Conflict of Interests - Childrens Social Services

Dear S Smith

Thank you for your email.

I acknowledge your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. Assuming we hold this information, I will endeavour
to supply the data to you as soon as possible but no later than 26th May
2009 (20 working days from date of receipt).

I will advise you as soon as possible if we do not hold this information
or if there are exemptions to be considered and/or any costs for providing
the information. Please quote our reference - FOI/09/454 - in any
communication regarding this particular request.

Best regards

Corporate Access to Information Team, Chief Executive's Department
Kent County Council, Legal & Democratic Services, Room 1.94, Sessions
House, County Hall, Maidstone. ME14 1XQ.
Tel: 01622 696265 or 01622 694261 - Fax: 01622 694383
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...

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Dear S Smith

Thank you for your request for information made under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

I have been advised that decisions regarding the allocation of a
guardian is the remit of the Court and not a decision which can be
influenced by KCC. Cafcass has its own conflict of interest policy,
which states that a Guardian must not be allocated to a case if he/she
has been directly concerned/undertaken work (whilst working for the
applicant LA) relating to the child and family during the 5 years prior
to the commencement of proceedings.

If you are unhappy with this response, and believe KCC has not complied
with legislation, please ask for a review by following our complaints
process; details can be found at this link
http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...
s/complaints-procedure.htm#foi on our website. Please quote reference
FOI/09/454.

If you still remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you can
appeal to the Information Commissioner, who oversees compliance with the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Details of what you need to do, should
you wish to pursue this course of action, are available from the
Information Commissioner's website
http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/freedom...

Best regards

Michelle Hunt
Access to Information Co-ordinator
Communication & Information Governance
Children, Families & Education Directorate
Kent County Council
Room 2.35, Sessions House
Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1XQ
External: 01622 696692
Internal: 7000 6692
Email: [email address]

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Dear S Smith

Thank you for your email.

I acknowledge your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. Assuming we hold this information, we will
endeavour to supply the data to you as soon as possible but no later
than 24th June 2009 (20 working days from date of receipt).

We will advise you as soon as possible if we do not hold this
information or if there are exemptions to be considered and/or any costs
for providing the information. Please quote our reference - FOI/09/582 -
in any communication regarding this particular request.

Best regards

Michelle Hunt
Access to Information Co-ordinator
Communication & Information Governance
Children, Families & Education Directorate
Kent County Council
Room 2.35, Sessions House
Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1XQ
External: 01622 696692
Internal: 7000 6692
Email: [email address]

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Dear S Smith

Thank you for your request for information made under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

I can confirm that, based on the data held in the Oracle HR Database, we
do not have a record of Amanda Barden as having worked within KCC.
Guardians are wholly employed by CAFCASS.

The Council would like to forewarn you that future requests for
information on this subject will be refused. The Council believes that
the volume, extent, frequency and repeated nature of your requests, and
the inevitable follow-on queries and complaint to the response, has now
become such that your correspondence is taking up a disproportionate
amount of time and public resources to respond to. This is manifestly
unreasonable and could be construed as obsessive and a deliberate
attempt to disrupt the Council's operations. The Council has no
obligation to respond to requests that are perceived to be vexatious
under section 14 of FOIA and it is considered that collectively, your
requests are vexatious. Although your requests are not necessarily
"repeated" in the sense that they are requests for the exactly same
information, when taken together they form a pattern of obsessive
requests of a similar nature such that the Council may reasonably regard
as vexatious. Neither the FOIA, nor scarce public resources, are
intended to be used in this way and, accordingly, no further
correspondence will be entered into in response to your requests for
information on these or related topics.

If you are unhappy with this response, and believe KCC has not complied
with legislation, please ask for a review by following our complaints
process; details can be found at this link
http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...
s/complaints-procedure.htm#foi on our website. Please quote reference
FOI/09/582.

If you still remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you can
appeal to the Information Commissioner, who oversees compliance with the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Details of what you need to do, should
you wish to pursue this course of action, are available from the
Information Commissioner's website
http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/freedom...

Best regards

Michelle Hunt
Access to Information Co-ordinator
Communication & Information Governance
Children, Families & Education Directorate
Kent County Council
Room 2.35, Sessions House
Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1XQ
External: 01622 696692
Internal: 7000 6692
Email: [email address]

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Thank you for your email. I am out of the office this afternoon (Monday 8
June). If your request is urgent please contact one of the following:

Andrew Swan, CMY Information Governance Officer on ext 1621
Caroline Dodge, CED Access to Informaton Co-ordinator on ext 1652.

If you are sending a Freedom of Information request, please forward your
email to: [Kent County Council request email].

If you are sending a request for access to your personal data, please
forward your email to: [email address].

Otherwise, I will deal with your enquiry as soon as I can on my return.
Thank you.

Dear S Smith

Thank you for your email.

In my colleague's reply to your 27th May request, she told you that Kent
County Council does not have a record of Amanda Barden working within KCC,
so the fact that you are asking a question that we have already answered
does indeed suggest that your correspondence is both repeat and vexatious!

Therefore, the Council is of the opinion that this latest request for
information, when considered in conjunction with all the other requests
you have submitted, is a deliberate attempt to disrupt the Council's
operations and is therefore manifestly unreasonable. The Council has no
obligation to respond to requests that are perceived to be either
vexatious or repeated under section 14 (1) & (2) of the Freedom of
Information Act respectively and collectively, your requests fall into
this category. The Council will review this position in three months time
but until then, no further requests from you will be considered.

If you disagree with this stance, you can appeal direct the Information
Commissioner, who oversees compliance with the Freedom of Information Act
2000. This is because there is no-one sufficiently senior within the
Authority that could conduct an independent internal review of this
decision which was made at the highest level. Details of what you need to
do, should you wish to pursue this course of action, are available from
the Information Commissioner's website .
[1]http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/freedom...

Best regards

Caroline Dodge
Corporate Access to Information Coordinator, Chief Executive's Department
Kent County Council, Legal & Democratic Services, Room 1.94, Sessions
House, County Hall, Maidstone. ME14 1XQ.
Tel: 01622 221652 - Fax: 01622 694383
[2]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...

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