School Abuse

Question

Please provide me with:  

• The number of cases of sexually-related abuse against children reported at schools in your council area. Sexually-related abuse includes, but is not limited to, physical assault and the taking and/or sharing of intimate images/videos;
• For each of the cases above please tell me the following: age of student involved; school; the alleged perpetrator (i.e. another student or teacher), means of alleged abuse (i.e. physical abuse, sharing of intimate files etc);
• For each case please provide me with electronic copies of all related correspondence including emails, letters, memos, and staff meeting minutes. Please redact any details that could be used to identify the student;
• The number of cases that resulted in (a) a teacher’s or (b) student’s permanent exclusion from the school. Please also break this down by school.

Answer

Whilst the Act creates a general right of access to information held by a Public Authority, this access is not unrestricted and is tempered by a number of statutory exemptions. 

We consider that the information which you have requested is exempt from disclosure under section 38(1)(b).  The reason being is that the numbers are so small (<5) that individuals may be identifiable; therefore the information could be considered personal data within the meaning of the Data Protection Act 1998.  We are still awaiting confirmation from 7 of the Comhairle’s 24 schools and will respond in relation to those schools as soon as possible.