Dear Jamie Halliday,

Thank you for your email.

In line with guidelines from the Information Commissioner's Office, we can confirm that the response to your Freedom of Information request will be independently reviewed, and we will write to you again as soon as the review is complete and, in any case, within 20 working days from receipt of your request.

Regards,

Freedom of Information Team
Newcastle City Council

-----Original Message-----
From: Jamie Halliday <[FOI #1399709 email]>
Sent: 17 March 2026 17:46
To: Freedom Of Information Requests Mailbox <[Newcastle City Council request email]>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Retention periods and disposal controls for pupil records, SEND, exclusions and EOTAS

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Dear Ian,

Thank you for your response dated 4 March 2026 (ref: FOI 25828) and the attached documents.

I have two points to raise.

1. Gap in schedule - EOTAS, home tuition and alternative provision (Question 1(e))

I have reviewed the attached retention schedule. It does not appear to contain a specific entry for EOTAS, home tuition, alternative provision placement records, or commissioning referrals. These categories were explicitly included in my original request.

Please confirm whether a documented retention period exists for these record types and, if so, provide the relevant entry and trigger point. If they are captured under an existing class in the schedule, please identify that entry. If no documented period exists for these categories, please confirm that explicitly.

2. Question 2 - retention arrangements 2010 to 2014

Your response states that the currently attached schedule has been in place since 2022, and that prior to that date there was no published policy, but that internal council guidance has been attached.

The internal guidance document attached is dated 2020 (the Adult and Children's Retention Schedules). My question asked specifically about the version or arrangements in force between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2014 - a period not covered by the 2020 document.

Please confirm what retention arrangements, whether formal, informal, or guidance-based, were in use for education records during 2010 to 2014, and provide any documentation that existed at that time. If no documentation from that period is held, please confirm what search was conducted and confirm that in writing.

Yours faithfully,
Jamie Halliday



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