Scottish LAs Discretionary Deferral Funding Stats for 2020-2021

The request was successful.

Patricia Anderson

Dear East Renfrewshire Council,

Please accept this email as a Freedom of Information request. I am sending this request to all 32 Scottish local authorities.

Please could the Council provide:

1) The total number of requests received to date for the Council to provide discretionary funding for a further year of early learning and childcare (nursery) for children whose fifth birthdays will fall between the day after the school start date in August 2020 and 31st Dec 2020.

2) A breakdown of the total number in 1. above by requests for
a) continued funding in private/voluntary settings and
b) continued funding in council run settings and
c) continued funding for split placements where a child attends both a private/voluntary and a council run setting.

3) In relation to question 2, please provide the number of places the Council has agreed to provide continued funding for in
a) private/voluntary settings and
b) council run settings and
c) split placements where a child attends both a private/voluntary and a council run setting.

4. How many of the children applying have a December birthday?

5a. How many appeals (challenges if there is no official appeals process) did the Council receive against the Council’s decision not to grant funding?

5b. How many of these appeals/challenges resulted in the initial decision being overturned?

6. How many official complaints has the Council received regarding discretionary deferral funding decisions between Nov 2019 and the date of your response to this FoI request?

7a. How many applications did the Council receive for children to be permitted early entry to primary school to start in Aug 2020 instead of Aug 2021 (for children who will turn five on or after 1st March 2021)?

7b. How many of these early entry applications were approved?

8. Is the Council’s discretionary deferral funding policy currently under review or are there any plans to update it in the near future?

9. How many parents/carers are currently financing a further year of nursery for their child's deferral year themselves in a council run nursery after the Council refused to fund their request for this?

10. How many older children* has the Council permitted to defer their primary one start till 2021?
*(by "older children" I mean those who had already reached the age of five by the school commencement date in August 2020).

Yours faithfully,

Patricia Anderson

*Customer Services, East Renfrewshire Council

Thank you for your enquiry.

 

A Customer Service Officer will either answer your enquiry directly or
forward it to the appropriate Officer in East Renfrewshire Council within
the next 5 working days.

 

If your enquiry is a complaint you should receive a response within 5
working days.  If it is a Freedom of Information request you should
receive a response within 20 working days.

 

Did you know you can access a wide range of Council services online 24/7.
[1]www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/doitonline

 

The council processes your personal data on the legal basis of carrying
out tasks in the public interest or for performance of a contract.  You
can find out how we use your information in our privacy statement on our
website. [2]http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/datap...

 

Kind regards

 

Customer Services

 

 

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*Customer Services, East Renfrewshire Council

Thank you for your enquiry.

 

A Customer Service Officer will either answer your enquiry directly or
forward it to the appropriate Officer in East Renfrewshire Council within
the next 5 working days.

 

If your enquiry is a complaint you should receive a response within 5
working days.  If it is a Freedom of Information request you should
receive a response within 20 working days.

 

Did you know you can access a wide range of Council services online 24/7.
[1]www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/doitonline

 

The council processes your personal data on the legal basis of carrying
out tasks in the public interest or for performance of a contract.  You
can find out how we use your information in our privacy statement on our
website. [2]http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/datap...

 

Kind regards

 

Customer Services

 

 

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*Customer Services, East Renfrewshire Council

1 Attachment

Good afternoon

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request.

Please find attached your FOI acknowledgement letter.

We have recently improved our website and you can now submit Freedom of Information requests online at - http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/your-...

Kind regards

Claire
Claire Sutherland
Customer Service Assistant
Customer First
 0141 577 3001

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Dear East Renfrewshire Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of East Renfrewshire Council's handling of my FOI request 'Scottish LAs Discretionary Deferral Funding Stats for 2020-2021'. I have not received a response within the statutory 20 working days. Please could this be investigated and sent as soon as possible.

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

Yours faithfully,

Patricia Anderson

*Customer Services, East Renfrewshire Council

Thank you for your enquiry.

 

A Customer Service Officer will either answer your enquiry directly or
forward it to the appropriate Officer in East Renfrewshire Council within
the next 5 working days.

 

If your enquiry is a complaint you should receive a response within 5
working days.  If it is a Freedom of Information request you should
receive a response within 20 working days.

