Requests for Statutory Assessments

The request was partially successful.

Autism Action Group Suffolk

Dear Suffolk County Council,

I am making a request for information under the freedom of information act 2000.

1) For the last 4 years please detail the number of requests for a statutory assessment made for each year and separate these according to the SEN indicated.

2) For the last 4 years please detail the outcome of the request for a statutory assessment and separate these according to the SEN indicated. Please use 'refused' and 'granted' headings.

3) For the last 4 years please detail the number of statements of SEN that were issued as a result of statutory assessment and separate these by the SEN indicated.

This information is held within the councils Children and Young Peoples SEN department. Please contact me to advise me if any amendments need to be made to my request. I would like to suggest that you provide this data in 4 tables, one for each year, using the column headings;

SEN TYPE: Requests: Refused: Granted: Statements Issued:

Yours faithfully,

Leah Margiotta.

Autism Action Group Suffolk

Information Management Services, Suffolk County Council

 

Dear Ms Margiotta

 

INFORMATION REQUEST – ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

 

Thank you for your request received on 10 February 2014 requesting
information about statutory assessments.

 

We will process your request in accordance with the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 as appropriate.
We aim to answer your request within 20 working days from the date we
received it.

 

While no charges are made for the submission of requests, the council is
entitled to apply reasonable costs for disbursements (i.e. photocopying,
postage etc).  Where such costs are under £5.00 the council is pleased to
make no charge, however, if costs exceed that limit then these additional
costs are payable to the council.  Where charges will apply proper notice
will be given to you prior to the information being released.  For more
information on charges please use the following link to our website:
[1]http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/about/contact-...

 

 

If you have any queries about this request do not hesitate to contact us. 
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Management Services

Corporate Information and Records Management

Information and Data Management

Suffolk County Council

Endeavour House

Russell Road

Ipswich

IP1 2BX

 

Tel:      01473 264620

Fax:    01473 216843

Email: [2][email address]

Web:   [3]www.suffolk.gov.uk

 

Emails sent to and from this organisation will be monitored in accordance
with the law to ensure compliance with policies and to minimise any
security risks.
The information contained in this email or any of its attachments may
be privileged or confidential and is intended for the exclusive use of
the addressee. Any unauthorised use may be unlawful. If you receive
this email by mistake, please advise the sender immediately by using
the reply facility in your email software.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/about/contact-...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. file:///tmp/www.suffolk.gov.uk

Information Management Services, Suffolk County Council

1 Attachment

 

Dear Ms Margiotta

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 – REQUEST RESPONSE

 

Thank you for your request received on 10 February 2014 requesting
information about statutory assessments.

The information you requested is attached.  

Most information supplied by Suffolk County Council will have been
produced within the Council and will continue to be protected by
copyright.  You are free to use it for your own purposes, including for
private study and non-commercial research, and for any other purpose
authorised by an exception in current copyright law.  Documents (except
photographs) can be also used in the UK without requiring permission for
the purposes of news reporting.  Any other reuse, for example commercial
publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder.

 

If the information you have been sent includes a copyright statement, you
must not alter or remove this statement.  For information about re-using
copyright see the Office of Public Sector Information website at
[1]www.opsi.gov.uk.  The copyright in some documents may rest with a third
party.  For information about obtaining permission from a third party see
the Intellectual Property Office’s website at [2]www.ipo.gov.uk.

 

If you are dissatisfied with the way your request has been handled, you
have the right to ask for an internal review.  Under Regulation 11(2),
internal review requests should be submitted within 40 working days of the
date of this letter and should be sent to: Information and Data
Controller, Information Management Services, Endeavour House, 8 Russell
Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1 2BX or, alternatively, by email for the
attention of the Information and Data Controller at
[3][email address]

 

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision.  The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Management Services

Corporate Information and Records Management
Information and Data Management
Suffolk County Council
Endeavour House
Russell Road
Ipswich
IP1 2BX
Tel: 01473 264620
Fax: 01473 216843
Email: [4][email address]
Web: [5]www.suffolk.gov.uk

 

Emails sent to and from this organisation will be monitored in accordance
with the law to ensure compliance with policies and to minimise any
security risks.
The information contained in this email or any of its attachments may
be privileged or confidential and is intended for the exclusive use of
the addressee. Any unauthorised use may be unlawful. If you receive
this email by mistake, please advise the sender immediately by using
the reply facility in your email software.

