2021-2022 P1 Deferral Rates & Related Questions - Perth & Kinross

The request was successful.

Patricia Anderson

Dear Perth and Kinross Council,

Please accept this email as a Freedom of Information request. I am sending this request to all 32 Scottish local authorities.

Please could the Council provide:

1) The total number of requests received to date for the Council to provide discretionary funding for a further year of early learning and childcare (nursery/ childminder etc) for children whose fifth birthdays have will fall between the day after the school start date in August 2021 and 31st Dec 2021.

2) A breakdown of the total number in 1. above by requests for

a) continued funding in private/voluntary settings and

b) continued funding in council run settings and

c) continued funding for split placements where a child attends both a private/voluntary and a council run setting.

3) In relation to question 2, please provide the number of places the Council has agreed to provide continued funding for in

a) private/voluntary settings and

b) council run settings and

c) split placements where a child attends both a private/voluntary and a council run setting.

4. How many of the children applying have a December birthday?

5a. How many appeals (challenges if there is no official appeals process) did the Council receive against the Council’s decision not to grant funding?

5b. How many of these appeals/challenges resulted in the initial decision being overturned?

6. How many official complaints has the Council received regarding discretionary deferral funding decisions between Nov 2020 and the date of your response to this FoI request?

7a. How many applications did the Council receive for children to be permitted early entry to primary school to start in Aug 2021 instead of Aug 2022 (for children who will turn five on or after 1st March 2022)?

7b. How many of these early entry applications were approved?

8. Is the Council’s discretionary deferral funding policy currently under review or are there any plans to update it for 2022-2023?

9. How many parents/carers are currently financing a further year of nursery for their child's deferral year themselves in a council-run nursery after the Council refused to fund their request for this?

10a. How many requests did the Council receive for older children* to defer their primary one start till Aug2022?

*(by "older children" I mean those who had already reached the age of five by the school commencement date in August 2021).

10b. How many older children* has the Council permitted to defer their primary one start till Aug 2022?

*(by "older children" I mean those who had already reached the age of five by the school commencement date in August 2021).

11. Has the Council requested to be part of the 2022-2023 expansion of the Scottish Government's pilot scheme to fund a further year of ELC for all mid-Aug to 31 Dec born children deferring their p1 start before the law is rolled out nationally from Aug 2023?

12a. Please provide SIMD deciles for all applications received as per the total number provided in your response to question 1.

12b. Please provide SIMD deciles for all applications granted as per the total number provided in your response to question 3.

12c. Does the Council take the SIMD decile of applicants into consideration when deciding whether to authorise a discretionary deferral ELC funding application?

Yours faithfully,

Patricia Anderson

FOI, Perth and Kinross Council

Thank you for your email.

 

If your email contained a request for information under the terms of the
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, or the Environmental
Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004, this email is an acknowledgement
of your request. The legislation indicates that you should receive a
response within 20 working days counting from the day after it was
received.

 

We would like to advise you that although every effort will be made to
respond to your request within statutory timescales, during the Covid 19
pandemic, Council resources have been directed towards ensuring the
continued provision of critical services and this may have an impact on
response times. We will let you know if our response to your request will
be delayed. We would like to thank you for your patience in this matter.

 

If we require clarification of your request, if it is in relation to
another matter, or if you have contacted us about a request you submitted
previously, we will contact you as soon as possible.

 

Information Governance Team

Perth and Kinross Council

 

 

The information in this email is solely for the intended recipients.

If you are not an intended recipient, you must not disclose, copy, or
distribute its contents or use them in any way: please advise the sender
immediately and delete this email.

Perth & Kinross Council does not warrant that this email or any
attachments are virus-free and does not accept any liability for any loss
or damage resulting from any virus infection. Perth & Kinross Council may
monitor or examine any emails received by its email system.

The information contained in this email may not be the views of Perth &
Kinross Council. It is possible for email to be falsified and the sender
cannot be held responsible for the integrity of the information contained
in it.

