Dear Sir or Madam,

I would like to know:

A. The number of persons in the local authority of compulsory
school age who are, or claimed to be, electively home educated and
who have been either suspected or found to be involved in child
abuse, neglect, forced marriage, sexual exploitation or domestic
servitude.

B. How many (if any) Serious Case Reviews or Joint Area Reviews
have reported with respect to home educated children in the LA.

C Murton

REQUESTER REFERENCE: C2304
ENQUIRY REFERENCE: E3797
Please quote your references when contacting the Council.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Freedom of Information Act 2000

Thank you for your request for information received on 28/03/2009. We are dealing with your request and plan to respond before 29/04/2009.

If you have any queries or concerns, please contact the Information Governance Team on 020 8430 3737 or email us at: [Newham Borough Council request email]

Yours Faithfully

Information Governance Team
Newham Council

Newham Council Publication Scheme is on: www.newham.gov.uk

NOTE: This communication is sent for and on behalf of the London Borough of Newham.
However the views expressed within it are not necessarily the views or policies of the Council. The unauthorised use, disclosure, copying or alteration of this communication and any attachments is forbidden. This communication and any attachments are intended for the addressee only and may be confidential. If this has come to you in error you should immediately permanently destroy it.
You should take no action based on it or copy or show it to anyone and telephone the Council immediately with any issues on 0208 430 4444 or any other number provided in the communication. Please note that electronic communication is not considered a secure medium for sending information and therefore maybe at risk.
We advise that you understand and accept this lack of security when using this form of communication with us. Although we have taken steps to ensure that this email and attachments are free from any virus, we advise that in keeping with good computing practice the recipient should ensure they are actually virus free and should run current anti-virus software. Please note that email may be monitored and checked to safeguard the council network from viruses, hoax messages or abuse of the Council's systems. Action may be taken against any malicious and deliberate attempts to infect the council network.
The information contained in this email maybe subject to public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Unless the information is legally exempt from disclosure the confidentiality of this email and your reply cannot be guaranteed.

Dear Requester,

Please find the response to your request attached.

If you experience any problems, please let us know.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the information
Governance Team on the details below.

If you are unhappy with our response made in relation to your request, you
can submit an appeal. This process is in three stages and is carried out
by one of Newham's Service Managers, the Head of Information Governance
Team and the Corporate Complaints Manager, respectively.

Regards

Information Governance Team
Information Governance
London Borough of Newham
Information Governance- ICT

Newham Dockside

1000 Dockside Road

London

E16 2QU

Tel: - 0208-430-2000 Email:- [1][Newham Borough Council request email]
Fax :- 020 8430 1504

NOTE: This communication is sent for and on behalf of the London Borough
of Newham.

However the views expressed within it are not necessarily the views or
policies of the Council. The unauthorised use, disclosure, copying or
alteration of this communication and any attachments is forbidden. This
communication and any attachments are intended for the addressee only and
may be confidential. If this has come to you in error you should
immediately permanently destroy it.

You should take no action based on it or copy or show it to anyone and
telephone the Council immediately with any issues on 0208 430 4444 or any
other number provided in the communication. Please note that electronic
communication is not considered a secure medium for sending information
and therefore maybe at risk.

We advise that you understand and accept this lack of security when using
this form of communication with us. Although we have taken steps to ensure
that this email and attachments are free from any virus, we advise that in
keeping with good computing practice the recipient should ensure they are
actually virus free and should run current anti-virus software. Please
note that email may be monitored and checked to safeguard the council
network from viruses, hoax messages or abuse of the Council's systems.
Action may be taken against any malicious and deliberate attempts to
infect the council network.

The information contained in this email maybe subject to public disclosure
under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Unless the information is
legally exempt from disclosure the confidentiality of this email and your
reply cannot be guaranteed.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Newham Borough Council request email]
mailto:[Newham Borough Council request email]

Dear Sir or Madam,

You do not appear to have answered my questions. I understand that
you may not be aware of every home educated child; please can you
apply my questions to those home educated children (or claimed to
be home educated children) of whom you are aware.

To be clear, I am trying to ascertain how many children in your
area have been involved in using home education as a cover for the
abuses declared by Baroness Delyth Morgan. To that end I would like
to know how many instances of those abuses (listed in my original
question) have been reported and subsequently found, in cases where
the child is claimed to be home educated and also how many home
educated children have been subject of a serious case review. Where
neglect is found I would like to know if that is educational or
other.

I hope that clarifies what I am seeking.

Yours sincerely,

C Murton

Dear Sir/Madam,

Do you have our referrence number for this matter which would allow us to locate it, and refer it to the correct client department.

