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Serious Case Review Reports submitted to the Ofsted National Business Unit.
L Thorn made this Freedom of Information request to Office for Standards in Education
The request was successful.
From: L Thorn
9 August 2009
Dear Sir or Madam,
Dear Sir or Madam,
Please provide me with the number of Serious Case Reviews reports
sent to the Ofsted National Business Unit from LAs in England each
year for the years 2004 - to date, breaking this information down
as follows:
In age cohorts
a) birth - 4 years,
b) 5-10 years and
c) 11-18 years.
Please then provide a breakdown for each age cohort to indicate the
location of educational provision at the time of the incident which
necessitated the SCR as follows:
i) registered at state school,
ii) registered at a private school,
iii) registered with the local authority as receiving Elective Home
Education,
iv) not receiving education at any school as a result of permanent
exclusion (a situation which is distinct from a child known to the
LA as being home educated)
v) children who were not known to any educational establishment or
registered as EHE.
From reading the information about the Serious Case Review process
on the DCSF website, it is my understanding that the SCR reports
which are sent to the Ofsted National Business Unit are fully
anonymised by the reporting LA and therefore disclosure of these
figures is highly unlikely to lead to individual children or their
families being identified.
Yours faithfully,
L Thorn
Office for Standards in Education
10 August 2009
Good Morning
Thank you for your e-mail.
In order for your request to be dealt with effectively I have forwarded it
to the Freedom of Information Officer for a response.
A member of this department will reply to your request as soon as
possible.
However should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate
to contact us.
Regards
Julie Foreman
Customer Service Advisor
Ofsted - National Business Unit
TEL: 08456 404040
-------Original Message
show quoted sections
From: Nicola Tanner
Office for Standards in Education
13 August 2009
Dear L Thorn
Please find attached an acknowledgement to your request for information
of 10 August 2009.
Regards,
Nicola Tanner
Disclosure Officer
Ofsted
Freshford House, Redcliffe Way
Bristol, BS1 6NL
01179 456433
[email address]
www.ofsted.gov.uk
show quoted sections
From: Nicola Tanner
Office for Standards in Education
18 August 2009
Dear L Thorn,
Please see the response below, sent on behalf of Anne Orton HMI:
Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) request outlined below.
This is currently being processed. In order to be as helpful as we can,
it might be useful if I explained the basis on which Ofsted holds some
of the information requested and ask you to consider if you would like
to refine your query in light of this.
Ofsted has only received notifications from local authorities of serious
incidents resulting in deaths or serious injuries to children where
abuse or neglect is known or is suspected to be a factor since 1 April
2007. We do not hold any data prior to that time.
Details of serious incidents are recorded by Ofsted at the point of
notification on the child protection data base - a recording system
owned by the DCSF. Local authorities are required to notify Ofsted at an
early stage so it can brief government departments and ministers, and
track progress. As a result, Ofsted's records concentrate upon the
history and background of the child in relation to the incident rather
than any detailed collection of information about their schooling.
While we would be able to provide information about the ages of the
children at the time of the incident, Ofsted do not hold a complete
record that would provide 'a breakdown for each age cohort to indicate
the location of educational provision at the time of the incident which
necessitated each SCR'. Where information is captured about this, it is
secondary information and is as a result of the specifics of the
incident and whether this is pertinent to the child's history. As the
data you have requested is not captured on each and every occasion, any
scrutiny of these figures against Ofsted's records would not provide
wholly accurate figures and could be deemed to be misleading.
Would you like to refine your query in light of this information?
Regards,
Nicola Tanner
Disclosure Officer
Ofsted
Freshford House, Redcliffe Way
Bristol, BS1 6NL
01179 456433
[email address]
www.ofsted.gov.uk
show quoted sections
Office for Standards in Education
18 August 2009
Dear enquirer,
Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) request outlined below.
This is currently being processed. In order to be as helpful as we can,
it might be useful if I explained the basis on which Ofsted holds some of
the information requested and ask you to consider if you would like to
refine your query in light of this.
Ofsted has only received notifications from local authorities of serious
incidents resulting in deaths or serious injuries to children where abuse
or neglect is known or is suspected to be a factor since 1 April 2007. We
do not hold any data prior to that time.
