Was the charging system introduced to discourage people from making requests for information?
Paul Boyle: Absolutely not! There is no charge for information requested up to the appropriate limit in the regulations, which for schools is £450. Above that level, the school can refuse to provide the information. Having the limit in that way balances people’s rights to get information with the burden on public authority for providing it. Sarah Howcroft: With regard to the charging policy for the Freedom of Information Act, if our LEA has put in place a policy that differs from the DfES guidelines do we have to adopt it? Paul Boyle: It’s open to any public authority to waive fees altogether, but there must be no charge for any work up to the £450 limit. Len Cooper: My son’s school has been intercepting and monitoring all of the emails to his private and confidential school email address whilst he has not been at work there as a teacher. At the time my son was off work the school did not have any staff policies about staff use of ICT and/or the interception, redirection and monitoring
