Good morning

I am contacting you regarding your request for information.

The Information Commissioners Office guidance states that in order for a request to be a valid request under the Freedom of Information Act it must contain the requesters name. Its states that 'Any variation of the requester’s title or first name combined with their surname (e.g. Mr Smith or John Smith) will be sufficient to meet this requirement. However, a first name or surname provided in isolation, or a set of initials, will not'.

You have not provided your name at all therefore I must advise you that your request is not valid and will not be responded to.

Yours sincerely

Lucy McMahon
Freedom of Information Officer
Corporate Resources
Doncaster Council

Phone     01302 736000
Address  Civic Office, Waterdale, Doncaster, DN1 3BU
Email       [email address]
Website  www.doncaster.gov.uk

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

Dear Mr Butterfield

Re: Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

Thank you for your request for information and for confirming your name.

I can confirm your request has been passed to the relevant department who will endeavour to search for any information held and provide you with a response as soon as is possible. This will be within 20 working days and in any case by the 25 May 2021.

Please note that some service areas within the Council are still working on the response to Covid-19 and therefore may not be available to respond to your request at this time. Should this be the case with regard to your request, please be assured we will contact you to advise you further.

Yours sincerely

Lucy McMahon
Freedom of Information Officer
Corporate Resources
Doncaster Council

Phone     01302 736000
Address  Civic Office, Waterdale, Doncaster, DN1 3BU
Email       [email address]
Website  www.doncaster.gov.uk

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

Dear David Butterfield

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request dated 23^rd of April
2021 for information about the Covid Winter Grant and Free School
Meals.      

Please find below Doncaster Council’s response to the questions you have
raised.

Question 1

How did you distribute the COVID Winter Grant to vulnerable families, i.e.
cash, food parcels or retail supermarket vouchers?

Response

The Grant has been distributed using vouchers and also food parcels.

Question 2

Did you use this grant to distribute financial support to families of
children eligible for free school meals?

Response

Yes, we did use this grant to distribute financial support to families of
children eligible for free school meals.

Question 3

How many children were eligible for Free School Meals and how many
children claimed financial support via the grant scheme?

Response

There are 11429 eligible children, of these 10,816 accessed Free School
Meal vouchers or food

Question 4

Did you use the grant to distribute support to other vulnerable families /
individuals and if so, which groups, i.e. homeless etc.?

Response

The Grant was used to support families and individuals requiring
assistance. This was provided via the Local Assistance Scheme, food banks
and the hygiene bank.

Question 5

If using supermarket vouchers

(a) Which supplier(s) did you use to distribute the vouchers?

(b) How did you choose a supplier?

(c) What were your top 3 mandatory requirements for the service?

(d) Did you coordinate the ordering to all beneficiaries/recipients, or
was access delegated to schools to administer and order?

(e) Did you enter into a direct contract with the supplier or call off via
a framework?

(f) When does your contract end?

Response

Schools were asked to provide vouchers and claim reimbursement from the
Council. 

Question 6

Following Government's extension of the COVID Winter Grant, will you
continue to fund Free School Meal vouchers in May half-term and summer
holidays?

Response

The Covid Winter Grant ended on 16^th April.  We have received an
allocation of funding from the Covid Local Support Grant, which runs until
21^st June.  An element of this will be used to provide funding for free
school meal vouchers/food during May half term holiday.  The Council will
await further information from the government to inform decision making on
the summer holiday.

Question 7

Which role(s) and job functions manage the contract for this service?

Response

Oversight of the Grant is carried out by Anita Linsdell, Head of Business
Development

I hope that this information is useful to you.

Doncaster Council estimate that it has cost £50.00 to respond to this
request for information.

If you are not happy with this reply, you can ask us to review our
response. To do this write to us within 40 working days of receiving your
response at the address below or email [1][email address]

Reviewing any decisions made:

You can ask us to review any decisions made about your request.  You do
this by writing to

Freedom of Information Officer,

Doncaster Council,

Civic Office,

Waterdale

Doncaster, 

DN1 3BU

e-mail: [2][email address]

You can apply to the Information Commissioner for a decision about our
compliance or otherwise with the Freedom of Information legislation. 
Please contact the Commissioner for details on how to do this - telephone
01625 545700, address: Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water
Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.  Internet: [3]www.ico.org.uk.

Yours sincerely,

Olivia Allport- Business Support Officer (Executive)

Sent on behalf of

Dawn Wilson

Business Support and Development Manager

Commissioning and Business Development

Learning and Opportunities: Children and Young People

Confidentiality:  This email and its attachments are intended for the
above named only and may be confidential.  If they have come to you in
error, you must take no action based on them, nor must you copy or show
them to anyone; please reply to this email and highlight the error.

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References

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