Council refuses FoI request for Hertfordshire's school attendance data

Bosses at Hertfordshire County Council are refusing to release data on school attendance levels – amid fears it could put pressure on schools and could lead to the targeted abuse of teachers, pupils or parents.

Since the start of the autumn term, the Local Democracy Reporting Service has been seeking information on the number of Hertfordshire schools – named or unnamed – that have sent home pupils to self-isolate.

And it has asked for data held or collected on attendance – broken down by categories of absence in the register, including isolation due to Covid-19.

The release of the data would give the strongest indication yet of the prevalence of Covid-19 within schools across the county.

And it may also indicate whether parents are continuing to elect to keep their children at home, rather than send their children back into the classroom.

But – after repeated requests using Freedom of Information legislation – the county council has said it will NOT share the data.

Officials at the county council – which is the local education authority – have said they do not hold data on the schools that have sent home pupils or staff to self isolate.

And they say the release of the further attendance data requested is exempt under the Freedom of Information Act.

In its response the council has considered whether publication of that attendance data “might reduce the potential danger of Covid-19 to people, by making them aware of the risks in their locality and enable them to take appropriate action”.

And it says they have considered whether it would promote accountability and transparency of decisions taken with regard to the opening or closing of schools where Covid-19 may be present.

But it says this is outweighed by the public interest in withholding the information on ‘health and safety’ grounds – as well as suggesting it would include ‘third party personal data’, which is exempt from FoI legislation.

And it points to specific concerns that the release of the data could go against the ‘smooth running’ of education services in the county and could lead to the targeting of pupils, teachers or parents.

“Hertfordshire schools, like all schools in the country are under particular pressure at this time, as they attempt to accustom themselves to new systems and procedures,” says the response from the county council.

“Publishing the data, may attract more interest to their schools and put more pressure on them, their teachers, their pupils and their parents which would go against the smooth running of educational services in the county.”

And it states: “. . . disclosure of this information could provide intelligence allowing known schools, and therefore the teachers, pupils and parents to be targeted, in some cases the targeting may not be benign, and could cause individuals to be personally abused or frightened at a time when they were already stressed or unwell.”

The response also says that the council does not have complete datasets, suggesting that “disclosure of the incomplete data held by the council may mislead individuals or the general public and cause them to act or fail to act against their own interests”.

And it suggests that with central government – including the Department for Education, Public Health England and the ONS – leading on the publication of statistics on Covid19 in schools, it would “be inappropriate for the Council to disclose information which may be viewed out of context and may be available at a later date”.

In addition to the ‘health and safety’ concerns, the council also suggest that the data cannot be released because it would relate to ‘personal information’.

It points to the council’s responsibility to only handle that data ‘in ways that people would reasonably expect; and not use it in ways that have unjustified adverse effects on them’.

And it states: “In relation to your request, individuals, including parents and other interested parties, have agreed to have the attendance of their children registered, and this might include details of health and other personal concerns, but they would have no expectation we would provide the public with this personal information.

“It would not be appropriate, fair or lawful processing of their personal data and we are consequently satisfied the exemption also applies to the information you have requested.”

The LDRS asked the county council to formally review the decision. That appeal has determined that in the initial decision, the public interests ‘have been correctly applied’.