Regards,

Information Governance Team.

show quoted sections

Dear Sir or Madam,

as requested - ref nos for my question

REQUESTER REFERENCE: C2304
ENQUIRY REFERENCE: E3797

Yours sincerely,

C Murton

Dear Sir or Madam,

A proper response to this FOI request is now overdue. Please chase
it up urgently.

Yours sincerely,

C Murton

Dear Sir/Madam,

Do you have the case reference number, which would allow us to locate it.

Regards,

Information Governance Team.

show quoted sections

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Newham Borough
Council's handling of my FOI request 'Home education and abuse -
statistics'.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ho...

You will see I appear to be chasing my tail!

Yours sincerely,

C Murton

Dear Sir/Madam,

Do you have our case reference number, which would allow us to allocate your case, and refer it to the appropriate person.

Regards,

Information Governance Team.

show quoted sections

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Newham Borough
Council's handling of my FOI request 'Home education and abuse -
statistics'.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ho...

where you will see the reference
REQUESTER REFERENCE: C2304 ENQUIRY REFERENCE: E3797

and that it would be useful if a human at the department actually
looked at the requests properly because I am being sent on a wild
goose chase.

Please settle this issue to save me referring it to the Information
Commissioner.

Yours sincerely,

C Murton

Dear Madam,

We are sorry for the delay in responding to your appeal and will respond
in the next seven working days.

Regards

Information Governance

Newham Council

Original request

A. The number of persons in the local authority of compulsory
school age who are, or claimed to be, electively home educated and
who have been either suspected or found to be involved in child
abuse, neglect, forced marriage, sexual exploitation or domestic
servitude.

B. How many (if any) Serious Case Reviews or Joint Area Reviews
have reported with respect to home educated children in the LA.

Information Governance

ICT Services, Second Floor West Side

London Borough of Newham,

Newham Dockside

1000 Dockside Road

London E16 2QU

[1]Click here for map

NOTE: This communication is sent for and on behalf of the London Borough
of Newham.

However the views expressed within it are not necessarily the views or
policies of the Council. The unauthorised use, disclosure, copying or
alteration of this communication and any attachments is forbidden. This
communication and any attachments are intended for the addressee only and
may be confidential. If this has come to you in error you should
immediately permanently destroy it.

You should take no action based on it or copy or show it to anyone and
telephone the Council immediately with any issues on 0208 430 4444 or any
other number provided in the communication. Please note that electronic
communication is not considered a secure medium for sending information
and therefore maybe at risk.

We advise that you understand and accept this lack of security when using
this form of communication with us. Although we have taken steps to ensure
that this email and attachments are free from any virus, we advise that in
keeping with good computing practice the recipient should ensure they are
actually virus free and should run current anti-virus software. Please
note that email may be monitored and checked to safeguard the council
network from viruses, hoax messages or abuse of the Council's systems.
Action may be taken against any malicious and deliberate attempts to
infect the council network.

The information contained in this email maybe subject to public disclosure
under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Unless the information is
legally exempt from disclosure the confidentiality of this email and your
reply cannot be guaranteed.

References

Visible links
1. http://maps.live.com/?v=2&where1=E16...

Dear Sir or Madam,

You have had over 50 working days since my original request was
made - 2.5 times the statutory time allowed - it is totally
unacceptable to delay a further 7 working days. Please deal with
this request as a matter of urgency now.

Yours sincerely,

C Murton

Dear Ms Murton,

Please find attached our response to your Stage 1, Freedom of Information
request, appeal.

Regards

Information Governance

Newham Council

Information Governance

Second Floor West Side

London Borough of Newham,

Newham Dockside

1000 Dockside Road

London E16 2QU

[1]Click here for map

[2]Contact Details:

Direct Line 020 337 326 45

[3]http://www.newham.gov.uk

NOTE: This communication is sent for and on behalf of the London Borough
of Newham.

However the views expressed within it are not necessarily the views or
policies of the Council. The unauthorised use, disclosure, copying or
alteration of this communication and any attachments is forbidden. This
communication and any attachments are intended for the addressee only and
may be confidential. If this has come to you in error you should
immediately permanently destroy it.

You should take no action based on it or copy or show it to anyone and
telephone the Council immediately with any issues on 0208 430 4444 or any
other number provided in the communication. Please note that electronic
communication is not considered a secure medium for sending information
and therefore maybe at risk.

