Vaping in schools and related exclusions
Case reference FOI2022/01605
Published 17 November 2022
Request
Please can you provide the following information, for the academic years 2021-22, 2020-21 and 2019-20 (if applicable)
* How many vape-related products have been confiscated from pupils at state-run schools in the local authority area?
* How many school exclusions (temporary or permanent) listed vaping as a reason?
* Is there a specific anti-vaping policy for schools in the local authority area?
Response
Please can you provide the following information, for the academic years 2021-22, 2020-21 and 2019-20 (if applicable)
* How many vape-related products have been confiscated from pupils at state-run schools in the local authority area?
* How many school exclusions (temporary or permanent) listed vaping as a reason?
In response to Questions 1 and 2, the council does not collate data specifically relating to the possession of, abuse of or use of vaping products in schools.
Schools have a statutory duty to record and report a 'reason' for all suspensions or exclusions. The reason is specified by a code set, issued by the Department of Education (DfE). Only reasons within the codeset can be accepted by the DfE. A vaping related offence may be recorded under the category of 'drug and alcohol related', however, as there is no specific offence related to vaping it is not possible to differentiate these from other drug and alcohol related offences.
* Is there a specific anti-vaping policy for schools in the local authority area?
Anti-vaping policies would be written, held and enacted by individual schools. Schools are public authorities in their own right for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act and therefore to obtain this information you would need to contact each school direct. The contact details for schools in Herefordshire are available via the following link:
https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/education-and-learning/schools/directory
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
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