Jamie Mann

Our ref: 41253

Dear Jamie Mann

Acknowledgement of Request

Subject: School Closures

Thank you for your request for information which was received on 22/02/2023.

In your request you asked for the following;

Please provide a list of the schools in your council area which have been temporarily or permanently closed over the last five years because one or more school buildings was deemed unsafe.

I can confirm that your request will be processed under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, Environmental Information Regulations (Scotland) 2004, or the INSPIRE (Scotland) Regulations 2009.

You will receive the information requested within 20 working days unless the Council does not hold the information, or there is a reason for it to be withheld. We will write to you in any event. This means we have until 22/03/2023 to respond to your request.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case we will let you know.

If you have any requirements regarding the format any information should be supplied in, e.g. the language to be used, audio, large print and so on, then please let me know.

If you have any queries or concerns, do not hesitate to get in touch. Please quote the reference number above in any future communications.

To promote transparency and accountability, it is the Council’s policy to publish all request details and responses made under the freedom of information legislation. This information is available at the following link: https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/homepage/10....

Further information about your rights and accessing information is available on our website at: www.edinburgh.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

Information Governance Unit
Level 2:1, Waverley Court, Edinburgh EH8 8BG Tel 0131 200 2340
[Edinburgh City Council request email] www.edinburgh.gov.uk

Jamie Mann

 

[1][FOI #953434 email]

 

Our ref: 41253

 

 

Dear Jamie Mann

 

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Partial Release of
Information

 

Subject: School Closures

 

Thank you for your request for information of 22/02/2023, which has been
processed under the terms of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act
2002. Unfortunately, the Council is only able to meet part of your request
and this information is released to you below.

 

You asked the following:

 

Please provide a list of the schools in your council area which have been
temporarily or permanently closed over the last five years because one or
more school buildings was deemed unsafe.

Our Response:

No schools have been permanently closed in this period.

Although we are not aware of any such temporary school closures in this
period, there is no central record held of such events. In order to
provide a definitive response, the records of each school would require to
be searched.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide you with the definitive response
as the cost to the Council of locating, retrieving and providing you with
the information exceeds the statutory maximum of £600.

Section 12(1) of the Act does not oblige a Scottish public authority to
comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the
cost of complying with the request would exceed the statutory limit.

The total cost of complying with your request is £930.00. 

This sum has been calculated as follows:

Each of our 124 Primary, Secondary and Special schools would be required
to manually search their records over a five-year period to determine
whether there had been a temporary closure at any time due to safety
concerns. Allowing 30 minutes for each school to complete this task, this
would equate to 62 hours of work.

Estimated number of records to be located, retrieved and provided – 124
sets of records

Number of staff hours involved – 62 hours (124 x 30 minutes)

Charge per hour - £15.00 (This is the capped maximum rate chargeable)

Total cost - £930.00

The Council appreciates that you may not have been aware of the size and
scope of the information that you requested the Council provide you with
as a result of this part of your request. It may be possible to provide
you with a portion of the information that you are seeking, perhaps by
focussing on secondary schools. Please note that requests revised in this
way are considered as new requests under the legislation. If you wish to
discuss this option further, or have any other queries, please do not
hesitate to contact me.

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

To promote transparency and accountability, it is the Council’s policy to
publish all request details and responses made under the freedom of
information legislation. This information is available at the following
link:
[2]https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/homepage/10....

 

Your right to seek a review

 

I appreciate that our decision may disappoint you and I am sorry that we
have not been able to release all the information you requested on this
occasion. If you are unhappy with the way we have dealt with your request,
you can ask us to review our actions and decisions by writing to:

 

Information Compliance Team

The City of Edinburgh Council

Waverley Court Business Centre 2:1

4, East Market Street

Edinburgh

EH8 8BG or,

Email: [3][email address]

 

Please note that your request must be in a recordable format (email,
letter, audio tape etc.), and that you have 40 working days upon receipt
of this letter to ask for a review. You will receive a full response to
your review request within 20 working days of its receipt. Please quote
the reference number above in any future communications.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the review, you can ask the
Scottish Information Commissioner to review our decision. You must submit
your complaint to the Commissioner within 6 months of receiving our review
response. The Commissioner can be contacted at:

 

The Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner

Kinburn Castle

Doubledykes Road

St Andrews

Fife

KY16 9DS

Telephone: 01334 464610

Fax: 01334 464611

Website: [4]www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal

Email: [5][email address]

 

Yours sincerely

 

Iain Burden

Information Rights Officer

 

 

Information Governance Unit

Level 2:1, Waverley Court, Edinburgh EH8 8BG Tel 0131 200 2340

[6][Edinburgh City Council request email] 

[7]www.edinburgh.gov.uk

 

 

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #953434 email]
2. https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/homepage/10...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal
5. mailto:[email address]
6. mailto:[Edinburgh City Council request email]
7. http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/