Disclosure Log

Emergency school closures (FOI/6249)

Message from Nottinghamshire County Council - 02 September 2025

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Dear *****

Freedom of Information Request – Ref: FOI/00006249

Thank you for your email of 6 August 2025 where you requested information about emergency school closures.

The information you requested is:

• A year-by-year breakdown of the number of emergency school closures that took place between January 1, 2020, and the most recently recorded date. I would like the figures to be broken down by the reason for the closure as well, please

Following a search of our records we only hold the requested data from 2023 onwards, information before this date is presumed lost or destroyed:

2023:
61 Full closures,
363 partial closures

Reasons: 
Strike - 358
Adverse weather/snow: - 59
Flooding - 1
Gas leak - 2
Covid outbreak - 4

2024:
35 Full closures
2 Partial closures

Reasons:
Adverse weather/snow - 25
Polling - 2
Alarm system failure - 1
Fire - 1
Water leak - 1
Flood - 1
Sewer overflow - 1
Sewage pump failure - 2
Power cut - 1
Sickness outbreak - 1
Staff funeral - 1

2025:
Full closure - 22
Partial Closure - 2

Reasons:
Adverse weather/snow - 5
Flooding - 7
Loss of heating and hot water - 5
Power failure - 2
Burst pipe - 1
Death of headteacher (for memorial celebration of 1 hour) - 1
Sewage drain collapse - 1
Loss of water - 1
Wasps nest - pest control required  - 1

• Details on whether all schools in the area – including academies – have to report emergency closures to the local authority

All schools should report all closures to us be that partial or full closures.

• Details on whether schools need to inform the local authority of decisions to go into lockdowns

All schools are encouraged to reported lockdowns to us.

Your privacy: we use your personal information such as name and address so that we can comply with our legal obligations to respond to FOI requests.  For further details about the use of information about you, please see the information handling privacy notice on our website at https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/media/4323566/informationgovernanceandinformationrightsprivacynotice.pdf.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review.  Internal review requests should be submitted within 40 working days of the date of receipt of the response to your original request and should be addressed to: Complaints and Information – Team Manager, Nottinghamshire County Council, County Hall, Loughborough Road, West Bridgford, NOTTINGHAM, NG2 7QP or [email protected].

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications. 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision.  The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, WILMSLOW, SK9 5AF or https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/foi-and-eir-complaints/.

Yours sincerely

Colin Sawers (He/Him)
Information Case Officer | Customers, Complaints and Information
Chief Executive"s Department | Nottinghamshire County Council
County Hall | Loughborough Road | West Bridgford | NOTTINGHAM | NG2 7QP
Tel: (0115) 977 3714
 

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