Freedom of Information Policy

Summercroft Primary – an Academy School  is committed to openness and transparency in the provision of information to all persons or organisations who request it.

We will provide information promptly, subject to the following conditions, which are based on our duties under the Freedom of Information Act 2000:

• Copies of reference documents, such as policy statements and procedural guidance will be provided free of charge or as published in our Publications Scheme which is available from the school office and on our website at www.summercroft.herts.sch.uk 

• We will normally confirm within 5 working* days whether or not we hold the information you request and, if we do, we will provide it within 20 working* days. *Please note: Working days refers to term time only as contained in Statutory Instrument 3364.

• Your request must be in writing (letter, email) along with a correspondence address to ensure that we have a clear statement of what is requested.

• In some circumstances we may withhold the information you have requested under one of the exemptions applicable under the legislation.

• If you do not accept our reasons for declining to disclose the information requested you should write to the Chair of Governors at the school in the first instance. If you are not happy with their response, you may wish to contact the Information Commissioner at: 

The Information Commissioners Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone 01625 545700 – Helpline is open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday
Fax 01625 524510
Email  mail@ico.gsi.gov.uk*protected email*

• Whilst we will provide most information free of charge, we may charge a fee for photocopying/printing/faxing/postage of longer documents where the required information is not listed in our Publications Scheme as being available either free of charge or at a stated charge. If you ask for information in an expensive alternative format, we may charge for this, subject to legislation, such as the Disabilities Discrimination Act. (See ‘Charges’ below).

• If we intend to charge for the provision of information, we will tell you in advance what the charge will be (through a fees notice) and will provide the information when we receive payment (cash or cheque). The time allowed for us to provide the information (20 working* days) does not include the period between the issuing of the fees notice and the receipt of the payment.

• We may be unable to provide the information you request for any for the following reasons:
  • We do not hold the information
  • We are applying an exemption to the disclosure
  • It would cost the School more than £450.00 to provide the information (this figure is set by Government and is based on the work exceeding 18.5 man hours to gather the information).

• If we are unable to provide the information we will do all we can to advise you as to how you might obtain the information elsewhere or in a different way to keep the cost down.

• The School will seek advice from the Local Authority and/or Department for Education as necessary to clarify any points or to help resolve any disputes over information requests.

CHARGES

The general charge for black and white photocopying, printing and faxing is 10p per sheet. Postage charges will be at the appropriate rate. For more substantial items, the fee charged depends on whether we estimate that it would cost more or less than £450.00 to provide the information.

In the vast majority of cases the cost will be under £450.00 and we will then charge only for photocopying, printing, faxing and postage. We may also charge for any work required to put the information into the required format, which could involve, for example:

• summarising the information;
• putting the information onto storage media devices;
• translating the information into a different language.

We will not normally charge for providing information in an alternative format where this is requested on grounds of disability.

Interpretation

Any reference to a statute, statutory guidance and any other document shall be construed as a reference to that statute as amended or re-enacted and to the current edition or replacement of that statutory guidance or other document.