely,
P Johnson
Dear P Johnson,
My apologies for the delay in responding to your request. Following a search of our paper and electronic filing systems I can confirm that The Learning Trust does not hold the documents you have requested.
This information may be held by the London Borough of Hackney or alternatively you could contact the Department for Education.
Yours sincerely,
.......................................................
Sean O’Regan
Information Officer
Legal Team Administrator
The Learning Trust
1 Reading Lane, London, E8 1GQ
1020 8820 7382
0 sean.o'[email address]
.......................................................
Dear The Learning Trust,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of The Learning Trust's handling of my FOI request 'Documents relating to voluntary aided status of the Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls School'.
On your website the History page, under About Us, shows that you were established in 2002 and that Yesoday Hatorah (YHS) joined the maintained sector in 2005. The Learning Trust was therefore the responsible body at the time YHS became a maintained school.
I believe it is inconceivable that there are no documents relating to YHS becoming a maintained school. I asked not only for the application form which may have been before 2002 but for all documents relating to its conversion.
I therefore ask that you please review my request and provide me with whatever documents you have relating to YHS joining the maintained sector.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/do...
Yours faithfully,
P Johnson
Dear Sean O'Regan,
I write further to my request for an internal review. The application to become a voluntary aided school was made during 2000 and/or 2001 and the school started operating in 2005.
An application was made to London Borough of Hackney to whom I have spoken. They have referred me to The Learning Trust as all the files were transferred to you.
I am interested in the documents relating to the application as well as the application itself and related documents from when the school started operating as per my initial request.
Yours sincerely,
P Johnson
I am currently out of the office and will return on Monday 30th April. If you have an urgent FOI query please contact Breda Maynard on 0208 820 7054.
Regards,
Sean O’Regan
Dear P Johnson,
I am sorry that you are dissatisfied by the manner in which your request has been handled by The Learning Trust. Your request for an I internal review has been forwarded to the Head of Legal Services who will review how this request was handled and get back to you within 20 working days.
Kind regards
Sean O'Regan
Information Officer
The Learning Trust
Sent from my iPhone
Dear P Johnson,
Thank you for your request for an internal review of how your previous request dated 10th March 2012. I have been instructed to carry out a second search of our paper and electronic records. Following this second search of the records held by The Learning Trust I have located the two attached documents which confirm that the decision to approve the application of Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls School to become a voluntary aided school was made by the Hackney School Organisation Committee. These are the only electronic documents I could locate after liaising with various colleagues.
We have established that some records in relation to Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls School were archived offsite some years ago. The oldest of these records have been destroyed as the retention period has expired. However, some of the boxes have not yet been destroyed. I have arranged for these boxes to be delivered to The Learning Trust and as soon as they arrive I will conduct a thorough search of the contents. If the application, or any related documents, are found I will scan them and send them to you by email.
May I apologise for any oversights in my initial handling of your request. I will update you as to the contents of the boxes as soon as possible, and in any case before the end of the week with a general update.
Many thanks
.......................................................
Sean O’Regan
Information Officer
Legal Team Administrator
The Learning Trust
1 Reading Lane, London, E8 1GQ
1020 8820 7382
0 sean.o'[email address]
.......................................................
Dear Sean O'Regan,
Thank you for the information provided. You said you would be writing before the end of last week with an update and I await hearing from you with the additional information or an update.
Yours sincerely,
P Johnson
Dear P Johnson,
Unfortunately I have been informed that the boxes we intended to recover have in fact been destroyed. The aforementioned boxes, which were archived 6 or more years ago, were not marked as confidential or as requiring long term retention. Therefore, when the standard retention period of 6 years was exceeded the boxes were destroyed.
Regretfully, I have exhausted all avenues as to potential locations of the documents you have requested.
Kind regards
.......................................................
Sean O’Regan
Information Officer
Legal Team Administrator
The Learning Trust
1 Reading Lane, London, E8 1GQ
1020 8820 7382
0 sean.o'[email address]
.......................................................
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