General enquiries to Perth & Kinross Council should be made to
[email address] or 01738 475000.

FOI, Perth and Kinross Council

Dear Ms Anderson

 

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

Request for Information – Deferral Dates

 

I refer to your request for information dated 27 August 2021

 

The information you requested was:-

 

1) The total number of requests received to date for the Council to
provide discretionary funding for a further year of early learning and
childcare (nursery/ childminder etc) for children whose fifth birthdays
have will fall between the day after the school start date in August 2021
and 31st Dec 2021.

 

2) A breakdown of the total number in 1. above by requests for

 

a) continued funding in private/voluntary settings and

b) continued funding in council run settings and

c) continued funding for split placements where a child attends both a
private/voluntary and a council run setting.

 

3) In relation to question 2, please provide the number of places the
Council has agreed to provide continued funding for in

 

a) private/voluntary settings and

b) council run settings and

c) split placements where a child attends both a private/voluntary and a
council run setting.

 

4. How many of the children applying have a December birthday?

 

5a. How many appeals (challenges if there is no official appeals process)
did the Council receive against the Council’s decision not to grant
funding?

5b. How many of these appeals/challenges resulted in the initial decision
being overturned?

 

6. How many official complaints has the Council received regarding
discretionary deferral funding decisions between Nov 2020 and the date of
your response to this FoI request?

 

7a. How many applications did the Council receive for children to be
permitted early entry to primary school to start in Aug 2021 instead of
Aug 2022 (for children who will turn five on or after 1st March 2022)?

7b. How many of these early entry applications were approved?

 

8. Is the Council’s discretionary deferral funding policy currently under
review or are there any plans to update it for 2022-2023?

 

9. How many parents/carers are currently financing a further year of
nursery for their child's deferral year themselves in a council-run
nursery after the Council refused to fund their request for this?

 

10a. How many requests did the Council receive for older children* to
defer their primary one start till Aug2022?

 

*(by "older children" I mean those who had already reached the age of five
by the school commencement date in August 2021).

 

10b. How many older children* has the Council permitted to defer their
primary one start till Aug 2022?

 

*(by "older children" I mean those who had already reached the age of five
by the school commencement date in August 2021).

 

11. Has the Council requested to be part of the 2022-2023 expansion of the
Scottish Government's pilot scheme to fund a further year of ELC for all
mid-Aug to 31 Dec born children deferring their p1 start before the law is
rolled out nationally from Aug 2023?

 

12a. Please provide SIMD deciles for all applications received as per the
total number provided in your response to question 1.

12b. Please provide SIMD deciles for all applications granted as per the
total number provided in your response to question 3.

12c. Does the Council take the SIMD decile of applicants into
consideration when deciding whether to authorise a discretionary deferral
ELC funding application?

 

Response 

 

In relation to the above, I have been advised of the following;

 

1)     90 applications

 

2)    a) 23 b) 67 c) N/A

 

3)    a) 19 b) 58 c) < 3*

8 children who had applications to defer have either started primary one
or are not attending Perth and Kinross nursery

 

4)    30

 

5)    a) < 3*

b) < 3*

 

6)    0

 

7)    a) < 3*

b) 0

 

8)    Not currently under review and no plan to update it for 2022-2023,
see answer to question 11

 

9)    We don’t hold this information

 

10)  a) 2

b) 2

 

11) Yes

 

12) a)

 

SIMD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Applications < 3* < 3* 4 4 12 12 16 21 8 11
Total Applications 90

 

b)

 

SIMD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Applications granted < 3* < 3* 4 4 11 12 15 20 8 11
Total Applications granted 87

 

c) No

 

*Please note that where the information held relates to a very low number
of people (fewer than 3 in a category), I have withheld the exact number,
and details which could identify individuals.

 

I consider that this information is exempt under the terms of Section
38(1)(b), with reference to section 38(2)(a)(i),  of the Freedom of
Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

 

This information is personal data as defined by Article 4(1) of the UK
General Data Protection Regulations.

 

The individual(s) concerned have not given their consent to the
information being disclosed to the person making the request.

 

Disclosure of the information, and any other information which is likely
to come into the possession of the person making the request would lead to
disclosing personal information relating to another individual who can be
identified from that information. The General Data Protection Regulations
set out principles for how personal data must be processed. I consider
that releasing this information would breach the following principles;

 

(a)      Personal data shall be processed lawfully, fairly and in a
transparent manner - release of this information would breach this
principle as the individuals had no expectation or understanding that this
personal information would be released to the public.

 

(b)      Personal data shall be collected for specified, explicit and
legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is
incompatible with those purposes- release of this information would breach
this principle as the purpose of obtaining and recording the personal
information was not to release the information to the public

 

You have a right to request a review of the Council’s decision. Click
[1]here to view a copy of our information leaflet which explains how to do
this. If you remain dissatisfied after the Council has carried out its
review, you can appeal [2]online to the Scottish Information Commissioner

 

Should you require any further explanation or assistance please do not
hesitate to contact me.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Information Officer

Information Compliance Team

Legal & Governance Services

Corporate and Democratic Services

2 High Street

Perth

PH1 5PH

 

 

 

The information in this email is solely for the intended recipients.

If you are not an intended recipient, you must not disclose, copy, or
distribute its contents or use them in any way: please advise the sender
immediately and delete this email.

Perth & Kinross Council does not warrant that this email or any
attachments are virus-free and does not accept any liability for any loss
or damage resulting from any virus infection. Perth & Kinross Council may
monitor or examine any emails received by its email system.

The information contained in this email may not be the views of Perth &
Kinross Council. It is possible for email to be falsified and the sender
cannot be held responsible for the integrity of the information contained
in it.

General enquiries to Perth & Kinross Council should be made to
[email address] or 01738 475000.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.pkc.gov.uk/media/12752/Review...
2. http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourR...

FOI, Perth and Kinross Council

Good afternoon Ms Anderson

 

Please accept my apologies, I sent the email below without including one
of our exemptions. I have now entered this information below, I apologise
for any confusion caused.

 

Kind Regards

 

 

Information Officer

Legal & Governance Services

Corporate and Democratic Services

2 High Street

Perth

PH1 5PH

 

 

 

Dear Ms Anderson

 

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

Request for Information – Deferral Dates

 

I refer to your request for information dated 27 August 2021

 

The information you requested was:-

 

1) The total number of requests received to date for the Council to
provide discretionary funding for a further year of early learning and
childcare (nursery/ childminder etc) for children whose fifth birthdays
have will fall between the day after the school start date in August 2021
and 31st Dec 2021.

 

2) A breakdown of the total number in 1. above by requests for

 

a) continued funding in private/voluntary settings and

b) continued funding in council run settings and

c) continued funding for split placements where a child attends both a
private/voluntary and a council run setting.

 

3) In relation to question 2, please provide the number of places the
Council has agreed to provide continued funding for in

 

a) private/voluntary settings and

b) council run settings and

c) split placements where a child attends both a private/voluntary and a
council run setting.

 

4. How many of the children applying have a December birthday?

 

5a. How many appeals (challenges if there is no official appeals process)
did the Council receive against the Council’s decision not to grant
funding?

5b. How many of these appeals/challenges resulted in the initial decision
being overturned?

 

6. How many official complaints has the Council received regarding
discretionary deferral funding decisions between Nov 2020 and the date of
your response to this FoI request?

 

7a. How many applications did the Council receive for children to be
permitted early entry to primary school to start in Aug 2021 instead of
Aug 2022 (for children who will turn five on or after 1st March 2022)?

7b. How many of these early entry applications were approved?

 

8. Is the Council’s discretionary deferral funding policy currently under
review or are there any plans to update it for 2022-2023?

 

9. How many parents/carers are currently financing a further year of
nursery for their child's deferral year themselves in a council-run
nursery after the Council refused to fund their request for this?

 

10a. How many requests did the Council receive for older children* to
defer their primary one start till Aug2022?

 

*(by "older children" I mean those who had already reached the age of five
by the school commencement date in August 2021).

 

10b. How many older children* has the Council permitted to defer their
primary one start till Aug 2022?

 

*(by "older children" I mean those who had already reached the age of five
by the school commencement date in August 2021).

 

11. Has the Council requested to be part of the 2022-2023 expansion of the
Scottish Government's pilot scheme to fund a further year of ELC for all
mid-Aug to 31 Dec born children deferring their p1 start before the law is
rolled out nationally from Aug 2023?

 

12a. Please provide SIMD deciles for all applications received as per the
total number provided in your response to question 1.

12b. Please provide SIMD deciles for all applications granted as per the
total number provided in your response to question 3.

12c. Does the Council take the SIMD decile of applicants into
consideration when deciding whether to authorise a discretionary deferral
ELC funding application?

 

Response 

 

In relation to the above, I have been advised of the following;

 

1)     90 applications

 

2)    a) 23 b) 67 c) N/A

 

3)    a) 19 b) 58 c) < 3*

8 children who had applications to defer have either started primary one
or are not attending Perth and Kinross nursery

 

4)    30

 

5)    a) < 3*

b) < 3*

 

6)    0

 

7)    a) < 3*

b) 0

 

8)    Not currently under review and no plan to update it for 2022-2023,
see answer to question 11

 

9)    We don’t hold this information. In terms of section 17(1)(b) of the
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, this is formal notice that
this information is not held by Perth and Kinross Council.

 

10)  a) 2

b) 2

 

11) Yes

 

12) a)

 

SIMD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Applications < 3* < 3* 4 4 12 12 16 21 8 11
Total Applications 90

 

b)

 

SIMD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Applications granted < 3* < 3* 4 4 11 12 15 20 8 11
Total Applications granted 87

 

c) No

 

*Please note that where the information held relates to a very low number
of people (fewer than 3 in a category), I have withheld the exact number,
and details which could identify individuals.

 

I consider that this information is exempt under the terms of Section
38(1)(b), with reference to section 38(2)(a)(i),  of the Freedom of
Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

 

This information is personal data as defined by Article 4(1) of the UK
General Data Protection Regulations.

 

The individual(s) concerned have not given their consent to the
information being disclosed to the person making the request.

 

Disclosure of the information, and any other information which is likely
to come into the possession of the person making the request would lead to
disclosing personal information relating to another individual who can be
identified from that information. The General Data Protection Regulations
set out principles for how personal data must be processed. I consider
that releasing this information would breach the following principles;

 

(a)      Personal data shall be processed lawfully, fairly and in a
transparent manner - release of this information would breach this
principle as the individuals had no expectation or understanding that this
personal information would be released to the public.

 

(b)      Personal data shall be collected for specified, explicit and
legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is
incompatible with those purposes- release of this information would breach
this principle as the purpose of obtaining and recording the personal
information was not to release the information to the public

 

You have a right to request a review of the Council’s decision. Click
[1]here to view a copy of our information leaflet which explains how to do
this. If you remain dissatisfied after the Council has carried out its
review, you can appeal [2]online to the Scottish Information Commissioner

 

Should you require any further explanation or assistance please do not
hesitate to contact me.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Information Officer

Information Compliance Team

Legal & Governance Services

Corporate and Democratic Services

2 High Street

Perth

PH1 5PH

 

 

 

The information in this email is solely for the intended recipients.

If you are not an intended recipient, you must not disclose, copy, or
distribute its contents or use them in any way: please advise the sender
immediately and delete this email.

Perth & Kinross Council does not warrant that this email or any
attachments are virus-free and does not accept any liability for any loss
or damage resulting from any virus infection. Perth & Kinross Council may
monitor or examine any emails received by its email system.

The information contained in this email may not be the views of Perth &
Kinross Council. It is possible for email to be falsified and the sender
cannot be held responsible for the integrity of the information contained
in it.

General enquiries to Perth & Kinross Council should be made to
[email address] or 01738 475000.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.pkc.gov.uk/media/12752/Review...
2. http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourR...

Dear Perth and Kinross Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Perth and Kinross Council's handling of my FOI request '2021-2022 P1 Deferral Rates & Related Questions - Perth & Kinross'. A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/2...

Please could the responses provided to some questions be reviewed:

* The numbers provided for questions 3a, and 3b should total 90 (due to the fact that these relate to the total of 90 provided in your response to question 1 and to questions 2a, b and c).

* Also, could the response to question 3c be double-checked because my understanding is that this should be 0 if question 2c is correct as the response you provided there was 0.

* Finally, please could you reconsider your decision not provide data where numbers are fewer than 3. I don't agree that it would be possible to identify somebody who as a private individual had made a deferral funding application unless these 1 or 2 people were identified by council personnel. Even then this is a non-issue as they are duty bound to keep their work private.

This is the third year that I have sent similar FoI requests and when other councils have refused to provide low numbers, the Commissioner's Office has supported my request for these decisions to be overturned and the numbers have subsequently been provided.

Yours faithfully,

Patricia Anderson

FOI, Perth and Kinross Council

Thank you for your email.

 

If your email contained a request for information under the terms of the
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, or the Environmental
Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004, this email is an acknowledgement
of your request. The legislation indicates that you should receive a
response within 20 working days counting from the day after it was
received.

 

We would like to advise you that although every effort will be made to
respond to your request within statutory timescales, during the Covid 19
pandemic, Council resources have been directed towards ensuring the
continued provision of critical services and this may have an impact on
response times. We will let you know if our response to your request will
be delayed. We would like to thank you for your patience in this matter.

 

If we require clarification of your request, if it is in relation to
another matter, or if you have contacted us about a request you submitted
previously, we will contact you as soon as possible.

 

Information Governance Team

Perth and Kinross Council

 

 

The information in this email is solely for the intended recipients.

If you are not an intended recipient, you must not disclose, copy, or
distribute its contents or use them in any way: please advise the sender
immediately and delete this email.

Perth & Kinross Council does not warrant that this email or any
attachments are virus-free and does not accept any liability for any loss
or damage resulting from any virus infection. Perth & Kinross Council may
monitor or examine any emails received by its email system.

The information contained in this email may not be the views of Perth &
Kinross Council. It is possible for email to be falsified and the sender
cannot be held responsible for the integrity of the information contained
in it.

General enquiries to Perth & Kinross Council should be made to
[email address] or 01738 475000.

FOI Review, Perth and Kinross Council

Dear Ms Anderson

 

I acknowledge receipt of your email dated 15 September 2021 which
requested a review of the Council's response to your recent Freedom of
Information (FOI) request.

 

The information you requested was:

 

1) The total number of requests received to date for the Council to
provide discretionary funding for a further year of early learning and
childcare (nursery/ childminder etc) for children whose fifth birthdays
have will fall between the day after the school start date in August 2021
and 31st Dec 2021.

 

2) A breakdown of the total number in 1. above by requests for

 

a) continued funding in private/voluntary settings and

b) continued funding in council run settings and

c) continued funding for split placements where a child attends both a
private/voluntary and a council run setting.

 

3) In relation to question 2, please provide the number of places the
Council has agreed to provide continued funding for in

 

a) private/voluntary settings and

b) council run settings and

c) split placements where a child attends both a private/voluntary and a
council run setting.

 

4. How many of the children applying have a December birthday?

 

5a. How many appeals (challenges if there is no official appeals process)
did the Council receive against the Council’s decision not to grant
funding?

