 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - REQUEST FOR INTERNAL REVIEW 

   

 In all further correspondence please quote our reference FOI-7817.  

   

 Your request for an internal review was received on 17/03/2026 and the
 Council is dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information
 Act 2000.   

   

 As required by the Information Commissioner’s guidance the Council aims to
 respond to the internal review no later than 20 working days after
 receipt. This has been calculated to be 16/04/2026.  

   

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

  

  

 Sarah Nicholson

 Information Governance and Compliance Officer

 Information Governance Team

 Governance

 [1]North Tyneside Council

  

 Tel: (0191) 643 2333

  

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 From: Jamie Halliday <[FOI #1399710 email]>
 Sent: 17 March 2026 17:41
 To: FOI Officer <[email address]>
 Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Retention
 periods and disposal controls for pupil records, SEND, exclusions and
 EOTAS

  

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 Council. Do not click on any links, follow any instructions or open any
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 Dear Information Governance Team,

 Thank you for your response dated 10 March 2026 (ref: FOI-7571) and the
 attached documents.

 I have reviewed the materials provided and have four points to raise.

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

 Neither the Education and Skills Retention Schedule 2016 nor the Finance
 Retention Schedule contains 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 specific retention period exists for these record
 types and, if so, provide it along with the trigger point. If they are
 captured under an existing class in the schedules provided, please
 identify the relevant entry. If no documented retention period exists for
 these categories, please confirm that explicitly.

 2. Draft status of Education and Skills schedule

 The Education and Skills Retention Schedule provided is marked 'Version
 2.2 Draft'. Please confirm whether this is the operative version currently
 in force, or whether a finalised version exists. If a finalised version
 exists, please provide it.

 3. Question 2 — Finance schedule version history

 Your response states that previous versions of the retention schedules are
 no longer held. However, the document control sheet within the Finance
 Retention Schedule provided shows that version 2.0 was issued in June 2011
 and version 2.1 in November 2014, both falling within the period covered
 by my request (1 January 2010 to 31 December 2014).

 Please clarify: were these earlier versions searched for, and if so, what
 was the outcome of that search? If they have been destroyed, please
 confirm when and in what circumstances.

 4. Disposal process and audit trail (Question 3)

 Your response directed me to the Records Management Policy and Data
 Protection Policy for questions on disposal. I have reviewed both
 documents. Neither answers the specific questions asked, which were:

 a) who authorises disposal of education records;
 b) what audit trail is kept (destruction logs, certificates of
 destruction);
 c) whether third-party shredding or disposal contractors are used, and how
 compliance with those contracts is evidenced.

 The Records Management Policy notes that a disposal register should be
 kept but does not specify the authorisation process or contractor
 arrangements. Please provide the recorded information that answers these
 three points specifically for education records, or confirm that no such
 recorded information exists.

 Yours faithfully,
 Jamie Halliday

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