 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 

   

 In all further correspondence please quote our reference FOI-7571.  

   

 Your request for information under the above legislation has now been
 considered. Please accept my apology on behalf of the Authority for the
 delay in response, which is below and attached.

  

 Response:  

  

  1. Retention schedule entries and retention periods
 Please provide the recorded retention schedule entries (or equivalent
 documented retention rules) used by the council for the following
 categories, including the retention period and the trigger point (for
 example, DOB plus X years, closure of case, end of academic year, end
 of financial year):
 Please see the attached records management policy and data protection
 policy.

 a) maintained school pupil file / educational record
 b) records held by the local authority relating to an individual pupil’s
 education
 c) exclusion records (fixed-term and permanent), including panel or
 decision paperwork

 Can be found in the Education and Skills Retention Schedule 2016.

 d) SEND records held by the local authority (assessments, notes,
 decisions, panel minutes, plans)

 Can be found in the Education and Skills Retention Schedule 2016.

 e) EOTAS / home tuition / alternative provision records, including
 placement decisions and commissioning referrals

 Can be found in the Education and Skills Retention Schedule 2016.

 f) education finance and commissioning records relating to alternative
 provision or tuition (purchase orders, invoices, provider contracts,
 budget monitoring)

 Can be found in Retention at a Glance 2018.

  

  2. Version in force 2010 to 2014
 If your retention schedule has changed since 2010, please provide
 either:
 a) the version that was in force between 1 January 2010 and 31
 December 2014 for the categories above, or

 Information not held- previous versions no longer held. 

 b) a change log that clearly states what changed and when, for those
 categories.

 Information not held- No change logs are held for this document.

  

  3. Disposal process and audit trail

 Please provide the council’s recorded procedure or policy for secure
 disposal of education records in scope of section 1, including

 a) who authorises disposal
 b) what audit trail is kept (for example, destruction logs, certificates)
 c) whether third-party shredding or disposal contractors are used, and how
 compliance is evidence

 Please see the attached records management policy and data protection
 policy. 

  

  4. Maintained schools, oversight and information rights
 Please provide any recorded information or guidance the council uses
 that explains:
 a) what education records are held by the council versus held by
 maintained schools
 b) the council’s role in ensuring maintained schools comply with
 records retention expectations and information rights requests,
 including SARs and Educational Record requests

  

 For the Local Authority - further detail can be found in the Education and
 Skills Retention Schedule 2016 attached.

  

 For schools - Under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act schools are
 defined as data controllers, therefore the Primary responsibility for
 pupil records rests with the school and schools must maintain the pupil
 records until transfer or until the statutory retention period expires. 
 All records held by a school need to be retained securely and until they
 are no longer necessary in line with UK GDPR and Data Protection Act
 requirements.  Headteachers are reminded annually of the need to review
 their data security and retention polices as well as the need to respond
 to SARs and other enquiries such as FOIs'.   The last reminder was
 provided in January 2026.

  

 The Department for Education provides guidance to schools via [1]Data
 protection in schools - Record keeping and management - Guidance - GOV.UK

  

   

 Please note that an anonymised copy of this response may be published in
 our Disclosure Log where appropriate. 

   

 This is a record of responses to completed requests for information that
 the Council has received and dealt with under the Freedom of Information
 Act 2000 and Environmental Information Regulations 2004. The Disclosure
 Log is available online at the following address: 

   

 [2]Disclosure log | North Tyneside Council 

   

 I trust that this information answers your request, but if you have any
 further requests, please do not hesitate to contact me. 

   

 If you are unhappy with the way the Council has handled your request, you
 may ask for an internal review. Please contact the Information Governance
 Team no later than 40 working days after the date of this letter, after
 which time we will consider the matter closed. 

   

 Information Governance 

 North Tyneside Council 

 Quadrant 

 The Silverlink North 

 Cobalt Business Park 

 North Tyneside 

 NE27 0BY 

   

 e-mail [3][email address] 

   

 Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
 at: 

   

 Information Commissioner's Office 

 Wycliffe House 

 Water Lane 

 Wilmslow 

 Cheshire 

 SK9 5AF 

   

 [4]www.ico.org.uk/foicomplaints 

  

 Kind regards 

  

 Sarah Nicholson

 Information Governance and Compliance Officer

 Information Governance Team

 Governance

 [5]North Tyneside Council

  

 Tel: (0191) 643 2333

  

 [6]A blue circle with a white letter f in it Description automatically
 generated[7][IMG][8][IMG] 

  

  

  

 From: FOI Officer <[email address]>
 Sent: 09 February 2026 15:02
 To: Jamie Halliday <[FOI #1399710 email]>
 Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - FOI-7571

  

 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - REQUEST FOR INFORMATION  

    

 In all further correspondence please quote our reference FOI-7571. Thank
 you for your request for information.    

    

 Your request was received on 8th February 2026, and the Council is dealing
 with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.  

    

 As required by the legislation, the Council aims to answer your request
 promptly, but no later than 20-working days after receipt. As stated in
 the Information Commissioner’s guidance, Awareness Guidance 11 Time for
 Compliance, the 20-working day clock starts the day after the Council
 received the request. The due date has been calculated to be 6th March
 2026.    

    

 If the information you have requested contains reference to a third party,
 then they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or
 not to release the information to you.  

    

 Very occasionally, fees may be payable for the supply of information under
 the Freedom of Information Act. This will be considered, and if fees are
 payable in respect of this request the Council will contact you before
 proceeding in order to be sure that you are happy to go ahead.  Any fees
 that do apply must be paid before the information is processed and
 released.  

