Informal Residence/Special Guardian/Kinship Care Agreements

Samantha Kerr made this Freedom of Information request to Orkney Islands Council This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was partially successful.

Dear Orkney Islands Council,

Under FOISA please provide me with the information contained in your records as follows:

1. The Total amount of the tax payers money spent on Informal Residence/Special Guardian/Kinship Care Agreements since 1st April 2014 until present date?

Please break this figure down year on year month on month and week on week.
Please also include the number of types of agreement into your criteria, i.e. Informal Residence order: Informal Guardianship Order: Informal Kinship Carer Agreement?

2. The Total number of children that social work have arranged an Informal Residence/Special Guardian/Kinship Care Agreements since 1st April 2014 until present date?

Please break this figure down year on year month on month and week on week.
Please also include the number of types of agreement into your criteria, i.e. Informal Residence order: Informal Guardianship Order: Informal Kinship Carer Agreement?

3.Please provide me with your full policy and procedure used to ensure that all informal agreements are done so within the confines of the law.

I shall expect your full and frank response within 20 working days or I will be requesting an internal review with a view to getting this request to the Scottish Information Commissioner as quickly as I possibly can.

Yours faithfully,

Samantha Kerr

foi, Orkney Islands Council

Classification: NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED

Dear Madam

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 – Request for Information

Thank you for your information request dated 30 August 2019 and received on 30 August 2019. Our reference is FOI 2019-0920. This is being dealt with under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

We are considering your request. We may be in touch soon to ask for further clarification or to offer advice and assistance if we are not able to fulfil your request in its present form.

The legislation allows us up to 20 working days from the date that we receive a valid request, including any clarification we need to make a final response. We will be in touch within 20 working days of receipt of your initial request to provide our response or to seek clarification where necessary. We hope to give you the information you are looking for at an earlier date if possible.

Regards

Katy Russell-Duff
Administrative Officer
Corporate Services
Orkney Islands Council, Council Offices, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1NY
Telephone 01856 873535 Extension 2210

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Dear Orkney Islands Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Orkney Islands Council's handling of my FOI request 'Informal Residence/Special Guardian/Kinship Care Agreements'.

Failure to respond

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

Yours faithfully,

Samantha Kerr

foi, Orkney Islands Council

Classification: NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED

Dear Sir

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 – Request for Review

Thank you for your request for review dated 28 September 2019 and received on 30 September 2019. This is being dealt with under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

We are considering your request.

The legislation allows us up to 20 working days from the date that we receive a valid review. We will be in touch within 20 working days of receipt of your review to provide our response. We hope to give you the information you are looking for at an earlier date if possible.

Kind regards

Katy Russell-Duff
Administrative Officer
Corporate Services
Orkney Islands Council, Council Offices, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1NY
Telephone 01856 873535 Extension 2210

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foi, Orkney Islands Council

Classification: NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED

Dear Ms Kerr,

I refer to your email dated 28 September 2019 seeking a review of the Council's handling of your Freedom of Information Request dated 30 August 2019.

The Council had a statutory period of 20 working days to respond to your request. The Council has failed to respond within this timescale.

Given the failure by the Council to respond timeously, I uphold your review and I apologise for the delay.

In the meantime the Council is preparing a substantive response, albeit late, to your request. The Council is aiming to respond to you as soon as possible.

If you are still dissatisfied with the Council’s response to your requirement for a review, you are entitled, under section 47 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision as to whether your request has been dealt with by the Council in accordance with Part 1 of the Act. Your application must be submitted in writing or in another form capable of being used for subsequent reference, and should be submitted before the expiry of six months after the date of your receipt of this letter. Your application can be sent to the Commissioner at www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal or at the following address:

Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
St Andrews
KY16 9DS

Telephone: 01334 464610
Email: [email address]

You also have the subsequent right of appeal to the Court of Session, on a point of law only, if dissatisfied with a decision issued by the Commissioner.

Yours sincerely

Gavin Mitchell
Head of Legal Services
Corporate Services
Orkney Islands Council, Council Offices, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1NY
Telephone: 01856 873535 Extension: 2233

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Dear foi,

Thank you for the courtesy of informing me of your current position, I am happy to wait until you have the substantive response you mention.

Meanwhile, if you need any further clarification please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely,

Samantha Kerr

Sean Nealon left an annotation ()

I too would like to thank Orkney Council for their courtesy and I would like to display much gratitude and thankfulness in doing si.

foi, Orkney Islands Council

Classification: NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED

Dear Madam

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 – Request for Information

I refer to your information request received 30 August 2019. Our reference is FOI 2019-0920.

With regard to question 1, could you please clarify if the information requested is our kinship care payments or the cost of SW services to kinship carers or both?

