Freedom of Information Requests Procedure

1. Purpose

The school is committed to openness and transparency and will comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

The school recognises that it also has statutory responsibilities relating to safeguarding, education, health and safety, special educational needs, staffing and the welfare of pupils. Requests for information will therefore be managed in a way that ensures compliance with the law whilst making effective and proportionate use of school resources.

2. Scope

This procedure applies to all requests for recorded information received by the school under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

A request may be made by any person, regardless of whether they have a connection to the school.

3. Publication scheme

The school will routinely publish information through:

• The school website
• Statutory policies
• Governance information
• Budget information where required
• Curriculum information

Where information is already publicly available, applicants will normally be directed to the relevant publication source.

4. Receiving requests

FOI requests should be submitted to: louisecollings@tarnerland.brighton-hove.sch.uk

5. Definition of receipt

A request is deemed received when it reaches a school-controlled email account, postal address or other official communication channel.

The school operates reasonable electronic filtering systems to protect pupils and staff from spam, malicious communications, phishing attacks and cyber threats.

Where correspondence is diverted by automated filtering systems, the school will act promptly once the request is brought to the attention of the headteacher. The school cannot guarantee immediate identification of communications intercepted by security systems.

6. Managing school resources

The governing body recognises that:

• The primary purpose of school resources is the education, safeguarding and welfare of pupils.
• Staff resources are finite.
• Compliance with FOIA must be balanced against statutory educational responsibilities.

Accordingly, requests will be assessed in line with the provisions of the FOIA, including any applicable exemptions relating to cost, burden, repeated requests and vexatious requests.

7. Timescales

The school will normally respond within 20 school working days or such timescale as required by the Freedom of Information Act.

Where clarification is required, the statutory response period may be paused until clarification is received.

8. Cost limit

The school may refuse requests where the estimated cost of compliance exceeds the statutory limit prescribed under the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.

When assessing cost, the school may consider:

• Locating information
• Retrieving information
• Extracting information from records

The school is not required to create new information in response to a request.

9. Repeated requests

The school may refuse requests that are substantially similar to previous requests made by the same applicant where no significant new information is likely to be disclosed.

10. Vexatious requests

The school reserves the right to refuse requests considered vexatious under Section 14 of the Freedom of Information Act.

Factors that may be considered include:

• Excessive burden on school resources.
• Persistent or repeated correspondence.
• Requests forming part of a campaign intended to disrupt the school.
• Harassing or abusive conduct.
• Requests lacking serious purpose or value.
• Multiple overlapping requests concerning substantially the same issue.

No single factor will automatically result in a request being deemed vexatious. Each case will be assessed on its merits.

11. Campaign requests

Where the school receives multiple requests from different individuals seeking substantially similar information, the school may:

• Consider whether information can be published proactively.
• Aggregate requests where permitted by legislation.
• Apply relevant statutory exemptions where appropriate.
• Seek advice from legal advisers, the Local Authority or the Information Commissioner's Office.

12. Responsibilities

Headteacher

Responsible for:

• Logging requests.
• Monitoring deadlines.
• Coordinating responses.
• Maintaining the FOI register.
• Authorising responses where appropriate.
• Determining whether exemptions should be considered.
• Escalating complex matters to governors or legal advisers.

Governing Board

Responsible for:

• Oversight of compliance.
• Reviewing annual FOI trends and risks.

13. Records management

The school will maintain:

• An FOI register.
• Copies of requests and responses.
• Records of decisions to rely on exemptions.
• Records of cost calculations where relevant.

14. Review procedure

Applicants dissatisfied with a response may request an internal review within 40 working days.

The review will be undertaken by a senior member of staff or governor not directly involved in the original decision where reasonably practicable.

15. Complaints

Following an internal review, applicants may complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.