 

Did you know you can access a wide range of Council services online 24/7.
[1]www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/doitonline

 

The council processes your personal data on the legal basis of carrying
out tasks in the public interest or for performance of a contract.  You
can find out how we use your information in our privacy statement on our
website. [2]http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/datap...

 

Kind regards

 

Customer Services

 

 

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*Customer Services, East Renfrewshire Council

Thank you for your enquiry.

 

A Customer Service Officer will either answer your enquiry directly or
forward it to the appropriate Officer in East Renfrewshire Council within
the next 5 working days.

 

If your enquiry is a complaint you should receive a response within 5
working days.  If it is a Freedom of Information request you should
receive a response within 20 working days.

 

Did you know you can access a wide range of Council services online 24/7.
[1]www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/doitonline

 

The council processes your personal data on the legal basis of carrying
out tasks in the public interest or for performance of a contract.  You
can find out how we use your information in our privacy statement on our
website. [2]http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/datap...

 

Kind regards

 

Customer Services

 

 

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*Customer Services, East Renfrewshire Council

Good morning

Thank you for your email. I have passed your message to our FOI Section who will be in touch directly.

Should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Kind regards

Claire
Claire Sutherland
Customer Service Assistant
Customer First
 0141 577 3001

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Vance, Aileen, East Renfrewshire Council

2 Attachments

Dear Ms Anderson

 

Please see attached

 

Regards

 

Aileen

 

Stay Safe

Aileen Vance 
Senior Business Support Assistant 
Education Improvement and Support Unit 

Tel - 0141 577 3253

 

East Renfrewshire: Your Council, Your Future

[1]www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk

 

 

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Dear East Renfrewshire Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of East Renfrewshire Council's handling of my FOI request 'Scottish LAs Discretionary Deferral Funding Stats for 2020-2021'.

Thank you for your response to my FoI request, however, I think there must have been a misunderstanding as the response indicates that zero requests for discretionary deferral funding were received by the Council for children who have either just turned 5 since 13th August 2020 or will shortly turn 5 by 31st December 2020. These children have a legal right to defer their primary one start till they are nearer six years old in August 2021 but they do not have an automatic entitlement to a further year of ELC funding - the Council has the discretion to award this or not.

I sent the Council a very similar FoI request in summer 2019 for last year's data (see here: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/j...) which indicated that at the time of the response on 8/8/19, East Renfrewshire Council had received 19 requests for such funding. It therefore seems highly unlikely that it received zero this year. Please could your response be double-checked as soon as possible.

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

Yours faithfully,

Patricia Anderson

*Customer Services, East Renfrewshire Council

Thank you for your enquiry.

 

A Customer Service Officer will either answer your enquiry directly or
forward it to the appropriate Officer in East Renfrewshire Council within
the next 5 working days.

 

If your enquiry is a complaint you should receive a response within 5
working days.  If it is a Freedom of Information request you should
receive a response within 20 working days.

 

Did you know you can access a wide range of Council services online 24/7.
[1]www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/doitonline

 

The council processes your personal data on the legal basis of carrying
out tasks in the public interest or for performance of a contract.  You
can find out how we use your information in our privacy statement on our
website. [2]http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/datap...

 

Kind regards

 

Customer Services

 

 

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*Customer Services, East Renfrewshire Council

Good morning

Thank you for your email. I have passed your message to our FOI Section who will be in touch directly.

Should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Kind regards

Claire
Claire Sutherland
Customer Service Assistant
Customer First
 0141 577 3001

8 Did you know that you can access a wide range of council services online - 24/7? Visit www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk
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Patricia Anderson

Dear East Renfrewshire Council,

I have not yet received a response to my request for an FoI review which is due no later than tomorrow. If I do not receive this by tomorrow (22nd Oct 2020), I will be writing to the information commissioner regarding this.

Yours faithfully,

Patricia Anderson

*Customer Services, East Renfrewshire Council

Thank you for your enquiry.

 

A Customer Service Officer will either answer your enquiry directly or
forward it to the appropriate Officer in East Renfrewshire Council within
the next 5 working days.

 

If your enquiry is a complaint you should receive a response within 5
working days.  If it is a Freedom of Information request you should
receive a response within 20 working days.

