Last year, a Freedom of Information request was made asking to see training resources recommended by the council for schools’ staff to improve their racial literacy. To be clear these training materials are not for pupils.
This request was refused by council officers on the grounds of commercial interest.
The council does not have ownership of the training materials, which are commissioned by consultants who also deliver the training elsewhere.
It was agreed at the time of the initial request, that if the training resources were made public, this would undermine the consultant’s ability in the future to compete for contracts on the open market and that it would also be very likely to harm the council’s own ability to negotiate future contracts for training.
This decision was challenged, and an internal review took place which is standard procedure and undertaken by council officers.
Yesterday (31 January 2022) some of the requested training resources were released due to the review finding:
- the full training resources are not within the gift of the council as they are commercially sensitive
- there is a public interest in transparency and accountability in public decision making and the training sessions that the council provides for staff
- disclosure would be likely to bring greater public understanding and awareness to the council’s involvement in promoting anti-racism.
- there is a public interest in the public being able to see training courses for council staff are appropriate
- some of the materials are not commercially sensitive and can be released in this context
We apologise that officers did not make consultants, councillors and schools aware of this decision before the resources were released.
We are proud of our pledge and work to be an anti-racist city. How we support schools’ staff on improving their racial literacy is one we stand by and is an essential part of our anti-racist schools strategy.
The city’s teachers and schools’ staff are incredibly intelligent and analytical professionals who are very capable of evaluating different perspectives on racism and considering how to apply them to improve their own understanding of their pupils’ experiences and needs.
We have received very positive feedback from schools on the resources we are recommending. It is the decision of the schools to use the resources or not.
We are committed to working with all people from all ethnicities to combat racism and break the cycle of oppression that has built up over many generations.
Helping schools to address racism and bias in the educational curriculum is a key part of this work.