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/www.opsi.gov.uk
2. file:///tmp/www.ipo.gov.uk
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[email address]
5. http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/

Autism Action Group Suffolk

Dear Suffolk County Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Suffolk County Council's handling of my FOI request 'Requests for Statutory Assessments'.

I would like you to make reasonable endeavours to identify the number of statutory assessments that were refused with a breakdown by SEN identified. This information should be recorded when a request for assessment comes in and should therefore be available via a FOI request. If this is not the case then I would like you to manually review the files for those requests which were refused during the last 4 years and identify them according to the SEN type. If this exceeds the time requirements for a FOI request then please provide the data which does fall within the allotted time for a request working backwards from last year.

Also the data that has been provided is confusing as it contains information from overlapping years when requests were made one year and granted in the next. This make it very difficult to analyse the data as it is impossible to identify the true percentage of statements that were made as a result of a statutory assessment. Please could you provide the information in percentages of the number of statements that were made as a result of assessments according to SEN type.

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

Yours faithfully,

Autism Action Group Suffolk

Information Management Services, Suffolk County Council

Dear Ms Margiotta
 
We are sorry that you are unhappy with the response to your access to
information request 6789.
 
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) and Environmental
Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) we will conduct an internal review of
our response.
 
Internal reviews are conducted by the Freedom of Information Manager.  As
determined by the Information Commissioner as best practice we aim to
complete your internal review within 20 working days.
 
Kind regards
 
Information Management Services
Corporate Information and Records Management
Information and Data Management
Suffolk County Council
Endeavour House
Russell Road
Ipswich
IP1 2BX
Tel: 01473 264620
Fax: 01473 216843
Email: [1][email address]
Web: [2]www.suffolk.gov.uk
 
 

Emails sent to and from this organisation will be monitored in accordance
with the law to ensure compliance with policies and to minimise any
security risks.
The information contained in this email or any of its attachments may
be privileged or confidential and is intended for the exclusive use of
the addressee. Any unauthorised use may be unlawful. If you receive
this email by mistake, please advise the sender immediately by using
the reply facility in your email software.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/

Information Management Services, Suffolk County Council

Dear Ms. Margiotta
 
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 – INTERNAL REVIEW DECISION (ref: 6789)
 
Thank you for your correspondence on 6 March 2014 where you requested an
Internal Review following your request for information about requests for
a statutory assessments. 
 
Your request concerned:
 
I am writing to request an internal review of Suffolk County Council's
handling of my FOI request 'Requests for Statutory Assessments'.
 
I would like you to make reasonable endeavours to identify the number of
statutory assessments that were refused with a breakdown by SEN
identified. This information should be recorded when a request for
assessment comes in and should therefore be available via a FOI request.
If this is not the case then I would like you to manually review the files
for those requests which were refused during the last 4 years and identify
them according to the SEN type. If this exceeds the time requirements for
a FOI request then please provide the data which does fall within the
allotted time for a request working backwards from last year.
 
Also the data that has been provided is confusing as it contains
information from overlapping years when requests were made one year and
granted in the next. This make it very difficult to analyse the data as it
is impossible to identify the true percentage of statements that were made
as a result of a statutory assessment. Please could you provide the
information in percentages of the number of statements that were made as a
result of assessments according to SEN type.
 
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address:
[1]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/r...
 
Having now conducted a formal review of your request, I can confirm that
our response to your request (ref 6789) is overturned for the following
reasons:
 

* We should have applied the proper exemption stating why we were unable
to provide additional information and included our estimate form
showing how long it would take to provide this information.

