Key questions 1 - Sacred Heart Catholic College, Crosby, Sefton

The request was successful.

Dear Sacred Heart Catholic College, Crosby, Liverpool,

I would be grateful if you could answer the questions below:

1) How many members of the Governing Body were there on a) 27th November 2016? and b) 27th November 2017?

2) a) Does every member of the Governing Body make a regular contribution?
b) What is the overall attendance at meetings, as a percentage figure, for the Governing Body since January 2016. (i.e. Calculate by the actual attendance against the maximum possible attendance for all meetings since January 2016)

3) Is the current size, composition and structure of the governing body appropriate for Sacred Heart Catholic College?

4) Is the Chair of Governors re-elected each year?

5) Does an Annual Review of the Governing Body take place?

6) Does the Governing Body set the Headteacher challenging Performance Management objectives?

7) How many full time staff are paid a annual gross salary of:
a) Below £25, 000
b) £25, 000 to < £60, 000
c) £60, 000 to < £95, 000
d) £95, 000 to < £130, 000
e) £130, 000 to <£165, 000
f) Above £165, 000

Yours faithfully,

Mrs E A Pearce

Dear Mrs E A Pearce

 

Please find below answers to your recent FOI request to Sacred Heart
Catholic College.

 

To make things easier to read I have included your original questions and
answers in red under each question.

 

 

I would be grateful if you could answer the questions below:

 

1) How many members of the Governing Body were there on a) 27th November
2016? and b) 27th November 2017?

1) 16

Following re-constitution

2) 12

 

2) a) Does every member of the Governing Body make a regular contribution?
A response would be based on an opinion and is therefore not a freedom of
information request.

b) What is the overall attendance at meetings, as a percentage figure, for
the Governing Body since January 2016. (i.e. Calculate by the actual
attendance against the maximum possible attendance for all meetings since
January 2016) This information can be found on the College website at:
[1]http://www.sacredheart.sefton.sch.uk/wor...

 

3) Is the current size, composition and structure of the governing body
appropriate for Sacred Heart Catholic College? This is not a freedom of
information request as the College has an instrument of Government
approved by the Archdiocese of Liverpool.

 

4) Is the Chair of Governors re-elected each year?

Yes

 

5) Does an Annual Review of the Governing Body take place?

Yes

 

6) Does the Governing Body set the Headteacher challenging Performance
Management objectives?

A response would be based on an opinion and is therefore not a freedom of
information request.

 

7) How many full time staff are paid a annual gross salary of:

a) Below £25, 000

b) £25, 000 to < £60, 000

c) £60, 000 to < £95, 000

d) £95, 000 to < £130, 000

e) £130, 000 to <£165, 000

f) Above £165, 000

The College is not permitted to divulge specific items of sensitive
personal information (such as individual’s salaries) under provisions
provided within the Data Protection Act and the FOI Act. Salary ranges for
Teachers/ Headteachers are available via the Seftons web site.

 

 

 

 

Public authorities should provide applicants with particulars of how they
may complain about the handling of the subject access request should they
wish to do so. In the first instant any such complaint should be directed
to the Chair of Governors at Sacred Heart Catholic College. If you remain
dissatisfied then you may contact the Information Commissioners Office at
Wycliffe House, Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF

 

References

Visible links
1. http://www.sacredheart.sefton.sch.uk/wor...

Dear langtons,

Thank you for your response. I would like you to reconsider some of the responses provided to the original requests and provide further responses by early March.

2b) What is the overall attendance at meetings, as a percentage figure, for the Governing Body since January 2016. (i.e. Calculate by the actual attendance against the maximum possible attendance for all meetings since January 2016) This information can be found on the College website at:
[1]http://www.sacredheart.sefton.sch.uk/wor...

The College website only provides attendance information for 11 people from September 2016. As originally requested, please can you calculate the attendance figure from the start of January 2016 and include other people who were eligible to attend but may not have, such as governors who have resigned that may have forced the recent reconstitution.

7) How many full time staff are paid a annual gross salary of:
a) Below £25, 000
b) £25, 000 to < £60, 000
c) £60, 000 to < £95, 000
d) £95, 000 to < £130, 000
e) £130, 000 to <£165, 000
f) Above £165, 000
The College is not permitted to divulge specific items of sensitive personal information (such as individual’s salaries) under provisions provided within the Data Protection Act and the FOI Act. Salary ranges for
Teachers/ Headteachers are available via the Seftons web site.

There is an increasing trend towards transparency, especially regarding public expenditure where there is public interest about how public money is apportioned across an organisation, so I would like you to provide a more useful response, which is a reasonable expectation. The Salary ranges for Teachers/ Headteachers via Sefton may only be guidance and could be misleading.

