Former KCC childrens social services manager Amanda Barden

Ms S Foster made this Freedom of Information request to Kent County Council This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

Waiting for an internal review by Kent County Council of their handling of this request.

Dear Sir or Madam,

All registered social workers & students can be checked on the General Social Care - check register.

i.e. Mrs Barden, Amanda Jane CANTERBURY E/1008145 Registered Social Worker, now works as a childrens guardian.It is our understanding that she may have worked previously for Kent County Council (maybe under her maiden name) as a social worker/manager for childrens services.

Please can you check your social workers register for her registration details; E/1008145 and confirm if this is indeed the case.

Yours faithfully,

Ms S Foster

Kent County Council

Dear Ms Foster

Thank you for your email.

I acknowledge your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. Assuming we hold this information, I will endeavour
to supply the data to you as soon as possible but no later than 17th July
2009 (20 working days from date of receipt).

I will advise you as soon as possible if we do not hold this information
or if there are exemptions to be considered and/or any costs for providing
the information. Please quote our reference - FOI/09/696 - in any
communication regarding this particular request.

Best regards

Corporate Access to Information Team, Chief Executive's Department
Kent County Council, Legal & Democratic Services, Room 1.94, Sessions
House, County Hall, Maidstone. ME14 1XQ.
Tel: 01622 696265 or 01622 694261 - Fax: 01622 694383
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...

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Kent County Council

Dear Ms Foster

Thank you for your request for information. Please accept my apologies for
the slight delay in replying to you; I appreciate that the Council has not
complied with statutory timescales on this occasion.

As we have told other applicants from the whatdotheyknow website, our a
check of our ORACLE Human Resources database indicates that KCC has not
employed anyone by the name of Amanda Barden since 2003 when these
electronic records began. However, as records of ex-employees are only
retained for six years following cessation of employment in accordance
with local government record retention guidelines, if Amanda Barden left
KCC's employ prior to 2003 we would no longer have any record of her
anyway.

You have suggested we check KCC's own social workers register for Ms
Barden's registration details but KCC does not maintain such a register.
Details of employees qualifications, registrations, memberships etc, are
retained on the employee's file and if, with regards to registered social
workers, there was a query with their registration, we would simply check
the General Social Care Register ourselves
[1]http://www.gscc.org.uk/The+Social+Care+R... as you have done.

Obviously, without Mrs Barden's maiden name, which we do not know, we
cannot conduct any further searches to check if KCC has ever employed this
individual.

If you are unhappy with this response, and believe KCC has not complied
with legislation, please ask for a review by following our complaints
process; details can be found at this link
[2]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...
on our website. Please quote reference FOI/09/696.

If you still remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you can
appeal to the Information Commissioner, who oversees compliance with the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Details of what you need to do, should
you wish to pursue this course of action, are available from the
Information Commissioner's website
[3]http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/freedom...

Best regards

Caroline Dodge
Corporate Access to Information Coordinator, Chief Executive's Department
Kent County Council, Legal & Democratic Services, Room 1.94, Sessions
House, County Hall, Maidstone. ME14 1XQ.
Tel: 01622 221652 - Fax: 01622 694383
[4]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...

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Dear Caroline Dodge,

You could ask your social services head of department/team manager's.

All of which,I am sure know Mrs Amanda Barden and will be able to confirm whether or not she previously worked as a team manager for kent county council, as you are aware they all work together within the confines of the family court system and have a very comfortable workable relationship with each other.

A simple email should bring about the information required and at very little cost.

Yours faithfully,

Ms S Foster

Dear Caroline Dodge,

Please confirm when a response can be expected?

Yours faithfully,

Ms S Foster

Kent County Council

Dear Ms Foster

Thank you for your email below and your reminder sent 17th August.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides you with a right of access to
recorded information held by public authorities like Kent County Council.
This does not include memories or recollections of public authority
employees.

The Act obliges public authorities to confirm whether or not they hold the
information requested and if they do, to provide it within 20-working days
of receipt of the request, subject to any exemptions to disclosure or
payment of fees. There is no obligation on public authorities to create
information to satisfy a request, which essentially is what you are asking
KCC to do.

To reiterate, we do not hold any information which would indicate whether
Amanda Barden has previously been employed by KCC or not and I can only
suggest that you approach the Information Commissioner for guidance if you
do not believe this or indeed the administrators of the whatdotheyknow
website.