Details of serious incidents are recorded by Ofsted at the point of
notification on the child protection data base - a recording system owned
by the DCSF. Local authorities are required to notify Ofsted at an early
stage so it can brief government departments and ministers, and track
progress. As a result, Ofsted's records concentrate upon the history and
background of the child in relation to the incident rather than any
detailed collection of information about their schooling.
While we would be able to provide information about the ages of the
children at the time of the incident, the detailed information you have
requested regarding schooling is not specifically captured or recorded by
Ofsted. Where information is captured about this, it is secondary
information and is as a result of the specifics of the incident and
whether this is pertinent to the child's history. As the data you have
requested is not captured on each and every occasion, any scrutiny of
these figures against Ofsted's records would not provide wholly accurate
figures and could be deemed to be misleading.
Would you like to refine your query in light of this information?
Best wishes
Anne Orton HMI
Best wishes
Anne Orton HMI
show quoted sections
From: L Thorn
21 August 2009
Dear Ms Orton,
I thank you for your detailed response, I understand that you do
not have data from before 1st April 2007, and so would not be
requesting you to provide information from before this date.
I am somewhat puzzled by the idea that the Serious Case Reviews
would not hold data that would enable a person to elucidate whether
a child was home or school educated. If a child was not schooled,
and was subsequently found to have been abused or even killed, I
should image the fact that a child had been home educated would be
flagged up immediately. Conversely, school is a huge part of a
school-educated child's life, and in the Badman Review of Home
Education, School is characterised as an 'important safety net' for
children. I do not understand how the input (or lack of input) from
school would not be examined in SCRs following the death or injury
of a school-educated child.
Since it is of concern to Ofsted that this uncertainty over type of
educational provision could result inaccurate figures, may I submit
a refinement, to add a further category of education provision -
[ vi) children whose place of education it was not possible to
determine from the details in the SCR. ]
the amended FOI request should now be taken to read:
<< Dear Sir or Madam,
Please provide me with the number of Serious Case Reviews reports
sent to the Ofsted National Business Unit from LAs in England each
year for the years 2004 - to date, breaking this information down
as follows:
In age cohorts a) birth - 4 years,
b) 5-10 years and
c) 11-18 years.
Please then provide a breakdown for each age cohort to indicate the
location of educational provision at the time of the incident which
necessitated the SCR as follows:
i) registered at state school,
ii) registered at a private school,
iii) registered with the local authority as receiving Elective Home
Education,
iv) not receiving education at any school as a result of permanent
exclusion (a situation which is distinct from a child known to the
LA as being home educated)
v) children who were not known to any educational establishment or
registered as EHE.
vi) children whose place of education it was not possible to
determine from the details in the SCR.
From reading the information about the Serious Case Review process
on the DCSF website, it is my understanding that the SCR reports
which are sent to the Ofsted National Business Unit are fully
anonymised by the reporting LA and therefore disclosure of these
figures is highly unlikely to lead to individual children or their
families being identified. >>
I trust that this amendment will allow you to proceed with my
request,
Yours sincerely,
L Thorn
Office for Standards in Education
21 August 2009
Good Afternoon
Thank you for your e-mail.
In order for your request to be dealt with effectively I have forwarded it
to the Freedom of Information Officer for a response.
A member of this department will reply to your request as soon as
possible.
However should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate
to contact us.
Regards
Julie Foreman
Customer Service Advisor
Ofsted - National Business Unit
TEL: 08456 404040
-------Original Message
show quoted sections
From: Osman Isik
Office for Standards in Education
21 September 2009
Dear Ms Thorn
Please find attached a response to your information request concerning
serious case reviews sent to Ofsted from local authorities in England.
Sent on behalf of Anne Orton, Divisional Manager Cross-remit Safeguarding.
Kind regards
Os Isik
Safeguarding Officer
Ofsted
020 7421 6604
show quoted sections
Matthew Davis left an annotation (22 September 2009)
Not sure if I can agree with your reasoning here. Ofsted only have confirmed data on 19 cases, of which one was home education. That makes roughly 5% of SCR linked to home education - which I would imagine is disproportionately higher that the percentage of children overall who are home educated.
Matthew Davis
L Thorn left an annotation (22 September 2009)
Um, one case in the 20 cases _they_were_able-to_categorise_ without it costing lots of money means that 5% of all SCR are about home educated children?
