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Dear  Jen Persson 

Thank you for your recent enquiry which was received on 03/11/2020.

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
reference number 2020-0062027.

Department for Education

Ministerial and Public Communications Division

Tel: 0370 000 2288

Web: 

[1]https://www.education.gov.uk
Twitter: [2]https://www.twitter.com/educationgovuk
Facebook: [3]https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk

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Dear Jen Persson,
Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 03
November 2020. You requested:
“Under the FOI Act 2000, please can you provide the following information:
a) The name of the police force, to which in November 2019 a total 2,136
pupils' personal data who attended a specified school during a four year
period was provided. 
b) an extract from the findings of the ICO audit of the DfE (carried out
in 2020) wherever it pertains to data sharing with the police
c) an extract from the findings of the ICO audit of the DfE (carried out
in 2020) wherever it pertains to data sharing with the Home Office.
Re:
https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-an...
If b) and c) would require time for search and/or redaction, please
provide the whole audit document in place of extracts.”
I am dealing with your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. 
a) The name of the police force, to which in November 2019 a total 2,136
pupils' personal data who attended a specified school during a four year
period was provided. 
The police force provided with the personal data on 2,136 pupils was
Merseyside Police.
b) an extract from the findings of the ICO audit of the DfE (carried out
in 2020) wherever it pertains to data sharing with the police
The following is an extract of the findings on data sharing with police
highlighted in the ICO audit:
There is confusion about the difference between a SAR and a one-off
disclosure for example, disclosing personal data relating to an individual
to the police or courts.
Recommendation: Published guidance should be updated to explain the
difference between a SAR and disclosure to ensure that correct procedures
are being followed. Given the confusion present, links to data sharing or
disclosure procedures should be provided to assist staff who have referred
to the SAR guidance to handle these types of query.
c) an extract from the findings of the ICO audit of the DfE (carried out
in 2020) wherever it pertains to data sharing with the Home Office.
The following is an extract of the findings on data sharing with Home
Office highlighted in the ICO audit:
No evidence was seen that the Umbrella MOU between the DfE and the Home
Office has been reviewed since it came into place on 31 January 2019. This
is non-compliant with section 18 of the MOU which states that a review
shall take place at least annually.
Recommendation: Ensure that a review is undertaken to re-examine the
workings of the Umbrella MOU between the DfE and the Home Office which was
put in place on 31 January 2019.
The information supplied to you continues to be protected by copyright.
You are free to use it for your own purposes, including for private study
and non-commercial research, and for any other purpose authorised by an
exception in current copyright law. Documents (except photographs) can be
also used in the UK without requiring permission for the purposes of news
reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, would
require the permission of the copyright holder.
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 letter. Your complaint will be considered by an
independent review panel, which 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 Commissioner’s Office.
Yours faithfully,
Chris Douglass