Instrument of Government for Our Lady's Convent, Urswick and Yesodey Hatorah secondary schools and Lubavitch primary school

The request was successful.

Dear The Learning Trust,

Please can you provide me with a copy of the Instrument of Government for Our Lady's Convent, Urswick and Yesodey Hatorah secondary schools and for the Lubavitch Ruth Lunzer primary school.

Yours faithfully,

P Johnson

Dear Sir or Madam,

I made an FOI request on 9 December 2011 for the Instrument of Government of several Hackney schools. This should have been replied to by 12 January but I have still not had a reply.

Please can you let me know by when I can expect a reply.

Yours faithfully,

P Johnson

Sean O'Regan,

Dear applicant,

Firstly, may I apologise for the delay in responding to your request. I had not seen your request until this morning when it was forwarded to me by a colleague. I have contacted Whatdotheyknow.com to rectify the issues with directing such requests directly to me as the officer responsible for compliance with the FOIA at The Learning Trust.

I should also 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 I would advise that you contact the schools in order to obtain a copy of their instrument of government.

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 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 'Instrument of Government for Our Lady's Convent, Urswick and Yesodey Hatorah secondary schools and Lubavitch primary school'.

According to the Department for Education's website it is the Local Authority that 'makes' the instrument which applies to the school. These are therefore local authority documents more than they are of the particular school. In addition, I have spoken to the Information Commissioner's Office and they advised that if information is held it must be disclosed irrespective of other bodies that may also hold the information.

Since you are fulfilling the educational functions of the local authority in Hackney and you state that you are committed to compliance with the Freedom of Information Act you should provide this information.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/in...

Yours faithfully,

P Johnson

Sent a follow up to Hackney Learning Trust again, using a new contact address.

Sean O'Regan,

4 Attachments

Dear P Johnson,

The full comment on the Department for Education website states 'The governing body drafts the instrument and submits it to its local authority (LA). The LA must check if the draft instrument complies with statutory requirements, including the relevant guiding principles for the constitution of governing bodies. If the instrument complies, the LA will make the instrument. The governing body and LA can review and change the instrument at any time.'

It is true that the LA holds a copy of the document, however, the document originates from the school as holders of the information contained in the IoG, and the authors of the contents. Therefore, the documents attached herewith are the most up to date documents held by The Learning Trust.

I hope this information is helpful.

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 the information.

The 2 pdf files appear to be corrupted as I cannot view them either downloaded or as an html. Please can you upload them again after you have verified them.

Yours sincerely,

P Johnson

Ben Harris left an annotation ()

Something seems to have gone badly wrong with the part of WhatDoTheyKnow that censors PDF files. I've put uncensored (and hence undamaged) copies of the two PDF files here:

<http://files.whatdotheyknow.com/request/...>
<http://files.whatdotheyknow.com/request/...>

--
Ben Harris, WhatDoTheyKnow volunteer.

Sean O'Regan,

2 Attachments

Dear P Johnson,

My apologies, please try these documents.

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]
.......................................................

show quoted sections