OFSTED have gone on the record as saying that many SCR are classified as 'inadequate' and are characterised by their defensive nature. They are also often written by the self same people whose action or inaction in a case is being investigated, so they are hardly 'independent' reviews of the circumstances. I can't prove it to you in any meaningful way, but doesn't common sense tell you that if there was any extenuating circumstance in a case like 'the child was Home Educated and hidden from us so we couldn't do anything to help the child' this would be made very very obvious from the outset of the SCR and therefore very easy to categorise. (And would have been pounced on by Badman for his 'evidence')
Oddly, the DCSF reported having fewer cases for the same(ish) period, and they managed to categorise the data more easily, there was only one individual (from 121 SCR) for whom they were unable to confidently state the location of education provision.
And only one case who was 'not registered as EHE and not known to any educational establishment', but that doesn't prove he or she was home educated, rather he may have been a CME for a variety of reasons.
Oh, and no definite cases of children who were EHE.
You can look at it here.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/se...
M Stafford left an annotation (22 September 2009)
Well the way I read it it says
The number of Serious Case reviews sent to Ofsted from 1 April 2007 to 26 August 2009 is: 291
b) The break-down of age cohorts is as follows:
0 - 4: 178
5 - 10: 33
11-18: 68
M Stafford left an annotation (22 September 2009)
And you can be sure as Jax says if there were any other cases where home education was the case we would know, the DCSF are desperate for this sort of information at the moment and they would not have to pay an FOI fee.
L Thorn left an annotation (23 September 2009)
The period DCSF gave me data from was 01/04/07 - 09/08/09, they destroy the copies of files they have after they've compiled the bi-annual report on them. Any idea why DSCF would have significantly fewer (less than 50%) SCR reported to them than OFSTED? As I understood it, the LAs had a duty to pass on the anonymised reports to:
a) The National Business Unit (NBU) at Ofsted
b) Child Protection Division at DCSF
and
c) Government Offices Children and Learner Teams
So why didn't they have the same number? Unless the remaining 170 (= 291 - 121) SCR which DCSF didn't appear to have were passed to OFSTED in the period 09/08/09 - 26/08/09?
Is it worth submitting another FOI to find out why there is this disparity?
M Stafford left an annotation (23 September 2009)
I definitely think it is, given how vulnerable we have become because of this we need to know that they are getting accurate data.
From: Osman Isik
Office for Standards in Education
18 November 2009
Dear Ms Thorn
Thank you for your email regarding the discrepancy in the numbers provided
by Ofsted and the Department for Education Schools and Families, in
relation to your Freedom of Information (FOI) request. Regrettably our
reply to your query will be delayed, which we wish to apologise for and
hope to provide a response to your query as soon as we possibly can.
Please note we shall not be dealing with your query as a further FOI query
and shall reply outside of FOI.
Once again please accept our apologies for the delay in responding to your
query. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any further
queries.
Kind regards
Os Isik
Senior officer, Safeguarding
Ofsted
020 7421 6604
show quoted sections
From: L Thorn
19 November 2009
Dear Osman Isik,
Thank you for your note, explaining that the answer to my question
will be delayed. Please can you tell me why you will not be
replying within FOI?
Yours sincerely,
L Thorn
From: Osman Isik
Office for Standards in Education
19 November 2009
Dear Ms Thorn
Thank you for your email sent earlier today. Please allow me to clarify,
I should have emphasised that we are not treating your email as a new FOI
request, as you are seeking clarification on information already provided
to you and why our records may differ from the DCSF.
I hope this has helped to clarify the situation. We hope to provide a
reply to your query as soon as we can.
Kind regards
Os Isik
Senior officer, Safeguarding
Ofsted
020 7421 6604
show quoted sections
From: L Thorn
19 November 2009
Dear Osman Isik,
Thank you for clarifying, sometimes the legal/bureaucratic methods
are slightly confusing.
Yours sincerely,
L Thorn
From: Sharon Onuoha
Office for Standards in Education
3 December 2009
Dear Ms Thorn,
Please find attached a letter replying your email.
Kind Regards,
Sharon
Sharon Onuoha
Ofsted Safeguarding Team
Aviation House, London
Tel - 0207 421 6808
show quoted sections
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
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M Stafford left an annotation (21 September 2009)
Badman cannot know more than this or it would not take lots of money to find out as they would already have found out for him.
Interesting.
Link to this