Evidence of demand on Proposal form for free school on the Bolingbroke site from ARK and the NSC parent group

The request was partially successful.

Dear Department for Education,

The "Neighbourhood Schools Campaign" group and ARK stated in their Proposal form for free school on the Bolingbroke site (page 6 onwards) (http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/moderngov/m...) that they over 2000 parents' names on their petition in support of a new local secondary free school.

Under the FOI Act, I am requesting:

a) Has the Department for Education received a copy of this petition?
b) Has the Department for Education verified the contents of the petition?
c) Can the Department for Education provide a break down of the petition responses in relation to the number of signatures from each postcode area. Specifically the break down of signatories based on how many people from the postcode areas of SW11, SW12, SW17, SW18, SW4, SW19, other postcodes and no postcode provided signed the petition. For the avoidance of doubt, I am not asking for names / email addresses or personal information on individuals, just summaries.
d) What steps has the Department for Education taken to ensure that the petition (which they have used for Evidence
of Demand) is valid?

Yours faithfully,
Laura Brown

Department for Education

Dear Ms Brown

Thank you for your recent email. 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 the reference number 2011/0021983

Thank you.

Central Allocation Team

Public Communications Team

Tel: 0370 0002288
www.education.gov.uk

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Mark Castle left an annotation ()

Time to take this one further / make a complaint?

Department for Education

Dear Ms Brown,
Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 12 March
2011 and please accept my sincere apologies for the unacceptable delay in
responding to you.
 

Your request stated that:

 

The "Neighbourhood Schools Campaign" group and ARK stated in their
Proposal form for free school on the Bolingbroke site (page 6 onwards)
([1]http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/moderngov/m...)
that they over 2000 parents' names on their petition in support of a new
local secondary free school.

 

“Under” the FOI Act, I am requesting:

 

a)     Has the Department for Education received a copy of this petition?

b)     Has the Department for Education verified the contents of the
petition?

c)      Can the Department for Education provide a break down of the
petition responses in relation to the number of signatures from each
postcode area. Specifically the break down of signatories based on how
many people from the postcode areas of SW11, SW12, SW17, SW18, SW4, SW19,
other postcodes and no postcode provided signed the petition. For the
avoidance of doubt, I am not asking for names / email addresses or
personal information on individuals, just summaries.

d)     What steps has the Department for Education taken to ensure that
the petition (which they have used for Evidence of Demand) is valid?

 

I have dealt with your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(“the Act”).

 

In response to your first two questions, I can confirm that the Department
has received a copy of the petition and has carefully considered the
contents of the petition along with other evidence submitted in
considering the application for ARK Bolingbroke Academy (Free School).  

 

In response to your third question, I can confirm that information
relating to the breakdown of petition signatories by postcode is being
withheld under Section 36(2)(c) of the Act.

 

Section 36(2)(c) of the Act exempts from disclosure information which, in
the reasonable opinion of a qualified person (a Minister in the case of
Government Departments) would otherwise prejudice, or would be likely to
otherwise prejudice, the effective conduct of public affairs.

 

A Minister has decided that, in his reasonable opinion, disclosure of the
information you have requested would be likely to have these effects.

 

Section 36 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:

 

·        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, publishing a breakdown of petition signatories by
postcode could potentially discourage individuals and organisations from
offering free and frank views about the policy and/or support for a
specific Free School project.

·        This in turn could potentially make it difficult for Free School
proposers to undertake effective consultation and demonstrate parental
demand, making it difficult for the Department to assess the true extent
of support or parental demand for a Free School project,.

 

The arguments for and against release have been considered and it is our
view that the balance of public interest falls in favour of the
maintenance of this exemption in relation to the information asked for by
this request.

 

In response to your fourth question, when assessing Free School
Applications, the Department does not rely solely on a single piece of
evidence, such as a petition, to assess evidence of demand, but instead
takes account of a range of other information, (including the views of the
local authority). For example, in the case of ARK Bolingbroke, Wandsworth
Borough Council has confirmed that there will be future demand for
secondary school places, particularly in the North Battersea area where
the school will be located.

 

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 reply. Your complaint will be considered by an
independent review panel who 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 Commissioners Office.

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 Ghulam Abbas

Free Schools Group – London

 

Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2011/0021983.

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References

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1. http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/moderngov/m...

Bobby left an annotation ()

It would be interesting to know what other evidence has been considered, the number of signatories, and what postcodes those were in, (without names)