Home Education and abuse - statistics

Dear Mr Denton

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 29th April
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/09/337 - in any
communication regarding this particular request.

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
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Denton

To enable us to correctly answer your request, I have been asked to seek
clarification on the following:

a. Is this reference to the parent or the child who is being educated at
home. I.e. child as abuser or being abused?

b. With reference to Joint Area Reviews, can he confirm that he
is referring to the inspection framework for LAs?
Many thanks

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]

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Denton

Thank you for your request for information made under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. We have answered your questions in the order they
were raised.

A. Although local records indicate the status of all Children Educated
at Home, the KCC central system does not record information relating to
abuse or claims of abuse. These matters would be dealt with at an
individual pupil level. As such, it would be extremely time consuming to
pull this together for the purpose of this request. We estimate that this
would exceed the £450 cost limit (equivalent to 18 hours work at the £25
hourly rate set by the Ministry of Justice). Therefore under section 12 of
the Freedom of Information Act 2000, we are not obliged to comply with
your request and are exercising our right to refuse to deal.

We are in the process of enhancing our central records to enable this to
be collated more readily, but as we would currently have to do this via
files, we hope this will be completed by September. If you wish to
reapply for this information we will be happy to reconsider your request
after September.

B. There has been one Serious Case Review over the last five years. This
did not directly relate to a child educated at home it did however,
concern a younger sibling.

Based on the information supplied by the Local Authority during the Joint
Area Review in 2008, the JAR report noted as follows:

from Paragraph 26 in Safeguarding Section:

There are effective systems of support in place for children absent from
school for medical reasons. Good procedures are in place for children to
be suitably educated at home, including those children and young people
with statements of educational need. Clear protocols and tracking
processes are in place for missing children and children missing
education.

from paragraph 45 in children and young people with learning difficulties
and/or disabilities section:

Provision for those being educated at home is regularly and rigorously
reviewed.

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
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...
on our website. Please quote reference FOI/09/337.

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
[2]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]

show quoted sections