A realistic balance is required here to provide fairness and transparency. The exact salary for an individual has not been requested, so the College would be permitted to divulge this information without compromising the Data Protection Act or the FOI Act. The Data Protection Act or the FOI Act should not be used to conceal this information.

I would like a breakdown of salaries for the posts across the College based on the wide bands previously provided to cover posts from most to least senior. The wide bands help provide a reasonable balance to meet such a legitimate request.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs E A Pearce

Dear Sacred Heart Catholic College, Crosby, Liverpool,

There has been no reply to my earlier request to reconsider the unsatisfactory responses provided. The information requested has not been provided. I would like this addressed in a timely manner, before 23rd March, 2018.

I am hoping that satisfactory responses can be provided and there will be no need to refer this matter to the Information Commisioner's Office.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs E A Pearce

Previous request:
2b) What is the overall attendance at meetings, as a percentage figure, for the Governing Body since January 2016. (i.e. Calculate by the actual attendance against the maximum possible attendance for all meetings since January 2016) This information can be found on the College website at:
[1]http://www.sacredheart.sefton.sch.uk/wor...

The College website only provides attendance information for 11 people from September 2016. As originally requested, please can you calculate the attendance figure from the start of January 2016 and include other people who were eligible to attend but may not have, such as governors who have resigned that may have forced the recent reconstitution.

7) How many full time staff are paid a annual gross salary of:
a) Below £25, 000
b) £25, 000 to < £60, 000
c) £60, 000 to < £95, 000
d) £95, 000 to < £130, 000
e) £130, 000 to <£165, 000
f) Above £165, 000
The College is not permitted to divulge specific items of sensitive personal information (such as individual’s salaries) under provisions provided within the Data Protection Act and the FOI Act. Salary ranges for
Teachers/ Headteachers are available via the Seftons web site.

There is an increasing trend towards transparency, especially regarding public expenditure where there is public interest about how public money is apportioned across an organisation, so I would like you to provide a more useful response, which is a reasonable expectation. The Salary ranges for Teachers/ Headteachers via Sefton may only be guidance and could be misleading.

A realistic balance is required here to provide fairness and transparency. The exact salary for an individual has not been requested, so the College would be permitted to divulge this information without compromising the Data Protection Act or the FOI Act. The Data Protection Act or the FOI Act should not be used to conceal this information.

I would like a breakdown of salaries for the posts across the College based on the wide bands previously provided to cover posts from most to least senior. The wide bands help provide a reasonable balance to meet such a legitimate request.

langtons,

“Please find attached update to your previous request. For clarity I have
added responses in red.

 

 

Dear Mrs E A Pearce

 

 

2b) What is the overall attendance at meetings, as a percentage figure,
for the Governing Body since January 2016. (i.e. Calculate by the actual 
attendance against the maximum possible attendance for all meetings since
January 2016) This information can be found on the College website at:

[1][1]http://www.sacredheart.sefton.sch.uk/wor...

 

The College website only provides attendance information for 11 people
from September 2016.  As originally requested, please can you calculate
the attendance figure from the start of January 2016 and include other
people who were eligible to attend but may not have, such as governors who
have resigned that may have forced the recent reconstitution.

 

The web site has been updated with the information you have requested.

 

7) How many full time staff are paid a annual gross salary of:

a) Below £25,
000                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

b) £25, 000 to < £60, 000

c) £60, 000 to < £95, 000

d) £95, 000 to < £130, 000

e) £130, 000 to <£165, 000

f) Above £165, 000

The College is not permitted to divulge specific items of sensitive
personal information (such as individual’s salaries) under provisions
provided within the Data Protection Act and the FOI Act. Salary ranges for
Teachers/ Headteachers are available via the Sefton’s web site.

 

There is an increasing trend towards transparency, especially regarding
public expenditure where there is public interest about how public money
is apportioned across an organisation, so I would like you to provide a
more useful response, which is a reasonable expectation.  The Salary
ranges for Teachers/ Headteachers via Sefton may only be guidance and
could be misleading.

 

A realistic balance is required here to provide fairness and transparency.
The exact salary for an individual has not been requested, so the College
would be permitted to  divulge this information without compromising the
Data Protection Act or the FOI Act.  The Data Protection Act or the FOI
Act should not be used to conceal this information.

 

I would like a breakdown of salaries for the posts across the College
based on the wide bands previously provided to cover posts from most to
least senior.  The wide bands help provide a reasonable  balance to meet
such a legitimate request. 

 

All salaries are in line with information on Sefton's web site.

However  I have identified the number  of full time employees in the first
category as this does not identify any individual. The College is not
permitted to divulge specific items of sensitive personal information
(such as individual’s salaries) under provisions provided within the Data
Protection Act and the FOI Act. Salary ranges for Teachers/ Headteachers
are available via the Sefton's web site.

 

 

 

I have indicated below the number of 'Full Time; employees that fall into
the first category.

a) Below £25, 000 - 25 full time 36 hours a week.

b) £25, 000 to < £60, 000

c) £60, 000 to < £95, 000

d) £95, 000 to < £130, 000

e) £130, 000 to <£165, 000

f) Above £165, 000”

 

 

 

Public authorities should provide applicants with particulars of how
they may complain about the handling of the subject access request should
they wish to do so. In the first instant any such complaint should be
directed to the Chair of Governors at Sacred Heart Catholic College. If
you remain dissatisfied then you may contact the Information Commissioners
Office at  Wycliffe House, Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF

 

References

Visible links
1. http://www.sacredheart.sefton.sch.uk/wor

Dear Sacred Heart Catholic College, Crosby, Liverpool,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Sacred Heart Catholic College, Crosby, Liverpool's handling of my FOI request 'Key questions 1 - Sacred Heart Catholic College, Crosby, Sefton'.

The information requested is long overdue. An internal Review has been requested again. The most recent response remains unsatisfactory. Although the response to request 2b) regarding attendance to Governors' Meetings is a satisfactory, request 7b) to f) regarding salary information still remains unanswered. This could have been answered in full without delay and obstruction. This is a legitimate and reasonable request. Expenditure of organisations which serve the public, using public money, should be transparent which public sector workers should expect. Although Sacred Heart Catholic College may not wish to provide the requested details for the public domain, for whatever reason, providing the information in the requested format would allow the requirements of Data Protection Act to be met and also respond to a legitimate request fairly. Bringing this to the attention of Information Commissioner's Office will allow the matter to be assessed objectively and independently.

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

Yours faithfully,

Mrs E A Pearce

langtons,

An internal review is taking place.

Please allow 20 working days.

 

langtons,

1 Attachment

Please find attached the information requested

 

Public authorities should provide applicants with particulars of how they
may complain about the handling of a Freedom of information Act request
should they wish to do so. In the first instant any such complaint should
be directed to the Chair of Governors of Sacred Heart high School and you
can ask for an internal review in respect of your request.  If you remain
dissatisfied then you may contact the Information Commissioners Office at
Wycliffe House, Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF.

 

Dear langtons,

Thank you for your reply to a request that was originally made on 27th November 2017. The most recent reply (22nd June 2018 after an Internal Review) is noticeably late. Also it is apparent that Sacred Heart Catholic College was originally unwilling and refusing to answer this legitimate request, citing Section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act as the reason. Only after this request was referred to the Information Commissioner's Office has a more useful response been provided, so presumably Sacred Heart Catholic College's use of Section 40 was not entirely just and the ICO agreed that the information requested should not be concealed from the public domain.

Following the College's already incorrect use of Section 40 of the FOIA and missing deadlines, I would be grateful if the figures provided below (from the most recent response) can be examined again to verify and ensure that no errors have been made. If errors have been made, this is the opportunity to correct them. It is important that Sacred Heart Catholic College provides a reply to confirm the accurate and correct details, which should not take too long. After already delayed responses, a prompt response would be appreciated. I would also be grateful if you can confirm whether or not Sacred Heart Catholic College's Governing Body is aware of the previous reply after the Internal Review.

7) How many full time staff are paid an annual gross salary of:
Total
a) Below 25,000 44

b) £25, 000 to < £60, 000 72

c) £60, 000 to < £95, 000 1

d) £95, 000 to < £130, 000 1

e) £130, 000 to <£165, 000 0

f) Above £165, 000 0

Yours sincerely,
Mrs E A Pearce

langtons,

Dear Mrs Pearce

Further to your recent mail

On a final check we had inadvertently included part time members of staff in our figures. The revise numbers are below.

7) How many full time staff are paid an annual gross salary of:
Total
a) Below 25,000 34

b) £25, 000 to < £60, 000 62

c) £60, 000 to < £95, 000 1

d) £95, 000 to < £130, 000 1

e) £130, 000 to <£165, 000 0

f) Above £165, 000 0

We are able to confirm that the Governors have been kept up to date with all correspondence.

In closing, due to the number and nature of your requests and the tone of the last correspondence we feel it might be difficult to answer future requests on the grounds that they are becoming vexatious.

Can I direct you to our Freedom of Information Policy that is available on request from the College at [Sacred Heart Catholic College, Crosby, Liverpool request email].

Public authorities should provide applicants with particulars of how they may complain about the handling of a Freedom of information Act request should they wish to do so. In the first instant any such complaint should be directed to the Chair of Governors of Sacred Heart high School and you can ask for an internal review in respect of your request. If you remain dissatisfied then you may contact the Information Commissioners Office at Wycliffe House, Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF.

 

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