We advise that you understand and accept this lack of security when using
this form of communication with us. Although we have taken steps to ensure
that this email and attachments are free from any virus, we advise that in
keeping with good computing practice the recipient should ensure they are
actually virus free and should run current anti-virus software. Please
note that email may be monitored and checked to safeguard the council
network from viruses, hoax messages or abuse of the Council's systems.
Action may be taken against any malicious and deliberate attempts to
infect the council network.

The information contained in this email maybe subject to public disclosure
under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Unless the information is
legally exempt from disclosure the confidentiality of this email and your
reply cannot be guaranteed.

References

Visible links
1. http://maps.live.com/?v=2&where1=E16...
2. http://newhamintranet.lbn.newham.gov.uk/...
3. http://www.newham.gov.uk/

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am extremely disappointed to receive such a non-answer after such
a long wait.

At least you have managed to answer the easy part re the reviews -
and that is good - but your reply to my request for information
about links to home education and abuse is totally evasive and
unsatisfactory.

Please revisit my request and tell me as soon as possible how many
of the children known to your LA to be home educated are also known
to be abused in each of the categories I listed.

I do not accept your airy fairy answer as a meaningful
consideration of my request. It is insulting and i am afraid you
are at the latter end of a list of other LAs who have initially
made similar responses so I am now impatient. Many LAs have been
open and transparent about their figures and the public recognise
the difference.

Yours sincerely,

C Murton

Dear Ms. Murton,

Thank you for your Stage 2 appeal under the provisions of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and I am sorry to hear that you are dissatisfied with
the response. I will be reviewing your request and response provided. I
will contact you if I need further clarification / information. In
accordance with our Stage 2 appeal process I have 15 working days to
respond, but note the delay in our previous response and therefore intend
to respond sooner.

Regards

Ian Gibbs

London Borough of Newham,

Newham Dockside

1000 Dockside Road

London E16 2QU

[1]Click here for map

NOTE: This communication is sent for and on behalf of the London Borough
of Newham.

However the views expressed within it are not necessarily the views or
policies of the Council. The unauthorised use, disclosure, copying or
alteration of this communication and any attachments is forbidden. This
communication and any attachments are intended for the addressee only and
may be confidential. If this has come to you in error you should
immediately permanently destroy it.

You should take no action based on it or copy or show it to anyone and
telephone the Council immediately with any issues on 0208 430 4444 or any
other number provided in the communication. Please note that electronic
communication is not considered a secure medium for sending information
and therefore maybe at risk.

We advise that you understand and accept this lack of security when using
this form of communication with us. Although we have taken steps to ensure
that this email and attachments are free from any virus, we advise that in
keeping with good computing practice the recipient should ensure they are
actually virus free and should run current anti-virus software. Please
note that email may be monitored and checked to safeguard the council
network from viruses, hoax messages or abuse of the Council's systems.
Action may be taken against any malicious and deliberate attempts to
infect the council network.

The information contained in this email maybe subject to public disclosure
under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Unless the information is
legally exempt from disclosure the confidentiality of this email and your
reply cannot be guaranteed.

References

Visible links
1. http://maps.live.com/?v=2&where1=E16...

Dear Ms Murton,

Please find attached my response to your request for a Stage 2 Internal
Review under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Regards

Ian Gibbs

Newham Council

Information Governance

Second Floor West Side

London Borough of Newham,

Newham Dockside

1000 Dockside Road

London E16 2QU

[1]Click here for map

[2]Contact Details:

Direct Line 020 337 326 45

NOTE: This communication is sent for and on behalf of the London Borough
of Newham.

However the views expressed within it are not necessarily the views or
policies of the Council. The unauthorised use, disclosure, copying or
alteration of this communication and any attachments is forbidden. This
communication and any attachments are intended for the addressee only and
may be confidential. If this has come to you in error you should
immediately permanently destroy it.

You should take no action based on it or copy or show it to anyone and
telephone the Council immediately with any issues on 0208 430 4444 or any
other number provided in the communication. Please note that electronic
communication is not considered a secure medium for sending information
and therefore maybe at risk.

We advise that you understand and accept this lack of security when using
this form of communication with us. Although we have taken steps to ensure
that this email and attachments are free from any virus, we advise that in
keeping with good computing practice the recipient should ensure they are
actually virus free and should run current anti-virus software. Please
note that email may be monitored and checked to safeguard the council
network from viruses, hoax messages or abuse of the Council's systems.
Action may be taken against any malicious and deliberate attempts to
infect the council network.

The information contained in this email maybe subject to public disclosure
under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Unless the information is
legally exempt from disclosure the confidentiality of this email and your
reply cannot be guaranteed.

References

Visible links
1. http://maps.live.com/?v=2&where1=E16...
2. http://newhamintranet.lbn.newham.gov.uk/...