 

Did you know you can access a wide range of Council services online 24/7.
[1]www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/doitonline

 

The council processes your personal data on the legal basis of carrying
out tasks in the public interest or for performance of a contract.  You
can find out how we use your information in our privacy statement on our
website. [2]http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/datap...

 

Kind regards

 

Customer Services

 

 

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References

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1. file:///tmp/www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/doitonline
2. http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/datap...

*Customer Services, East Renfrewshire Council

Thank you for your enquiry.

 

A Customer Service Officer will either answer your enquiry directly or
forward it to the appropriate Officer in East Renfrewshire Council within
the next 5 working days.

 

If your enquiry is a complaint you should receive a response within 5
working days.  If it is a Freedom of Information request you should
receive a response within 20 working days.

 

Did you know you can access a wide range of Council services online 24/7.
[1]www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/doitonline

 

The council processes your personal data on the legal basis of carrying
out tasks in the public interest or for performance of a contract.  You
can find out how we use your information in our privacy statement on our
website. [2]http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/datap...

 

Kind regards

 

Customer Services

 

 

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1. file:///tmp/www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/doitonline
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*Customer Services, East Renfrewshire Council

Good afternoon

Thank you for your email. I have passed your message to our FOI Section who will be in touch directly.

Should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Kind regards

Claire
Claire Sutherland
Customer Service Assistant
Customer First
 0141 577 3001

8 Did you know that you can access a wide range of council services online - 24/7? Visit www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk
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Mahon, Gerry, East Renfrewshire Council

Dear Miss Anderson,

 

I refer to the above and to your request for review dated 24 September
2020 following upon the Council’s response to your initial request. I have
responsibility for conducting reviews in terms of the Council’s Freedom of
Information procedures and write to advise that I have now concluded
consideration of this case.

 

Having investigated the matter I am in agreement with you that the
information supplied to you was not accurate. I apologise unreservedly on
behalf of the Council for this failing. I am advised that the officer
handling the request at first instance misunderstood the terms of the
query hence the answer supplied.

 

The correct information is detailed below:

 

1) The total number of requests received to date for the Council to
provide discretionary funding for a further year of early learning and
childcare (nursery) for children whose fifth birthdays will fall between
the day after the school start date in August 2020 and 31st Dec 2020. 30

 

2) A breakdown of the total number in 1. above by requests for

 

a) continued funding in private/voluntary settings and 3

 

b) continued funding in council run settings and 24

 

c) continued funding for split placements where a child attends both a
private/voluntary and a council run setting. 3

 

3) In relation to question 2, please provide the number of places the
Council has agreed to provide continued funding for in

a) private/voluntary settings and 3

b) council run settings and 18

c) split placements where a child attends both a private/voluntary and a
council run setting. 3

 

4. How many of the children applying have a December birthday? 14

 

5a. How many appeals (challenges if there is no official appeals process)
did the Council receive against the Council’s decision not to grant
funding? 2 challenges

 

5b. How many of these appeals/challenges resulted in the initial decision
being overturned? 1

 

6. How many official complaints has the Council received regarding
discretionary deferral funding decisions between Nov 2019 and the date of
your response to this FoI request? 2

 

7a. How many applications did the Council receive for children to be
permitted early entry to primary school to start in Aug 2020 instead of
Aug 2021 (for children who will turn five on or after 1st March 2021)? 1

 

7b. How many of these early entry applications were approved? 0

 

8. Is the Council’s discretionary deferral funding policy currently under
review or are there any plans to update it in the near future? It will be
reviewed when the expected announcement is made by the Scottish
Government.

 

9. How many parents/carers are currently financing a further year of
nursery for their child's deferral year themselves in a council run
nursery after the Council refused to fund their request for this? 2

 

10. How many older children* has the Council permitted to defer their
primary one start till 2021?

*(by "older children" I mean those who had already reached the age of five
by the school commencement date in August 2020). 1

 

I hope this now satisfies your request.  If you are dissatisfied with the
outcome of this review you have the right to appeal to the Scottish
Information Commissioner.  His address is: Scottish Information
Commissioner, Kinburn Castle, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9DS.

Yours sincerely

Gerry Mahon

Chief Officer – Legal and Procurement

 

 

 

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