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Written question asked by Lord Blencathra (Conservative) on Monday, 9 January 2017, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Monday, 23 January 2017. It was answered by Lord Nash (Conservative) on Monday, 16 January 2017 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Schools: Radicalism

Question

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it was ministers or civil servants who made the initial decision to reveal the names of the whistleblowers in the investigation into the Trojan Horse case in Birmingham schools; and what was the justification for that decision.

Answer

We take the issue of witness anonymity extremely seriously.

The independent panel overseeing the teacher misconduct case of some of the individuals involved in the events related to Trojan Horse recently ordered the full disclosure of transcripts of interviews given to Peter Clarke. As a result of the independent panel’s direction, lawyers acting on behalf of NCTL wrote to witnesses to inform them of that decision, and stated that in the event that they had any comments or concerns in relation to the disclosure of their transcripts they should contact them. Since the direction, where we have written to witnesses and we have either not yet heard back from them or they have raised concerns, no disclosures have been made. We have informed the independent panel that a number of witnesses have raised concerns, and the panel has indicated that it wishes to consider the issue at a further hearing.

These issues are part of a set of complex legal proceedings and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL4476
Session
2016-17
Subjects
Disclosure of information Birmingham Schools Radicalism
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk