Children placed by local authority in children's homes during pandemic

The request was successful.

Charlie Reynolds

Dear Hertfordshire County Council,

I would like to request the below information:

1) How many children were placed by the local authority in registered children’s homes or with foster carers, during the period March 1st 2020-March 1st 2021?

For children referred to foster carers, please only include placements lasting more than 14 days - i.e not short term respite care provisions.

2) How many children were placed by the local authority into registered children's homes and/or foster placements lasting more than 14 days:
a) within the authority area
b) out of the authority area
i. For those children placed out of area, please provide information on the distances children were placed in miles. Please organise this by the number of children placed 0-10 miles, 11-20 miles, 21-30 miles, 31-40, 41-50 miles, 51-100miles, 100+ miles.
Ideally please use the children's previous home or school as the starting point for calculating distance. If unknown, please use the authority's HQ address.

3) How many looked-after children were placed into unregulated provisions including independent and and/or semi-independent provisions during the period March 1 2020- March 1 2021?
a. Where possible please provide the ages of children at the time of placement in the following provisions:
i. Under 16
ii. 16-17
iii. 18

4) How many looked-after children residing in foster care have been re-homed by the authority in the period March 1st 2020 - March 1st 2021?
Re-homed refers to children who have left the foster family they were initially placed with, and have subsequently been placed in an alternate provision - this could include a placement with another foster family, a children's home or an alternate care setting.

5) How many emergency or additional care places, beyond existing capacity, has the authority sought in order to provide care to children between the period 1st March 2020 - 1st March 2021?

As you know, under the act you are required to provide a response within 20 days. Please send your response to this email address only. Please avoid using tables or spreadsheets in your responses - plain text responses is preferable.
If you do not provide the information requested, you must explain the legal basis for the information being withheld. If you decline part of the request due to information being sensitive, the request being too vague, or reasonable cost being exceeded, you must still provide the part you can fulfill.

If children's services are looked after by another organisation on behalf of the authority, or if there are colleagues better placed to handle this request, I would appreciate you redirecting my request to the relevant individual or organisation on my behalf.

Yours faithfully,

Amneet Kaur

Information Governance, Hertfordshire County Council

4 Attachments

Dear Amneet Kaur

 

Reference number: FOI/CSF/05/21/20900

 

Thank you for your correspondence of the 12^th May 2021 requesting the
following information:

 

1) How many children were placed by the local authority in registered
children’s homes or with foster carers, during the period March 1st
2020-March 1st 2021?

 

For children referred to foster carers, please only include placements
lasting more than 14 days - i.e not short term respite care provisions. 

 

 

2) How many children were placed by the local authority into registered
children's homes and/or foster placements lasting more than 14 days:

 

a) within the authority area

 

b)  out of the authority area

 

   i.     For those children placed out of area, please provide
information on the distances children were placed in miles. Please
organise this by the number of children placed 0-10 miles, 11-20 miles,
21-30 miles, 31-40, 41-50 miles, 51-100miles, 100+ miles.

 

Ideally please use the children's previous home or school as the starting
point for calculating distance. If unknown, please use the authority's HQ
address. 

 

 

 

3)  How many looked-after children were placed into unregulated provisions
including independent and and/or  semi-independent provisions during the
period March 1 2020- March 1 2021?

 

a.      Where possible please provide the ages of children at the time of
placement in the following provisions:

 

i.     Under 16

 

ii.     16-17

 

iii.     18

 

 

 

4) How many looked-after children residing in foster care have been
re-homed by the authority in the period March 1st 2020 - March 1st 2021?

 

Re-homed refers to children who have left the foster family they were
initially placed with, and have subsequently been placed in an alternate
provision - this could include a placement with another foster family, a
children's home or an alternate care setting.

 

 

 

5) How many emergency or additional care places, beyond existing capacity,
has the authority sought in order to provide care to children between the
period 1st March 2020 - 1st March 2021?

 

 

Your request for information is being considered under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. We will respond to your request as quickly as
possible, and by close of 11^th June 2021 at the latest.

 

 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, quoting
the reference number above.

                              

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Access Team

Legal Services| Resources
Hertfordshire County Council  
Room 223  Postal Point: CHN 320
[1][IMG]
T: 01992 555848 (Internal:25848)

E: [2][Hertfordshire County Council request email]

[3]Hertfordshire County Council Facebook[4]Hertfordshire County
Council Twitter[5]Hertfordshire County Council email updates

 

****Disclaimer****

The information in this message should be regarded as confidential and is
intended for the addressee only unless explicitly stated. If you have
received this message in error it must be deleted and the sender notified.
The views expressed in this message are personal and not necessarily those
of Hertfordshire County Council unless explicitly stated. Please be aware
that emails sent to or received from Hertfordshire County Council may be
intercepted and read by the council. Interception will only occur to
ensure compliance with council policies or procedures or regulatory
obligations, to prevent or deter crime, or for the purposes of essential
maintenance or support of the email system.

References

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2. mailto:[Hertfordshire County Council request email]
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4. http://www.twitter.com/hertscc
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Information Governance, Hertfordshire County Council

4 Attachments

Dear Amneet Kaur

 

Reference number: FOI/CSF/05/21/20900

 

Further to our email of 12^th May 2021, acknowledging your request for
information, we are currently processing your request under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.  The 20 working day deadline, as outlined by the
Act, is Thursday 11^th June 2021 unfortunately due to the current
increased work load of the team compiling these figures along with annual
leave we will be unable to meet this deadline.

 

As a result we would like to extend the deadline to 25^th June
2021. Having spoken to my colleagues who are compiling the figures needed
for your request, they assure me that they will be able to meet this
extended deadline. I sincerely apologise for the delay in responding to
your request.

 

 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us, quoting
the reference number on this email.

 

 

Information Access Team

Legal Services| Resources
Hertfordshire County Council  
Room 223  Postal Point: CHN 320
[1][IMG]
T: 01992 555848 (Internal:25848)

E: [2][Hertfordshire County Council request email]

[3]Hertfordshire County Council Facebook[4]Hertfordshire County
Council Twitter[5]Hertfordshire County Council email updates

 

****Disclaimer****

The information in this message should be regarded as confidential and is
intended for the addressee only unless explicitly stated. If you have
received this message in error it must be deleted and the sender notified.
The views expressed in this message are personal and not necessarily those
of Hertfordshire County Council unless explicitly stated. Please be aware
that emails sent to or received from Hertfordshire County Council may be
intercepted and read by the council. Interception will only occur to
ensure compliance with council policies or procedures or regulatory
obligations, to prevent or deter crime, or for the purposes of essential
maintenance or support of the email system.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/home.aspx
2. mailto:[Hertfordshire County Council request email]
3. https://www.facebook.com/hertscountycoun...
4. http://www.twitter.com/hertscc
5. https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/statweb...

Information Governance, Hertfordshire County Council

4 Attachments

Dear Amneet Kaur

 

Reference number: FOI/CSF/05/21/20900

 

On 12^th May 2021 Hertfordshire County Council received the following
request for information from you:

 

1) How many children were placed by the local authority in registered
children’s homes or with foster carers, during the period March 1st
2020-March 1st 2021?

 

For children referred to foster carers, please only include placements
lasting more than 14 days - i.e not short term respite care provisions. 

 

 

2) How many children were placed by the local authority into registered
children's homes and/or foster placements lasting more than 14 days:

 

a) within the authority area

 

b)  out of the authority area

 

   i.     For those children placed out of area, please provide
information on the distances children were placed in miles. Please
organise this by the number of children placed 0-10 miles, 11-20 miles,
21-30 miles, 31-40, 41-50 miles, 51-100miles, 100+ miles.

 

Ideally please use the children's previous home or school as the starting
point for calculating distance. If unknown, please use the authority's HQ
address. 

 

 

 

3)  How many looked-after children were placed into unregulated provisions
including independent and and/or  semi-independent provisions during the
period March 1 2020- March 1 2021?

 

a.      Where possible please provide the ages of children at the time of
placement in the following provisions:

 

i.     Under 16

 

ii.     16-17

 

iii.     18

 

 

 

4) How many looked-after children residing in foster care have been
re-homed by the authority in the period March 1st 2020 - March 1st 2021?

 

Re-homed refers to children who have left the foster family they were
initially placed with, and have subsequently been placed in an alternate
provision - this could include a placement with another foster family, a
children's home or an alternate care setting.

 

 

 

5) How many emergency or additional care places, beyond existing capacity,
has the authority sought in order to provide care to children between the
period 1st March 2020 - 1st March 2021?

 

 

I sincerely apologise for the delay in our response. Your request for
information has been considered under the Freedom of Information Act
2000. I can confirm that Hertfordshire County Council does hold the
information you have requested. Our response is as follows.

 

 1. 431

2a) 243

2b) 188

2bi) 0-10: 202

11-20: 99

21-30: 35

31-40: 19

41-50: 10

51-100: 37

100+: 29

 3. 206

3ai) 2

3aii) 204

3aiii) 0

 4. During the period, 256 foster placements ended and the child was
placed into a different placement after.
 5. 0

 

Please Note: All figures above are the number of placements children are
in, not an aggregated number of children.

 

 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, quoting
the reference number on this correspondence. To find out more about
Freedom of Information, please visit
[1]http://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/your-cou...

 

If you are unhappy with the way the County Council has handled your
request for information you may request an internal review of the request.
This will be carried out by a member of the County Council Legal Services
Team, who has had no prior involvement with the request. Requests for an
internal review should be sent to the Information Governance Unit at the
address above (within 2 months of this correspondence) and should detail
in writing your grounds of appeal.

                    

If you are unhappy with the outcome of the internal review you are
entitled to ask the Information Commissioner to investigate your
complaint. You should write to: FOI/EIR Complaints Resolution, Information
Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Access Team

Legal Services| Resources
Hertfordshire County Council  
Room 223  Postal Point: CHN 320
[2][IMG]
T: 01992 555848 (Internal:25848)

E: [3][Hertfordshire County Council request email]

[4]Hertfordshire County Council Facebook[5]Hertfordshire County
Council Twitter[6]Hertfordshire County Council email updates

 

****Disclaimer****

The information in this message should be regarded as confidential and is
intended for the addressee only unless explicitly stated. If you have
received this message in error it must be deleted and the sender notified.
The views expressed in this message are personal and not necessarily those
of Hertfordshire County Council unless explicitly stated. Please be aware
that emails sent to or received from Hertfordshire County Council may be
intercepted and read by the council. Interception will only occur to
ensure compliance with council policies or procedures or regulatory
obligations, to prevent or deter crime, or for the purposes of essential
maintenance or support of the email system.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/your-cou...
2. https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/home.aspx
3. mailto:[Hertfordshire County Council request email]
4. https://www.facebook.com/hertscountycoun...
5. http://www.twitter.com/hertscc
6. https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/statweb...