for information about allegations by children against staff

Andrew Walker made this Freedom of Information request to West Berkshire Council

West Berkshire Council did not have the information requested.

From: Andrew Walker

20 August 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

The fifth report of the Parliamentary Select Committee for
Children, Schools and Families reported that the DCSF collected
data about allegations against staff as part of its review of the
guidance on handling allegations of abuse made against those who
work with children and young people. As part of the review, data on
allegations was collected from Local Authority Designated Officers
(LADOs) in England. The request covered data for the period 1 April
2007 to 30 September 2007.

The Committee Report notes that data was received from 130 Local
Authorities. Could you please send me a copy of the data submitted
by your Authority to the DCSF.

Yours faithfully,

Andrew Walker

Link to this

From: Sue Broughton
West Berkshire Council

20 August 2009

FoI/2009/312

Dear Mr Walker,
Thank you for your request. I will pass this to the Education Service
and we will seek to respond within 20 working days.

Yours sincerely

Sue Broughton

Information Management Officer

Policy & Communication

* West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury RG14
5LD

Email: [West Berkshire Council request email]

01635 519747 (external) ' 2747 (internal) 6: 01635 519613

You should be aware that all emails received and sent by this Council
are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be
disclosed to a third party.

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

show quoted sections

Link to this

From: Sue Broughton
West Berkshire Council

25 August 2009

Attachment LSCB Progress 1.doc
188K Download View as HTML

FoI/2009/312

Dear Mr Walker,

Please find attached, as requested, our submission to the DCSF in
respect of the LA and LSCB Progress in implementing procedures regarding
allegations against staff and promoting safer recruitment practice. This
appears to be different from the data as you described it, but my
colleagues have confirmed that this was what was requested. It may be
therefore that your request refers to something different (perhaps
statistics?)or your interpretation of the data as described in the
report is incorrect.

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you may
ask for an internal review. You should contact David Lowe, Policy &
Scrutiny Manager, Policy & Communication, Council Offices, Market
Street, Newbury RG14 5LD if you wish to make a complaint. 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,
Cheshire SK9 5AF

If you have any queries about this email, please contact me.

Yours sincerely

Sue Broughton

Information Management Officer

Policy & Communication

* West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury RG14
5LD

Email: [West Berkshire Council request email]

01635 519747 (external) ' 2747 (internal) 6: 01635 519613

You should be aware that all emails received and sent by this Council
are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be
disclosed to a third party.

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

show quoted sections

Link to this

From: Andrew Walker

25 August 2009

Dear Sue Broughton,

I apologise if the request was unclear, what I was seeking was the
statistical information regarding the allegations against staff
which was submitted to the DCSF for their review of the type and
number of allegations for the period 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008

Could you please provide me with a copy of this statistical
information

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Walker

Link to this

From: Sue Broughton
West Berkshire Council

25 August 2009

FoI/2009/312

Dear Mr Walker,

The information supplied is the only data we were asked for. The form
was completed in July 2007 so I have assumed it was related to the
review, but there was no request for statistical information.

Yours sincerely

Sue Broughton

Information Management Officer

Policy & Communication

* West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury RG14
5LD

Email: [West Berkshire Council request email]

01635 519747 (external) ' 2747 (internal) 6: 01635 519613

You should be aware that all emails received and sent by this Council
are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be
disclosed to a third party.

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

show quoted sections

Link to this

From: Andrew Walker

25 August 2009

Dear Sue Broughton,

On Page 9 of the House of Commons Children, Schools and Families
Committee Fifth Report of Session 2008–09 - Allegations Against
School Staff, the DCSF is quoted -
"The DCSF supplied figures from a one-off survey for the period
from 1 April to 30 September 2007, indicating that there had been
4069 allegations referred to local authority designated officers
during the six-month period. 52% of those referrals were
from employers in the education sector;"

Following enquiries under the Freedom Of Information Act, the DCSF
indicated that Data had been supplied for this survey by West
Berkshire Council.

That is the data I am seeking.

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Walker

Link to this

From: Sue Broughton
West Berkshire Council

26 August 2009

FoI/2009/312

Dear Mr Walker,

The only data my colleagues have traced for this subject was the data we
supplied. I will check again, but if statistical data was supplied for
this review it does not appear we have retained the response. As your
email confirms that this was a one-off survey, and not data we are
required to collect and retain by law, I believe that this would explain
why it has not been retained, (and it may of course have been a null
response).

However as the DCSF is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000
you could request the data directly from them.

Yours sincerely

Sue Broughton

Information Management Officer

Policy & Communication

* West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury RG14
5LD

Email: [West Berkshire Council request email]

01635 519747 (external) ' 2747 (internal) 6: 01635 519613

You should be aware that all emails received and sent by this Council
are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be
disclosed to a third party.

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

show quoted sections

Link to this

From: Sue Broughton
West Berkshire Council

26 August 2009

FoI/2009/312

Dear Mr Walker,

I have now confirmed that we have not retained any response sent to the
DCSF in respect of any request for statistics of allegations against
school staff over the six month period 1 April - 30 September 2007.
There is therefore no recorded information to supply in response to your
request.

Yours sincerely

Sue Broughton

Information Management Officer

Policy & Communication

* West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury RG14
5LD

Email: [West Berkshire Council request email]

01635 519747 (external) ' 2747 (internal) 6: 01635 519613

You should be aware that all emails received and sent by this Council
are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be
disclosed to a third party.

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

show quoted sections

Link to this

Things to do with this request

Anyone:
West Berkshire Council only: