Dear Information Governance Team,

I am writing to follow up on my Freedom of Information request submitted on 8 February 2026 (your ref: 9715501), which concerned retention periods and disposal controls for pupil records, SEND, exclusions and EOTAS.

The statutory 20-working-day deadline for response was 6 March 2026. That deadline has now passed with no substantive response and no communication from Durham County Council explaining any extension or delay.

I note that this request was submitted as part of a batch to six local authorities across the North East. Five of those authorities — Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council, North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council, Sunderland City Council, Newcastle City Council, and South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council — have each provided a substantive response, albeit of varying quality. Durham County Council is the sole authority in the batch to have failed to respond within the statutory timeframe and to have provided no explanation for that failure.

Please provide a full response to my request without further delay.

If no response is received within 10 working days of this correspondence, I will refer the matter to the Information Commissioner's Office as a complaint under section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Yours faithfully,
Jamie Halliday