I have enclosed a link to the Information commissioner's website which
provides guidance on how to make a request for information and what
information you are entitled
to.[1]http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/l...

KCC would like to forewarn you that future requests for information on
this subject will be refused. The Council believes that the volume,
extent, frequency and repeated nature of your requests, and
the inevitable follow-on queries and complaint to the response, has now
become such that your correspondence is taking up a disproportionate
amount of time and public resources to respond to. This is manifestly
unreasonable and could be construed as obsessive and a deliberate attempt
to disrupt the Council's operations. The Council has no obligation to
respond to requests that are perceived to be vexatious under section 14(2)
of FOIA and it is considered that collectively, your requests are
vexatious. Although your requests are not necessarily "repeated" in the
sense that they are requests for the exactly same information, when taken
together they form a pattern of obsessive requests of a similar
nature such that the Council may reasonably regard as vexatious. Neither
the FOIA, nor scarce public resources, are intended to be used in this way
and, accordingly, no further correspondence will be entered into in
response to your requests for information on these or related topics.

If you are unhappy with this response, and believe KCC has not complied
with legislation, please ask for a review by following our complaints
process; details can be found at this link
[2]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...
on our website. Please quote reference FOI/09/696.

If you still remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you can
appeal to the Information Commissioner, who oversees compliance with the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Details of what you need to do, should
you wish to pursue this course of action, are available from the
Information Commissioner's website
[3]http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/freedom...

Best regards

Caroline Dodge
Corporate Access to Information Coordinator, Chief Executive's Department
Kent County Council, Legal & Democratic Services, Room 1.94, Sessions
House, County Hall, Maidstone. ME14 1XQ.
Tel: 01622 221652 - Fax: 01622 694383
[4]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...

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Dear Caroline Dodge,

The reason for this simple non costly request; is because you were quite willing to state that you had asked your Legal Team for childrens services about James Carter the Leader of the Councils brother (Paul Carter) whether or not in fact they recalled any cases were he defended families against the Council.

It seems ridiculous that you can now state you cannot.
Please explain why this is?

After all, if it is turns out that Amanda Barden did in fact work for Kent County Council as a social worker team manager and is being appointed by the family courts in Kent. Families could rightly feel aggrieved that this has not been made clear to them and that the Council could appear to be working against their childrens best interests.

It is paramount that the Council is transparent in all its dealing with other peoples children, as there could be very serious consequences.

Yours faithfully,

Ms S Foster

Dear Caroline Dodge,

Under the circumstances this does not seem an unreasonable request , especially considering the subject matter and seriousness of the consequences to families with children in council 'care'

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Kent County Council's handling of my FOI request 'Former KCC childrens social services manager Amanda Barden'.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/fo...

Yours faithfully,

Ms S Foster

Kent County Council

Dear Ms Foster

Thank you for your email.

I am sorry you are unhappy with my response to your request for
information, specifically the fact that Kent County Council does not hold
the information you have asked for and that KCC is not prepared to create
information to satisfy your request by asking staff to recall if they
remember working with the person you are enquiring about.

The Director of Law and Governance and our Legal Department will
investigate your complaint and review our original response on behalf of
the Chief Executive. Their reply will be forthcoming within 20
working days from receipt (by 22nd September)

Best regards

Caroline Dodge
Corporate Access to Information Coordinator, Chief Executive's Department
Kent County Council, Legal & Democratic Services, Room 1.94, Sessions
House, County Hall, Maidstone. ME14 1XQ.
Tel: 01622 221652 - Fax: 01622 694383
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...

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Dear Caroline Dodge,

Thank for your email, confirming 'The Director of Law and Governance and our Legal Department will
investigate your complaint and review our original response on behalf of
the Chief Executive'

(It appears that Amanda Barden has offered this information freely to families, whilst acting in her capacity as a Guardian.)

Yours faithfully,

Ms S Foster

John Harris (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

http://nameshamesocialworkers.blogspot.c...

According to this, ex-tory councillor Sheena Williams who has had her 4 granddaughters taken for forced adoption by Tory run Kent County Council and it looks like she not the only Tory Councillor , Janet Mockridge from West Sussex has also had a grandson taken.

Be interesting to find out if they had this guardian appointed ?

Mr B Gerrish (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/colum...

Will be interesting to see if Medway Family Court takes any notice of Lord Justice Thorpe and Lord Justice Wall's criticisms, the latter ordered his comments to be circulated to family courts and adoption agencies across the land.
(Could his comments be referring to the Law of the Land)

The Lords appear to recognize that there is a clear difference between the LAW and legal child kidnap; there cannot be Lawful child kidnap.

