Evidence underpinning Mr Gove's decision to request Ofsted to inspect 15 Birmingham schools

The request was successful.

Dear Department for Education,

Thank you for your reply to my Freedom of Information request reference number 2014/0045128. I had asked for the names of the 15 Birmingham schools selected by the then Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, and the reasons behind their selection.

The 15 schools you said were chosen by Mr Gove were:

Adderley Primary School
Alston Primary School
Gracelands Nursery School
Highfield Junior and Infant School
Lady Pool Primary School
Marlborough Junior School
Montgomery Primary Academy
Ninestiles School
Oldknow Academy
Regents Park Community Primary School
Saltley School and Specialist Science College
Small Heath School
Washwood Heath Academy
Waverley School; and
Welford Primary School.

You told me the Secretary of State had a range of concerns, including leadership and governance and safeguarding within the schools.

I am interested in what led Mr Gove to have concerns. I should be grateful therefore if you could let me know for each of the 15 schools:

1 Whether the Department for Education received complaints about safeguarding, leadership and governance at each of the schools;
2 How many complaints were received for each school and when (a date range will suffice at this stage eg "2 complaints received about safeguarding, leadership and governance at X school between March and April 2014").

If the Department for Education did not receive complaints about any of the schools, I should be grateful if you could explain the hard evidence behind Mr Gove’s decision to investigate any school for which a complaint had not been received.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

J Downs

Department for Education

Dear Mr/Ms Downs

Thank you for your recent enquiry. 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 2014/0052330.

Thank you

Department for Education
Ministerial and Public Communications Division
Tel: 0370 000 2288

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Dear Department for Education,
Freedom of information request reference number 2014/0052330.

I recently requested the evidence underpinning Mr Gove's decision to request Ofsted to inspect 15 Birmingham Schools.

I now discover that four were named in the Trojan Horse letter:

Adderley Primary School
Regents Park Community Primary School
Saltley School and Specialist Science College
Highfield Junior and Infant School.

There is, therefore, no need to include these schools in my request as appearance in the letter would be sufficient grounds for an inspection.

I am, therefore, requesting the evidence which underpinned Mr Gove's decision to inspect the remaining eleven schools.
Yours faithfully,

J Downs

Department for Education

Dear Mr/Ms Downs

Thank you for your recent enquiry. 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 2014/0053589.

Thank you

Department for Education
Ministerial and Public Communications Division
Tel: 0370 000 2288

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Department for Education

Dear Mr/Ms Downs,
Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) requests received on 22
July and 24 July 2014. You requested:
 

2014/0052330

“I had asked for the names of the 15 Birmingham schools selected by the
then Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, and the reasons
behind their selection.

The 15 schools you said were chosen by Mr Gove were:

Adderley Primary School

Alston Primary School

Gracelands Nursery School

Highfield Junior and Infant School

Lady Pool Primary School

Marlborough Junior School

Montgomery Primary Academy

Ninestiles School

Oldknow Academy

Regents Park Community Primary School

Saltley School and Specialist Science College
 
Small Heath School

Washwood Heath Academy

Waverley School

Welford Primary School.

You told me the Secretary of State had a range of concerns, including
leadership and governance and safeguarding within the schools.

I am interested in what led Mr Gove to have concerns.  I should be
grateful therefore if you could let me know for each of the 15 schools:

1       Whether the Department for Education received complaints about
safeguarding, leadership and governance at each of the schools;
2       How many complaints were received for each school and when (a
date range will suffice at this stage eg "2 complaints received about
safeguarding, leadership and governance at X school between March and
April 2014").

If the Department for Education did not receive complaints about any of
the schools, I should be grateful if you could explain the hard evidence
behind Mr Gove’s decision to investigate any school for which a
complaint had not been received.”

2014/0053589

“I recently requested the evidence underpinning Mr Gove's decision to
request Ofsted to inspect 15 Birmingham Schools.

I now discover that four were named in the Trojan Horse letter:

Adderley Primary School
Regents Park Community Primary School
Saltley School and Specialist Science College

Highfield Junior and Infant School.

There is, therefore, no need to include these schools in my request as
appearance in the letter would be sufficient grounds for an inspection.

I am, therefore, requesting the evidence which underpinned Mr Gove's
decision to inspect the remaining eleven schools.”

I have dealt with your requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(“The Act”).

I can confirm that the Department for Education received four complaints
regarding Oldknow Academy between February and April 2014. The Department
did not receive complaints regarding the remaining ten schools which
contributed to the decision to commission inspections.

As you know, by the former Secretary of State, Michael Gove, commissioned
inspections for four schools that were named in the so-called ‘Trojan
Horse’ letter. The Department for Education also received a number of
complaints related to Oldknow Academy.

As mentioned in previous correspondence, the Secretary of State had a
range of concerns regarding the other eleven schools. Internal
investigations raised a number of potential issues, particularly in
relation to leadership and governance and the safeguarding of children in
these settings. As a result, the Secretary of State decided to commission
Ofsted to conduct inspections in order to either substantiate concerns or
prove them to be baseless.

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, who 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.

Your correspondence has been allocated reference number 2014/0052330 and
2014/0053589. If you need to respond to us, please visit:
[1]www.education.gov.uk/contactus, and quote your reference numbers.

Yours sincerely,

Angela Jansen

Angela Jansen
Due Diligence and Counter Extremism Division
[2][email address]
[3]www.gov.uk/dfe

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