Dear Mrs AJ Hewitt,

Request for Information RFI-6286-23 Re: Virtual School / Free School

Thank you for your request for information relating to Virtual School /
Free School which was received on 04 April 2023.

In accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
the council will respond to your request within 20 working days, saying
whether we have the information that you want, and if there will be any
charges. 

If, for any reason, we cannot provide you with the information, we will
tell you why.

If we need to clarify your request, we will contact you again.

In the meantime, if you need to contact me about your request, please do
so quoting the above reference number.

Yours sincerely,

Naiyar Sultana

Assistant Assurance Officer

Walsall Council 

0800 0856018

[1]www.walsall.gov.uk 

[2]Walsall Council, Proud of our past, our present and for our future 

Disclaimer: The information in this message should be regarded as
confidential and is intended for the addressee only unless explicitly
stated. If you have received this message in error it must be deleted and
the sender notified. The views expressed in this message are personal and
not necessarily those of Walsall Council unless explicitly stated. Emails
sent or received from Walsall Council may the subject of a request under
data protection, freedom of information or environmental information
legislation and therefore could be disclosed to third parties. We strongly
advise you not to email any information, which if disclosed to unrelated
third parties would be likely to cause harm or distress. If you have an
enquiry related to your confidentiality or data protection, please visit
the council data protection pages on our website

References

Visible links
1. http://www.walsall.gov.uk/

Dear Mrs Hewitt,

Request for Information RFI-6286-23 Re: Virtual School / Free School

Further to your request for information Virtual School / Free School ,
received on 04 April 2023, I am writing to ask for some further
clarification of some aspects of your request.

In order for us to process your request as fully as possible could you
please provide the following information:

Walsall Council believe that you have misunderstood the role of the
Virtual school, Virtual school is not a free school. 

Please clarify if you want information relating to Virtual school, or
please reword your request. 

The Freedom of information Act 2000 allows the council 20 working days in
which to respond to requests.  However, this “clock” stops should we need
to seek clarification in order to locate or identify relevant
information. 

As such, your request is now on hold until we receive the clarification
requested.

If you wish to proceed with this request please send your clarification to
us, quoting the above reference number.

Please note that if we have not received your clarification within 15
working days we will close your request.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours sincerely

Fahmida Maknun

 Assurance Officer

Walsall Council 

0800 0856018

[1]www.walsall.gov.uk 

[2]Walsall Council, Proud of our past, our present and for our future 

Disclaimer: The information in this message should be regarded as
confidential and is intended for the addressee only unless explicitly
stated. If you have received this message in error it must be deleted and
the sender notified. The views expressed in this message are personal and
not necessarily those of Walsall Council unless explicitly stated. Emails
sent or received from Walsall Council may the subject of a request under
data protection, freedom of information or environmental information
legislation and therefore could be disclosed to third parties. We strongly
advise you not to email any information, which if disclosed to unrelated
third parties would be likely to cause harm or distress. If you have an
enquiry related to your confidentiality or data protection, please visit
the council data protection pages on our website

References

Visible links
1. http://www.walsall.gov.uk/

Dear Mrs Hewitt,

Freedom of Information Request RFI-6286-23 Re: Virtual School / Free
School

Further to your request for information regarding Walsall Virtual School,
i can tell you the information you have requested is not held, as the
Virtual School for Looked after Children is not a teaching institution. 
It is a model by which the LA provides services and support for the
education of Looked after Children and a constructive challenge to those
providing the services.  It works closely and in partnership with Schools,
Health, Impact Advisors and Social Care so that there is a holistic and
comprehensive approach to the support of Looked after Children in all
areas of their lives. The Virtual School is responsible for liaising and
working in partnership with agencies to support the education of looked
after/vulnerable children. The Virtual School Head leads on strategic
planning and developments, policy, new initiatives, and service
delivery. Therefore the information you have requested is not recorded or
held information and is therefore exempt from disclosure under section 1
of the Freedom of Information Act.

This notice further serves as a refusal notice under section 17 of the
FOIA in relation to your request. 

Most of the information that we provide in response to Freedom of
Information Act 2000 requests will be subject to copyright protection.  In
most cases the copyright will be owned by Walsall Council. The copyright
in respect of other information may be owned by another person or
organisation, as indicated.

You are free to use any information supplied to you in response to this
request for your own non-commercial research or private study purposes.
The information may also be used for any other purpose allowed by a
limitation or exception in copyright law, such as news reporting.
 However, any other type of re-use, for example by publishing the
information in analogue or digital form, including on the internet, will
require the permission of the copyright owner.

I hope that the information provided is useful to you. However, if you are
dissatisfied, you should set out in writing your grounds for complaint and
send to: Corporate Assurance Manager, Resources & Transformation, Civic
Centre, Darwall Street, Walsall, WS1 1TP.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a decision.
Please remember that, generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you
have first exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the council. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9
5AF. [1]https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

Yours sincerely,

Fahmida Maknun

Assurance Officer

Walsall Council 

0800 0856018

[2]www.walsall.gov.uk 

[3]Walsall Council, Proud of our past, our present and for our future 

Disclaimer: The information in this message should be regarded as
confidential and is intended for the addressee only unless explicitly
stated. If you have received this message in error it must be deleted and
the sender notified. The views expressed in this message are personal and
not necessarily those of Walsall Council unless explicitly stated. Emails
sent or received from Walsall Council may the subject of a request under
data protection, freedom of information or environmental information
legislation and therefore could be disclosed to third parties. We strongly
advise you not to email any information, which if disclosed to unrelated
third parties would be likely to cause harm or distress. If you have an
enquiry related to your confidentiality or data protection, please visit
the council data protection pages on our website

References

Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/
2. http://www.walsall.gov.uk/