Shocking abuse of power by Childrens Services

A Freeman (Account suspended) made this Freedom of Information request to Care Quality Commission

Care Quality Commission did not have the information requested.

From: A Freeman (Account suspended)

29 September 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

Having been appalled at the amount of abuse I have found having
stumbled across this and other sites, I was rather hoping that
things had changed over the years, sadly it appears not.

Please provide all information that has lead to this decline in
children services and answer the following FOI requests.

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a_...

Can you please provide details of how many complaints received
about unlawful practices of Judges and Council SS Legal Team
(children social services) , barrister's etc Cafcass Legal teams
etc , regarding Children taken into ‘care’ by Kent County Council.

Relatives who put themselves forward are considered guilty until
proven innocent, and demands are made that they jump through
assessment hoops, when the House of Lords made it quite clear that
grandparents only have to be good enough parents. The system as it
stands is no better than a 'child trafficking ring.'

It is appalling that in Family Court’s so many children are being
taken into care based on mere opinion of – so-called professionals
and placed for adoption with strangers rather than relatives.

In 2007,local authorities in England applied for 8,173 care orders.
7,624 orders were made. 336 applications were withdrawn, 290 "no
orders" decisions and 21 orders were refused.

In other words, the judgement of the social workers working for the
council was so good, they were only refused by the judge 21 times
(0.27%)

More importantly 93% of the time the judge merely rubber-stamped
the care orders.

House of Lords - Down Lisburn Health and Social Services Trust.
Baroness Hale of Richmond. Judgement

34. There is, so far as the parties to this case are aware, no
European jurisprudence questioning the principle of freeing for
adoption, or indeed compulsory adoption generally. The United
Kingdom is unusual amongst members of the Council of Europe in
permitting the total severance of family ties without parental
consent. (Professor Triseliotis thought that only Portugal and
perhaps one other European country allowed this.) It is, of course,
the most draconian interference with family life possible.

Although kinship placements are supposed to be the preferred option
in this country, only 1 per cent. of social worker-instigated
placements ended up with kinship carers, compared with 45 per cent.
in Denmark, for example(EVIDENCE given in parliament 16th June 2008
by Tim Loughton MP shadow minister for children)

Thank you.

Peace be with you.

A Freeman

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From: Lall, Andrew
Care Quality Commission

30 September 2009

Dear A Freeman,

I am writing from the Information Governance Team, which deals with statutory requests for information.

Your request for information has been logged and is being processed.

I will endeavour to respond back to you as soon as possible but in any case no later than 27 October 2009.

Regards,

Andrew Lall
Information Access Officer
Secretariat - Information Governance Team
Finsbury Tower
Care Quality Commission
103-105 Bunhill Row
London
EC1Y 8TG

Direct Dial: 020 7448 9074
Ext: 3624

Statutory requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998 should be sent to [Care Quality Commission request email]

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From: Parry, Claire
Care Quality Commission

6 October 2009

Dear Mr/Ms Freeman,

You requested information on the following:

Can you please provide details of how many complaints received
about unlawful practices of Judges and Council SS Legal Team
(children social services) , barrister's etc Cafcass Legal teams
etc, regarding Children taken into 'care' by Kent County Council.

Under section 1 subsection (1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, all public authorities have a "duty to confirm or deny" the existence of requested information. Any information that does exist must be provided, under section 1 subsection (1)(b), unless exempt from disclosure, in which case the response must explain the reasons for withholding it.

The Care Quality Commission holds no information regarding the subject of your request, as we do not regulate Children's Social Services or any of the other organisations mentioned in your request.
For more information on the CQC and what we do please see http://www.cqc.org.uk/aboutcqc.cfm

You may wish to address your request for information to Kent County Council directly:
http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...

Please be assured that we have carefully considered your request. However, if you are not satisfied with this response you may request an independent internal review by a different member of the Information Governance team, who has
had no involvement in dealing with your request. We aim to deal with FOI/DPA appeals within 20 days of receipt.

If you wish to appeal against this decision, please contact:
The Information Governance Team
Healthcare Commission
Finsbury Tower
103-105 Bunhill Row
London
EC1Y 8TG

Emails should be clearly marked 'Appeal against FOI/DPA' and sent to: [Care Quality Commission request email].

Should you remain dissatisfied after this internal review, you will have a right of complaint to the Information Commissioner. Further information is available at:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Claire Parry
Information Governance Officer
Secretariat - Information Governance Team
Care Quality Commission
Finsbury Tower
103-105 Bunhill Row
London
EC1Y 8TG

Email: [email address]
Direct Tel: 020 7448 1766
Internal Tel: 3816

Statutory requests for information made pursuant to access to information legislation, such as the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000, should be sent to: [Care Quality Commission request email]

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