Information relating to Alternative Certification Model (ACM): FOI release

Information requested

1. How many teachers were (a) due to receive the £400 payment to support the delivery of the Alternative Certification Model (b) have still to receive the payment to date, and (c) received less than £400.

2. Please provide a copy of all the feedback received by the Scottish Government from teachers regarding the policy of the payment to support the delivery of the Alternative Certification Model.

Response

Attached is a copy of the information requested.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. The reasons why we don't have the information are explained below. We are also unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exemption under section 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information. 

With regard to part one of your enquiry, the Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for because:

• Eligibility for the £400 payment and calculation of any pro-rata amounts was determined locally by Headteachers.
• Responsibility for making the payments lies with local authorities and schools (in the case of Independent and Grant-Aided schools).
• Claim forms submitted to Scottish Government only provide information on total numbers of eligible full-time and part-time teachers, total cost for eligible part-time employees and total costs being claimed.
• At the time of the request, the deadline for submission of claim forms had not been reached and these continue to be processed so total figures are not held.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested under part one of your enquiry.

You may wish to note that the one-off exceptional payment of up to £400 for teachers who supported the delivery of the Alternative Certification Model is based on claims completed by schools and requires a local assessment of eligibility by the Headteacher, with flexibility to consider payment above the pro-rata equivalent for part-time teachers based on contracted hours, up to a maximum of £400.

While Scottish Government is providing the overall funding, issuing of the payment to teachers is the responsibility of the local authority or school (in the case of independent schools and grant-aided schools) through their payroll arrangements. We are aware that some local authorities have decided to make these payments to their teachers prior to receiving the funding from Scottish Government, while others are awaiting the funds before doing so. However, we do not hold information on who or how many teachers have been paid to date and who have not.

The deadline for submission of claim forms to Scottish Government for funding to cover the payments was 30 September, and officials are continuing to work to process these claims. The claim forms ask for number of full-time equivalent teachers receiving the £400 payment, the number of part-time teachers, the total cost for those part-time teachers, and the total costs being claimed. Once submitted claims are processed, final figures will be subject to confirmation of returns in signed acceptance letters. Following this process, Scottish Government will hold numbers of teachers who receive the full £400 and the number of part-time teachers who are receiving a payment, as well as total funding, and we would plan to publish this information. However, Scottish Government will not hold information on the different sums being paid out for part-time teachers or those who received less than £400 given totals may include part-time teachers who have received the full £400 based on their Headteacher assessment.

With regard to part two of your enquiry, please note the list of enclosures attached, to which redactions under section 38(1)(b) have been applied.

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names and contact details, and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exemption is not subject to the ‘public interest test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI202100229612 - Information released

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23 page PDF

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1.1 MB