Mr Andrew Williams

Via email

2 May 2014

Dear Mr Williams

Freedom of Information Act request – 2014/2026

I refer to your request for information detailed in your email of 8 April 2014 in which you asked the following:

  • What types of investigations do you carry out in response to public complaints
  • What is the unit cost of an investigation
  • Are there different types of investigation
  • Are some investigations and follow up action taken further than others.
  • What is the unit cost of each type and stage of investigation and follow up action
  • How many investigations are there by type and stage for the latest year where this information is available

I will deal with your questions in turn but I should say from the outset that it appears that your first, third and fourth questions seek answers rather than recorded information and hence I have dealt with these outside of the Act.

The role of adjudicators and the matters that fall within their remit are set out within the Office of the Schools Adjudicator Annual Report. The latest report was published in November 2013. Copies of this and all annual reports are published on the OSA website which can be accessed via the link below.

The OSA does not hold the information requested in questions two and five of your email, but will provide additional information outside of the Act to place this response into context and in order to be helpful. Adjudicators are part-time and work mainly from home but can be required to visit schools and attend meetings in the course of carrying out their legal function. They receive a daily rate of £355 for work conducted away from home and an hourly rate of £58 for work done at home. Travel and subsistence expenses are also met.Adjudicators are supported by a secretariat of civil servants based in Darlington whose administration costs are funded via the Department for Education. The report at Appendix 2 provides a breakdown of the overall expenditure relating to the 2011-12 and 2012-13 financial years, which covers that report year. The report also details at page 15 the number and type of cases considered by adjudicators in the last two academic years.

If you are not satisfied with the way your request has been handled, you may ask for an independent review by writing to me within two calendar months of the date of this letter. This will be considered by an independent review panel who were not involved in the original consideration of your request. If you are not content with the outcome of the review, you may refer the matter to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane, Wilmslow

Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

Wilf Fleming

Secretary – Office of the Schools Adjudicator

Tel: 01325 735303

Email:

Telephone Website Email

01325 735303