    

 Please note that an anonymised copy of our response to your request may be
 published in the Council’s Disclosure Log where appropriate. This is a
 record of responses to completed requests for information that the Council
 has received and dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and
 Environmental Information Regulations 2004.   

    

 The Council’s Disclosure Log is available online at the following address:
  

    

 [9]Disclosure log | North Tyneside Council  

    

 If you have any queries in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact
 us. 

  

 Kind regards, 

 Sophie Xeros

 Governance Assistant 
 Democratic Support

 North Tyneside Council

 Quadrant East, Cobalt Business Park, The Silverlink North, North Tyneside,
 NE27 0BY

  

  

  

  

  

 ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

 From: Jamie Halliday <[10][FOI #1399710 email]>
 Sent: 08 February 2026 1:15 AM
 To: FOI Officer <[11][email address]>
 Subject: Freedom of Information request - Retention periods and disposal
 controls for pupil records, SEND, exclusions and EOTAS

  

 EXTERNAL EMAIL: This email originated from outside of North Tyneside
 Council. Do not click on any links, follow any instructions or open any
 attachments unless you trust the sender and know the contents are safe.

 Dear Sir/Madam,

 Please treat this as a request for information under the Freedom of
 Information Act 2000.

 This request concerns records retention and disposal arrangements for
 education records, especially pupil files, SEND, exclusions, and education
 otherwise than at school (EOTAS), including home tuition and alternative
 provision.

 1. Retention schedule entries and retention periods
 Please provide the recorded retention schedule entries (or equivalent
 documented retention rules) used by the council for the following
 categories, including the retention period and the trigger point (for
 example, DOB plus X years, closure of case, end of academic year, end of
 financial year):

 a) maintained school pupil file / educational record
 b) records held by the local authority relating to an individual pupil’s
 education
 c) exclusion records (fixed-term and permanent), including panel or
 decision paperwork
 d) SEND records held by the local authority (assessments, notes,
 decisions, panel minutes, plans)
 e) EOTAS / home tuition / alternative provision records, including
 placement decisions and commissioning referrals
 f) education finance and commissioning records relating to alternative
 provision or tuition (purchase orders, invoices, provider contracts,
 budget monitoring)

 2. Version in force 2010 to 2014
 If your retention schedule has changed since 2010, please provide either:
 a) the version that was in force between 1 January 2010 and 31 December
 2014 for the categories above, or
 b) a change log that clearly states what changed and when, for those
 categories.

 3. Disposal process and audit trail
 Please provide the council’s recorded procedure or policy for secure
 disposal of education records in scope of section 1, including:
 a) who authorises disposal
 b) what audit trail is kept (for example, destruction logs, certificates)
 c) whether third-party shredding or disposal contractors are used, and how
 compliance is evidenced

 4. Maintained schools, oversight and information rights
 Please provide any recorded information or guidance the council uses that
 explains:
 a) what education records are held by the council versus held by
 maintained schools
 b) the council’s role in ensuring maintained schools comply with records
 retention expectations and information rights requests, including SARs and
 Educational Record requests

 Format
 Please provide the information electronically.

 If any information is withheld, please cite the specific exemption(s)
 relied upon and explain why they apply.

 Yours faithfully,

 Jamie Halliday

 -------------------------------------------------------------------

 Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
 [12][FOI #1399710 email]

 Is [13][North Tyneside Council request email] the wrong address for Freedom of
 Information requests to North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council? If
 so, please contact us using this form:
 [14]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/change_request/new?body=north_tyneside_council

 Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
 the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
 [15]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/officers

 For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
 latest advice from the ICO:
 [16]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-guidance-for-authorities
 [17]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-anonymisation-code

 Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
 be delayed.

 If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
 manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

 -------------------------------------------------------------------

 This email and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee. It
 may contain information or opinion which is strictly confidential or is
 legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient you should not
 use, disclose, copy, print, distribute or otherwise rely upon the contents
 of this email. If you have received this email in error please notify the
 sender immediately by email and then permanently delete this email. This
 email has been scanned for viruses and inappropriate content by Mimecast
 Unified Email Management Services. North Tyneside Council does not
 guarantee this email to be free of any viruses. It is the responsibility
 of the recipient to ensure that this message and any attachments are virus
 free. This e-mail may be automatically logged, monitored and/or recorded
 for legal purposes.

References

 Visible links
 1. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/data-protection-in-schools/record-keeping-and-management
 2. https://www.northtyneside.gov.uk/freedom-information/disclosure-log
 3. mailto:[North Tyneside Council request email]
 4. https://newsletter.ico.org.uk/c/1lULiJlQgAvCOrMP3mXlRaLwZ
 5. https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/46myCxRWUmVmJECv4KO9?domain=my.northtyneside.gov.uk
	https://my.northtyneside.gov.uk/category/308/contact-council
 6. https://www.facebook.com/NTCouncilTeam
 7. https://twitter.com/NTCouncilTeam
 8. https://www.instagram.com/ntcouncilteam
 9. https://www.northtyneside.gov.uk/freedom-information/disclosure-log
 10. mailto:[FOI #1399710 email]
 11. mailto:[email address]
 12. mailto:[FOI #1399710 email]
 13. mailto:[North Tyneside Council request email]
 14. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/change_request/new?body=north_tyneside_council
 15. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/officers
 16. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-guidance-for-authorities
 17. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-anonymisation-code


