Date: 02 November 2009

My Ref: FOI/2009/0496/CLO

Contact: Emma Hearton

Direct dial: 01934 427390

Angela Wileman

Sent via email

Dear Mr Wileman,

Freedom of Information Act (2000) - Request for Information

I write following our acknowledgement letter, date 01 October 2009, reference FOI/2009/0496/ACK.

Further to your request, please see our response below:

Under the freedom of information act I would like to know numerical statistics in order by year during the period of 1998 to 2008 (or as far back as you can go without charging me) for the following;

1) How many children were taken into local authority care on interim care orders and emergency protection orders under the category of emotional harm during the above period? I do not wish you to include any children for any other categories of harm/abuse.

2) Out of these children who were taken into care for emotional harm how many of them were specifically for domestic violence between their parents? Again i do not wish you to include children who had violence directed at them as that would fall into a different category being physical abuse.

3) Out of these children who were put into care for domestic violence how many were returned to family or extended family?

4) Out of these how many children were put on full care orders?

5) Of the children put on full care orders how many were adopted during these periods.

Please see attached.

Note - Prior to 2008 many children were recorded with multiple categories of abuse and as the question you ask is specifically says to exclude any children with categories other than emotional abuse, all these children with multiple categories have been excluded.

A new computer system was introduced in April 2004 and detailed information on this subject prior to this date is not available electronically. Our Management Information Manager has confirmed there were just over 400 children who were de-registered from the Child Protection Register from 1998/99 to 2003/04. In order to provide information prior to 2004 they would need to look at the minutes of the last case conference for each of these children to see if they were on the CPR for emotional harm, whether this was due to domestic violence and whether they were ceasing because they were becoming looked after. At 10 minutes each this would take 68 hours and then after this they would need to look at the case files for the relevant children to find out the other information requested, which would take further time. This would mean that we breach the appropriate cost limit, as defined by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (appropriate limit and fees) regulations 2004. We are therefore refusing this part of your request under Section 12 of the Act (Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit).

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In line with the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004, the Council reserves the right to charge for disbursements, such as photocopying and postage. However, on this occasion no fee will be charged.

Please note that the Freedom of Information Act only provides you with a right of access to recorded information. Any information subject to copyright will continue to be protected by the Copyright Designs and Patents Act (1998). This includes information which is copyright of the council. Disclosure of any information by the council to you does not provide you with any rights to use or distribute the information in breach of any copyright.

North Somerset Council now considers that it has complied with your request. However, you have a right to appeal if you are dissatisfied with our response. In the first instance you should address your appeal for a review of the response or our handling of your request to the Council's Audit, Risk & Information Manager, in writing at:

Mr Peter Rooney, Audit Risk & Information Manager, The Town Hall, Walliscote Grove Road, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, BS23 1UJ.

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the Council's internal review, you have a further right of appeal to the Information Commissioner. You can request a review of the council's decisions by contacting:

The Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely

Emma Hearton

FOI & DPA Support Assistant

North Somerset Council

Philip Hall

Director of Finance and Resources

Information, Communication and Technology Department

North Somerset Council

Town Hall

Weston-super-Mare

Somerset BS23 1UJ

www.n-somerset.gov.uk