 

5b. How many of these appeals/challenges resulted in the initial decision
being overturned?

 

6. How many official complaints has the Council received regarding
discretionary deferral funding decisions between Nov 2020 and the date of
your response to this FoI request?

 

7a. How many applications did the Council receive for children to be
permitted early entry to primary school to start in Aug 2021 instead of
Aug 2022 (for children who will turn five on or after 1st March 2022)?

 

7b. How many of these early entry applications were approved?

 

8. Is the Council’s discretionary deferral funding policy currently under
review or are there any plans to update it for 2022-2023?

 

9. How many parents/carers are currently financing a further year of
nursery for their child's deferral year themselves in a council-run
nursery after the Council refused to fund their request for this?

 

10a. How many requests did the Council receive for older children* to
defer their primary one start till Aug2022?

 

*(by "older children" I mean those who had already reached the age of five
by the school commencement date in August 2021).

 

10b. How many older children* has the Council permitted to defer their
primary one start till Aug 2022?

 

*(by "older children" I mean those who had already reached the age of five
by the school commencement date in August 2021).

 

11. Has the Council requested to be part of the 2022-2023 expansion of the
Scottish Government's pilot scheme to fund a further year of ELC for all
mid-Aug to 31 Dec born children deferring their p1 start before the law is
rolled out nationally from Aug 2023?

 

12a. Please provide SIMD deciles for all applications received as per the
total number provided in your response to question 1.

 

12b. Please provide SIMD deciles for all applications granted as per the
total number provided in your response to question 3.

 

12c. Does the Council take the SIMD decile of applicants into
consideration when deciding whether to authorise a discretionary deferral
ELC funding application?

.

 

You have requested a review of the response you received on the grounds
that you do believe you have received an accurate answer to questions 3a,
3b and 3c,  based on the responses provided for the previous questions. 
You also do not agree with the decision to withhold data where numbers are
fewer than 3, and you disagree that it would be possible to identify
individuals.   

 

Your request for review will be processed on behalf of Alan Taylor, the
Head of Corporate IT and Revenues, who is the Council’s FOI and EIRs
Review Officer. He will issue the Council’s final decision by the
statutory 20 working days deadline of 13^th October 2021.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Information Governance Officer

Perth & Kinross Council

 

The information in this email is solely for the intended recipients.

If you are not an intended recipient, you must not disclose, copy, or
distribute its contents or use them in any way: please advise the sender
immediately and delete this email.

Perth & Kinross Council does not warrant that this email or any
attachments are virus-free and does not accept any liability for any loss
or damage resulting from any virus infection. Perth & Kinross Council may
monitor or examine any emails received by its email system.

The information contained in this email may not be the views of Perth &
Kinross Council. It is possible for email to be falsified and the sender
cannot be held responsible for the integrity of the information contained
in it.

General enquiries to Perth & Kinross Council should be made to
[email address] or 01738 475000.

FOI Review, Perth and Kinross Council

1 Attachment

I attach a response to your recent request for review. 

 

 

Alan Taylor

Head of Corporate IT and Revenues / Chief Digital Officer

Housing and Community Care

Perth and Kinross Council

Pullar House

35 Kinnoull Street

Perth

PH1 5GD

 

[1][email address]

 

The information in this email is solely for the intended recipients.

If you are not an intended recipient, you must not disclose, copy, or
distribute its contents or use them in any way: please advise the sender
immediately and delete this email.

Perth & Kinross Council does not warrant that this email or any
attachments are virus-free and does not accept any liability for any loss
or damage resulting from any virus infection. Perth & Kinross Council may
monitor or examine any emails received by its email system.

The information contained in this email may not be the views of Perth &
Kinross Council. It is possible for email to be falsified and the sender
cannot be held responsible for the integrity of the information contained
in it.

General enquiries to Perth & Kinross Council should be made to
[email address] or 01738 475000.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
mailto:[email address]