 
Accordingly, I believe that the Council did not meet the requirements of
the legislation in response to your request and offer our apologies.
Please find attached the requested information that should be been sent to
you.
 
Of necessity this response has to include reference to legislation. If
anything is unclear please do not hesitate to contact us.
 
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision.  The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF
 
Yours faithfully,
 
 
Adele
Freedom of Information (FOI) Manager
Corporate Information and Records Management
Information and Data Management
Suffolk County Council
Endeavour House
Russell Road
Ipswich
IP1 2BX
Tel: 01473 264620
Fax: 01473 216843
Email: [2][email address]
Web: [3]www.suffolk.gov.uk
 
 
Information Management Services has nationally-qualified staff, able to
offer and deliver a range of approved training covering all aspects of
information assurance and legal compliance.  Contact us to find out about
the courses and training that we deliver.
 
 
 
 
 

Emails sent to and from this organisation will be monitored in accordance
with the law to ensure compliance with policies and to minimise any
security risks.
The information contained in this email or any of its attachments may
be privileged or confidential and is intended for the exclusive use of
the addressee. Any unauthorised use may be unlawful. If you receive
this email by mistake, please advise the sender immediately by using
the reply facility in your email software.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/r...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/

Information Management Services, Suffolk County Council

2 Attachments

Dear Ms. Margiotta
 
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 – INTERNAL REVIEW DECISION (ref: 6789)
 
Thank you for your correspondence on 6 March 2014 where you requested an
Internal Review following your request for information about requests for
a statutory assessments. 
 
Your request concerned:
 
I am writing to request an internal review of Suffolk County Council's
handling of my FOI request 'Requests for Statutory Assessments'.
 
I would like you to make reasonable endeavours to identify the number of
statutory assessments that were refused with a breakdown by SEN
identified. This information should be recorded when a request for
assessment comes in and should therefore be available via a FOI request.
If this is not the case then I would like you to manually review the files
for those requests which were refused during the last 4 years and identify
them according to the SEN type. If this exceeds the time requirements for
a FOI request then please provide the data which does fall within the
allotted time for a request working backwards from last year.
 
Also the data that has been provided is confusing as it contains
information from overlapping years when requests were made one year and
granted in the next. This make it very difficult to analyse the data as it
is impossible to identify the true percentage of statements that were made
as a result of a statutory assessment. Please could you provide the
information in percentages of the number of statements that were made as a
result of assessments according to SEN type.
 
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address:
[1]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/r...
 
Having now conducted a formal review of your request, I can confirm that
our response to your request (ref 6789) is overturned for the following
reasons:
 

* We should have applied the proper exemption stating why we were unable
to provide additional information and included our estimate form
showing how long it would take to provide this information.

 
Accordingly, I believe that the Council did not meet the requirements of
the legislation in response to your request and offer our apologies.
Please find attached the requested information that should be been sent to
you.
 
Of necessity this response has to include reference to legislation. If
anything is unclear please do not hesitate to contact us.
 
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision.  The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF
 
Yours faithfully,
 
 
Adele
Freedom of Information (FOI) Manager
Corporate Information and Records Management
Information and Data Management
Suffolk County Council
Endeavour House
Russell Road
Ipswich
IP1 2BX
Tel: 01473 264620
Fax: 01473 216843
Email: [2][email address]
Web: [3]www.suffolk.gov.uk
 
 
Information Management Services has nationally-qualified staff, able to
offer and deliver a range of approved training covering all aspects of
information assurance and legal compliance.  Contact us to find out about
the courses and training that we deliver.
 
 
 
 

Emails sent to and from this organisation will be monitored in accordance
with the law to ensure compliance with policies and to minimise any
security risks.
The information contained in this email or any of its attachments may
be privileged or confidential and is intended for the exclusive use of
the addressee. Any unauthorised use may be unlawful. If you receive
this email by mistake, please advise the sender immediately by using
the reply facility in your email software.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/r...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/