Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they provide to schools and Local Education Authorities on their application of the Freedom of Information Act 2000; and in particular with regard to any parent's request to access information on Relationships and Sex Education curricula delivered by external contractors and providers.

Schools are responsible for what is taught in Relationship, Health and Sex Education (RHSE) lessons, including anything taught by external providers. Schools should agree reasonable requests from parents to view curriculum materials. We would expect schools to avoid entering into any agreement that seeks to prevent them from ensuring parents can be made properly aware of the materials that are being used to teach their children. The department will soon be writing to schools to clarify this.

Regarding Government providing advice on the application of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000, local authorities and schools are public authorities in their own right for the purposes of the FOIA. This means that they must make their own decisions on how they should respond to specific FOIs they receive, including any from parents requesting access to information on Relationships and Sex Education curricula delivered by external contractors and providers. Accordingly, the department does not advise schools or local authorities on the responses that they should provide to such requests.

The Information Commissioner’s Office makes guidance on the application of the FOIA available to all public authorities. This guidance is available at: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-freedom-of-information/.