Kent County Council

Dear Ms S Foster/Mrs Barden

Under Section 8(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, an applicant
must provide their real name for a request to be valid and fall under the
scope of the Act. I have been looking at your outstanding requests for
information and your requests for internal review namely...

Internal review of Freedom of Information request - James Carter Family
Solicitor - how many cases for/against KCC - our reference FOI/09/694
Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Families forced to
flee abroad - our reference FOI/09/695
Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Former KCC childrens
social services manager Amanda Barden - our reference FOI/09/696
Freedom of Information request - Families forced to flee abroad - our
reference FOI/09/946
Freedom of Information request - Kent Registration for Birth Certificates
- our reference FOI/09/968

... and I have good reason to believe that S Foster is not your real name
and that you are in fact utilising the name of a Kent Council Council
employee involved in children's social work. I note that you have also
submitted requests under your married name of Mrs Barden which is
coincidentally similar to a CAFCASS guardian who you have made enquiries
about.

KCC will therefore not proceed to consider the above requests, or any
further requests for information by you, or deal with any requests for
review until you are able to provide me with authentic identification
which verifies you are Ms S Foster (or Mrs Barden), for example an
original utility bill showing your full name and postal address. On
receipt of such evidence, I will progress your requests and will of course
be happy to return any documentation to you without keeping a copy on
file. If your name really is S Foster, I apologise in advance for any
inconvenience that providing proof of identity may cause you.

If you are unhappy with this decision, and object to providing proof that
you are using your real name, you can appeal to the Information
Commissioner, who oversees compliance with the Freedom of Information Act
2000. Details of what you need to do, should you wish to pursue this
course of action, are available from the Information Commissioner's
website [1]http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/freedom...

Best regards

Caroline Dodge
Corporate Access to Information Coordinator, Chief Executive's Department
Kent County Council, Legal & Democratic Services, Room 1.94, Sessions
House, County Hall, Maidstone. ME14 1XQ.
Tel: 01622 221652 - Fax: 01622 694383
[2]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/freedom...
2. http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...
http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...

Dear Caroline Dodge, (Mrs/Miss/Ms) ?

Please supply all evidence that shall back up your valid claim in a
Court of Law.

And fully provide details of Kent County Council employee's to
which you refer,... for example an original utility bill showing
their full name and postal address.

...as there could be reason to believe that Kent County Council
will use any excuse not to comply with the FOIA.

There seems to be nothing coincidental between names Mrs S Barden &
Mrs/Ms/Miss A Barden? There are probably many Dodge's.

I can confirm I have never been a Kent Council Council employee
involved in children's social work such as Former KCC childrens
social services manager Amanda Barden / S Foster(Mr/Mrs/Miss/MS)

(Heaven forbid if one has been married more than once or recently
divorced, is it unlawful to have had more than one name) are your
assumptions Lawful?

Of course, a conditional response will be expected under your full
commercial liability.

regards ,

Ms S Foster,

Kent County Council

Dear Ms S Foster/Mrs Barden

Information requests are made to the public authority (i.e.: Kent County
Council) not it's employees. There is no requirement under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 for a member of staff to verify who they are -
whoever responds on behalf of the authority is irrelevant for the purposes
of the Act. However for a request to fall under the scope of the Act in
the first place, the applicant must use their real name and public
authorities are entitled to ask for proof of identity if they suspect that
a pseudonym is being used.

Therefore, until you have provided proof of your identity as requested in
my previous email, KCC is not obliged to respond (and will not respond) to
any further communication from yourself. If you disagree, then it is your
right to pursue the matter with the Information Commissioner who enforces
compliance with the Act.

Best regards

Caroline Dodge
Corporate Access to Information Coordinator, Chief Executive's Department
Kent County Council, Legal & Democratic Services, Room 1.94, Sessions
House, County Hall, Maidstone. ME14 1XQ.
Tel: 01622 221652 - Fax: 01622 694383
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...

References

Visible links
1. http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...
http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...

Dear Caroline Dodge,

Please refrain from using my married name, you do not have my
consent to do so.

Yet again you have failed to provided anything to back up your
assumption. Is this the Councils feeble attempt to find out the
address and details of individuals to which they have no lawful
right whilst continuing to ignore the FOIA ?

Yours faithfully,

Ms S Foster