Air Command Secretariat Spitfire Block Headquarters Air Command Royal Air Force High Wycombe Buckinghamshire HP14 4UE

Ref: 12-03-2013-160619-008

Ms Phoebe Spence By e-mail: [email protected] 8 April 2013

Dear Ms Spence,

Thank you for your emails of 5 March, 7 March and 8 March, which have been considered to be a request for information under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000; I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Ministry of Defence (MOD).

I can confirm that the MOD holds some of the information you requested, which I will address in turn:

1. Please may I request the postcode for each of the schools and colleges, so I can locate them more easily.

The MOD does not hold this information.

2. Please may I ask for clarification of some of the types of visit listed - Altcar ACE, PDT, AEF.

Altcar ACE is an Army Careers Exhibition. The RAF has also had a presence at this Exhibition in previous years.

PDT is Personal Development Training, which includes activities involving skills such as problem solving, leadership and self awareness.

AEF is Air Experience Flying. This is an initiative whereby a deserving candidate is awarded a flight in a light aircraft. The award is targeted at those who are not members of the ATC (Air Training Corps).

3. Please may I now add West to the list of Local Authorities in the request for information on school/college visits.

The table below provides information on visits made by the RAF to the schools and colleges in the Cheshire West area. The information covers the period from September 2010 to January 2013, in line with your previous response on this subject. Please also note that Tarporley Community High School and the Kings School were included in the original response and were incorrectly included in the Cheshire East local authority region.

As noted in my letter of 1 March, the RAF, and the Armed Forces as a whole, never visit schools for recruitment purposes and would only ever visit a school after being invited by a teacher to support school activities.

School No. of Type of Visits Age Visits Group/Range Bishop Heber High 2 Career Counselling 15-17 School 2 Altcar ACE 15-17 Chester Catholic High 1 Presentation 15-17 School 1 Liaison, Literature Drop 15-17 Ellesmere Port Catholic 3 Careers Fair, Liaison 15-17 High School Hartford High School 3 Altcar ACE, Literature Drop 15-17 4 Liaison, Career Counselling, 15-17 Literature Drop, Presentation 3 Liaison, Literature Drop, Careers 15-17 Talk Queen’s Park High 2 Mock Interviews 15-17 School St Nicholas Catholic 3 Literature Drop, Cheshire HE Fair 15-17 High School Tarporley Community 2 Presentation 14-17 High School The Bishops’ Blue Coat 4 Altcar ACE, Liaison, Literature 15-17 CofE HS Drop, Cheshire HE Fair The Whitby High 6 Altcar ACE, Careers Talk, Careers 15-17 School Fair, Cheshire HE Fair, Presentation University of Chester 4 Liaison, Careers Fairs 15-17 CofE Academy Upton-by-Chester High 2 Liaison, Literature Drop 15-17 School Weaverham High 3 Liaison, Literature Drop 15-17 School 1 Interviews, Liaison 15-17 The Grange School 5 Careers Fair, Interviews, Careers 15-17 Talk, Presentation The King’s School 2 Interviews, Altcar ACE 13-17 The Queen’s School 3 Careers Fairs 15-17

If you are not satisfied with this response or wish to complain about any aspect of the handling of your request, then you should contact me in the first instance. If informal resolution is not possible and you are still dissatisfied then you may apply for an independent internal review by contcting the Deputy Chief Information Officer, 2nd Floor, MOD Main Building, Whitehall, SW1A 2HB (e-mail [email protected]). Please note that any request for an internal review must be made within 40 working days of the date on which the attempt to reach informal resolution has come to an end.

If you remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you may take your complaint to the Information Commissioner under the provisions of Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act. Please note that the Information Commissioner will not investigate your case until the MOD internal review process has been completed. Further details of the role and powers of the Information Commissioner can be found on the Commissioner's website, http://www.ico.gov.uk.

Yours sincerely

Air-DRes Sec 2a Air Command Secretariat