This FOI request is doing the rounds:
My name is Charlotte Littlewood, and I am a Research Fellow at the Henry Jackson Society.
I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information:
- Do you have any current pupils of South Asian descent? (Yes/No)
- How many incidents involving pupil misconduct, bullying, or harassment, or similar events in which the term ‘Hindu’ / ‘Hinduism’ / ‘Hindu-phobia’/ ‘Hindu-hate’ (bullying of a Hindu pupil for being Hindu) was recorded on your school campus in each of the last academic five years?
a. Of these, how many (if any) of the recorded incidents involved reports of a physical assault?
If you could please provide the information in the form of an email that would be most helpful. Please send your responses to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
If it is not possible to provide the information requested due to the information exceeding the cost of compliance limits identified in Section 12, please provide advice and assistance, under the Section 16 obligations of the Act, as to how I can refine my request.
If you can identify any ways that my request could be refined, I would be grateful for any further advice and assistance.
If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I will be very happy to clarify what I am asking for and discuss the request.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to your response.
Best wishes,
Charlotte Littlewood
Research Fellow
In relation to responding to an FOI, the first thing is to ensure it's valid - and this looks like a valid request.
The next is to consider whether you have this information in a recorded format.
Question 1.
- Do you have any current pupils of South Asian descent? (Yes/No)
You would be within your rights to say:
"South Asian" is not a recognised category code for the DfE census. Therefore, we don't have any recorded data that answers this question."
Additionally, they haven't identified what they mean by "South Asian".
However, assuming that they are referring to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, then if you do, and as there are no stats being requested, there is probably no harm in answering yes.
Question 2.
2. How many incidents involving pupil misconduct, bullying, or harassment, or similar events in which the term ‘Hindu’ / ‘Hinduism’ / ‘Hindu-phobia’/ ‘Hindu-hate’ (bullying of a Hindu pupil for being Hindu) was recorded on your school campus in each of the last academic five years?
a. Of these, how many (if any) of the recorded incidents involved reports of a physical assault?
This may depend on how you log your behaviour incidents. Are you this specific in your categorisation of racial/religious incidents? (I'm not aware of any requirement that you should record at this level).
If the answer is no, then respond that you don't have any such incidents recorded with these terms.
If you can search your behaviour logs, there is no harm in doing a high-level search for the occurrence of these terms and providing a summary - if you have any logged.
But remember, you only are obliged to provide information that you have recorded. You are under no obligation to create data in order to assist with the response.
I hope that helps - do get in touch at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you need any more assistance or would like to discuss this on the phone.
