Thank you for contacting the Department for Education. We can confirm that
we have received the Freedom of Information request you submitted.

We will respond to you within 20 working days.

Thank you for contacting the Department for Education. We can confirm that
we have received the Freedom of Information request you submitted.

We will respond to you within 20 working days.

Thank you for contacting the Department for Education. We can confirm that
we have received the Freedom of Information request you submitted.

We will respond to you within 20 working days.

Dear T Cotter

Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 2 June
2018, as a follow up to your request on 22 April 2018. You asked for the
following information:

·       A list of the Early Years Capital Fund projects that returned
funding or never used the funding awarded, by local authority

·       The 3 most common reasons given for not using the funding

I have dealt with your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The department holds the information you have requested but it is being
withheld under the Section 22 exemption of the Act. Section 22 provides
for information to be exempt from disclosure where the information is held
by the department with a view to its publication by the department or any
other person at some future date. The requested information was so held at
the time your request was made, and it is reasonable in all the
circumstances that the information should be withheld until that date.

The outcomes of the Early Years Capital Fund will be published on the
department’s website once the programme is closed, and projects have
completed.

Section 22 of the Act is a qualified exemption which means that I have
carried out a public interest test. In doing so, I have considered the
following factors:

·       It is acknowledged 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, the public interest in permitting the government to
publish information in a manner and at a time of its own choosing is also
important. It is part of the effective conduct of public affairs that the
general publication of information is a conveniently planned and managed
activity within the reasonable control of the public authority.

·       The government has already determined that it will publish the
outcomes of the Early Years Capital Fund on the GOV.UK website in due
course.

·       It is not reasonable for the government to be expected to release
piecemeal information in advance of its planned timetable and planned
publication. If we were to release this information as requested on
varying occasions, this may result in partial information being released
over a protracted period potentially leading to confusion and inaccuracy.

The arguments for and against release have been considered and it is my
view that the balance of public interest falls in favour of the
maintenance of this exemption in relation to the information relating to
this request, as it is reasonable to withhold the information until the
intended date of future publication.

If you have any queries about this response, please contact me. Please
remember to quote reference number 2018-0018708 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 response. Your complaint will be considered by
an internal review panel of people who were not involved in the original
consideration of your request.

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

Yours sincerely,

Early Years Funding Team

Dear T Cotter

I would like to apologize for the delay in responding to your FOI. 
Unfortunately, there was an error in getting the response out to you in
the system, even though the response had been drafted, uploaded, and was
ready to be sent. 

As you have now received a response, I will assume that you no longer wish
to pursue an internal review, unless you contact the department to state
otherwise.

Yours Sincerely,

Early Years Funding Team