FOI release

Building Schools for the Future: decision on Sandwell projects

Information about the decision to cancel the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) projects in Sandwell.

• From: Department for Education
• Published: 24 March 2015

Applies to England

Documents

Building Schools for the Future: decision on Sandwell projects

ZIP, 30.4 MB

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Details

• Date requested: 30 September 2012
• Date responded: 24 March 2015

Request

Copies of all reports, submissions, minutes of meetings and discussions, notes, emails, letters and any other relevant document upon which the decision to cancel BSF projects in the local authority was based.

Copies of the following specific information:

• documentation created in respect of the establishment of the department’s consultation project team, including meeting notes and instructions to the project team
• evidence of the in-depth review of local authority submissions by the department’s project team to enable it to produce a list of queries and clarifications to send to each claimant authority ahead of their meeting with the department (meeting notes, minutes, summaries and other documents produced)
• commentary prepared by the Partnerships for Schools (PfS) project directors on particular aspects of individual BSF projects prior to meeting the claimant authorities from 15 June
• information considered by the department team in reaching the 19 July provisional decision - the funds available to the department, the financial implications of a range of options and the funds needed to meet the local authorities’ requests
• details of the ‘range of options’ considered by the department team prior to reaching the 19 July provisional decision
• the equality impact assessment of the final decision prepared by the department
• documents evidencing consideration of whether to fund Sandwell’s schools on the grounds of basic need or suitability
• documents evidencing consideration of options relating to the payment of project development costs and contractual liabilities
• documents evidencing consideration as to whether funding the schools would be justified on equality grounds
• documents evidencing consideration as to whether or not to make an exception for Sandwell’s schools to enable them to be included in the Priority School Building Programme (PSBP)

Response

The Department for Education has published the remaining 37 documents that it committed to publish following the decision of the Information Commissioner and the appeal heard by the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). The department has contacted the requester to notify them of this publication.

Published 24 March 2015