Under FOISA, if you are dissatisfied with our response, you may ask the Council to review its handling of your request. If you wish to do this, you should make your request for review with 40 working days of receiving this email. Please make your request for review to Executive Director of Corporate Services, Council Offices, School Place, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1NY or email to [Orkney Islands Council request email], Your request must be in permanent form (letter, email, audio tape etc) and should state:

That you are asking for a review of this decision, and
Why you are unhappy with the response you have received.

We will issue a full response to your request for review within 20 working days of our receiving it.

Where the outcome of the review fails to resolve the matter to your complete satisfaction, you then have the right to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision. You have six months in which to do so following receipt of our review outcome – see www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal.

Kind regards

Katy Russell-Duff
Administrative Officer
Corporate Services
Orkney Islands Council, Council Offices, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1NY
Telephone 01856 873535 Extension 2210

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Dear foi,

Both please.

Yours sincerely,

Samantha Kerr

foi, Orkney Islands Council

2 Attachments

Classification: NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED

Dear Madam

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 – Request for Information

I refer to your email dated 30 August 2019 and received on 30 August 2019, our reference is FOI 2019-0920. I apologise for the long delay in sending you this information.

I am pleased to give the information you requested and hope that it meets your requirements.

1. The Total amount of the tax payers money spent on Informal Residence/Special Guardian/Kinship Care Agreements since 1st April 2014 until present date?
Please see the attached spreadsheet, we are unable to break this down to week to week.

Please break this figure down year on year month on month and week on week.
Please also include the number of types of agreement into your criteria, i.e. Informal Residence order: Informal Guardianship Order: Informal Kinship Carer Agreement?
There are no informal orders

2. The Total number of children that social work have arranged an Informal Residence/Special Guardian/Kinship Care Agreements since 1st April 2014 until present date?
This information is publicly available on the Scottish Government website at https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/.... As such, the request is considered to be an exemption from provision of the information under section 25 of the FOI Act – Information otherwise accessible.

Please break this figure down year on year month on month and week on week.
Please also include the number of types of agreement into your criteria, i.e. Informal Residence order: Informal Guardianship Order: Informal Kinship Carer Agreement?
There are no informal orders

3.Please provide me with your full policy and procedure used to ensure that all informal agreements are done so within the confines of the law.
Please see attached.

Under FOISA, if you are dissatisfied with our response, you may ask the Council to review its handling of your request. If you wish to do this, you should make your request for review with 40 working days of receiving this email. Please make your request for review to Head of Legal Services, Council Offices, School Place, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1NY or email to [Orkney Islands Council request email]. Your request must be in permanent form (letter, email, audio tape etc) and should state:

That you are asking for a review of this decision, and
Why you are unhappy with the response you have received.

We will issue a full response to your request for review within 20 working days of our receiving it.

Where the outcome of the review fails to resolve the matter to your complete satisfaction, you then have the right to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision. You have six months in which to do so following receipt of our review outcome – see www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal.

Regards

George Vickers
Information Governance Officer
Corporate Services
Orkney Islands Council, Council Offices, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1NY
Telephone: 01856 873535 Extension: 2162
www.orkney.gov.uk

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Gavin Mitchell, Orkney Islands Council

Classification: NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED

Dear Madam,

 

I refer to our email dated 14 January 2020 in which we provided
information in response to your freedom of information request dated 30
August 2019.

 

At the end of the email, it was stated that, if you were dissatisfied with
the Council’s response, you would be entitled to ask the Council within 40
working days to review its handling of your request.

 

I regret to advise that the above statement that you could ask the Council
for a review was inaccurate.

 

The position is that, if you are dissatisfied with the Council’s response
(the “review outcome”), you are entitled, under section 47 of the Freedom
of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to apply to the Scottish Information
Commissioner for a decision as to whether your request has been dealt with
by the Council in accordance with Part 1 of the Act.  Your application
must be submitted in writing or in another form capable of being used for
subsequent reference, and should be submitted before the expiry of six
months after the date of your receipt of this message.  Your application
can be sent to the Commissioner at [1]www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal
or at the following address:

 

Scottish Information Commissioner

Kinburn Castle

Doubledykes Road

St Andrews

KY16 9DS

 

Telephone: 01334 464610

Email:   [2][email address]

 

You also have the subsequent right of appeal to the Court of Session, on a
point of law only, if dissatisfied with a decision issued by the
Commissioner.

 

I apologise for any confusion caused by the statements concerning your
rights contained at the end of our email dated 14 January 2020.

 

I hope that the information contained in this message clarifies the
position.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Gavin Mitchell

Head of Legal Services

Corporate Services

Orkney Islands Council, Council Offices, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1NY

Telephone: 01856 873535   Extension: 2233

 

References

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1. http://sut1.co.uk/sLJ85vvXsn4Tubvajtvcoq....
2. mailto:[email address]

Dear Gavin Mitchell,

I accept your apology in this instance however, it proves that social policy are 99.9% inaccurate in all they do.

Yours sincerely,

Samantha Kerr