SEND, Children with Disabilities complaints 2019

The request was partially successful.

SEND Crisis Warwickshire

Dear Warwickshire County Council,

Please supply separate data for the calendar year 2019 for each of the following:

Number of complaints received by WCC in 2019 regarding any aspect of a child's support for their SEND (special education needs and / or disability) linked to provision by any and all education settings, SEND & Inclusion (including SENDAR), Children & Families, WCC specialist support services across health, social care and education.

Of these complaints received for each calendar year, how many were assessed and investigated under the corporate complaints process, and how many were assessed and investigated under the Children's Act complaints process?

Of these complaints received for each calendar year, how many were upheld or partially upheld?

Of these complaints received for each calendar year, how many remain currently open?

Of these complaints received for each calendar year, how many took longer than statutory timeframes to complete?

Of these complaints received for each calendar year, how many were escalated to the Local Government Ombudsman and / or the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman?

Yours faithfully,

SEND Crisis Warwickshire

Warwickshire County Council

 
Information request
Our reference: 6761889

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Dear SEND Crisis Warwickshire
 
Freedom of Information Act 2000
 
Thank you for your request for information that was received on 4 May
2021. We are dealing with your request under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000
 
Under our normal statutory requirements we are required to provide you
with a response within 20 working days of the receipt of your request.
Therefore we would aim to send a response by 2 June 2021. However, please
see ** below.
 

In some case, a fee may be payable. If we decide a fee is payable, we will
send you a fee notice and we will require you to pay the fee before
proceeding with your request.

 
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 may restrict the release of some or
all of the information you have requested. We will carry out an assessment
and if any exemptions apply to some or all of the information then we
might not provide that information to you. We will inform you if this is
the case and advise you of your right to request an internal review and to
complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.
 
We will also advise you if we cannot provide you with the information
requested for any other reason together with the reason(s) why and details
of how you may appeal (if appropriate).
 
 
** Please note:
 

In line with many organisations, nationally and globally, Warwickshire
County Council is experiencing unprecedented challenges during the
COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst we will endeavour to adhere to our Information
Rights timescales during this period, there may be times when we need
to redirect our resources to assist the council and partner agencies to
respond to the outbreak.  Therefore, you may experience delays in
receiving a response from us in relation to information rights requests
during this time.   

Further guidance can be found on the Information Commissioner’s Office
website
at  [1]https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/you...
appreciate your cooperation and understanding during this time.  

 

 Kind regards

Jonathan Sheward
Information Rights Officer

Information Management
Warwickshire County Council
Shire Hall
Warwick
CV34 4RL
Tel: 01926 413716

 

 

 

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References

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Warwickshire County Council

 
Information request
Our reference: 6761889

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Dear ‎SEND Crisis Warwickshire,‏
 
Freedom of Information Act 2000
 
Your request for information, received 4 May 2021, has been considered by
Warwickshire County Council under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
 
While information to answer your request is held by Warwickshire County
Council we have decided on this occasion to refuse your request.
Therefore, please treat this e-mail as a Refusal Notice in accordance with
Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
 
You asked us:
 
Please supply separate data for the calendar year 2019 for each of the
following:

Number of complaints received by WCC in 2019 regarding any aspect of a
child's support for their SEND (special education needs and / or
disability) linked to provision by any and all education settings, SEND &
Inclusion (including SENDAR), Children & Families,
WCC specialist support services across health, social care and education.

Of these complaints received for each calendar year, how many were
assessed and investigated under the corporate complaints process, and how
many were assessed and investigated under the Children's Act complaints
process?

Of these complaints received for each calendar year, how many were upheld
or partially upheld?

Of these complaints received for each calendar year, how many remain
currently open?

Of these complaints received for each calendar year, how many took longer
than statutory timeframes to complete?

Of these complaints received for each calendar year, how many were
escalated to the Local Government Ombudsman and / or the Parliamentary and
Health Service Ombudsman?
 
Finding, retrieving and preparing information takes council officers' time
and consequently we are allowed to consider costs. If based upon an hourly
rate of £25 the cost exceeds the 'appropriate limit' then the public
authority can refuse to fulfil the request. For Local Authorities the
'appropriate limit' is set at £450 (which equates to 18 hours).
 
Also, when calculating the costs of complying we are permitted, under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000, to aggregate the costs of all related
requests that we have receive within 60 working days from the same person
or from people who seem to be working together. 
 
This request has been aggregated with request reference number 6675972,
received on 7 April 2021 from yourselves, that we are currently
considering in respect of identical information for the 2020 and 2021 (to
date) calendar years.
 
Thus we are refusing to supply the information. In not supplying the
information the Council is relying upon exemption - Section 12(1) of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 which provides an exemption in so far as
the Council is not obliged to comply with a request for information if the
Council estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the appropriate
limit.
 
 
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the
right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be
submitted within 40 days of the date of receipt of the response to your
original letter and should be addressed to:
 
Information Management
Shire Hall
Warwick
CV34 4RL
[Warwickshire County Council request email] 
 
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:
The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
Phone: 0303 123 1113
Website: [1]www.ico.org.uk
 
Please contact me if you have any queries or concerns.
 

Yours sincerely

Jonathan Sheward
Information Rights Officer
Information Management
Warwickshire County Council
Shire Hall
Warwick
CV34 4RL
Tel: 01926 413716
E-mail: [2][email address]
 
 
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.

References

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2. mailto:[email address]

SEND Crisis Warwickshire

Dear Warwickshire County Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Warwickshire County Council's handling of my FOI request 'SEND, Children with Disabilities complaints 2019'.

The LA have agreed to complete the same FOI request for the calendar year 2020/2021 (separately submitted) but have declined to complete this one. In order to be able to see if there has been any alteration to data (a rise or fall), we requested at least 2 years' worth of information.

Previously when 2019, 2020 and 2021 data was requested, the LA said they could only complete 2020/2021. SEND National Crisis Warwickshire accepted the splitting of the data and resubmitted the request accordingly. 2019 has now been declined under inappropriate time required Section 12.

Given the LA are already going to the trouble of pulling the data for 2020 including 2021, it seems obstructive not to efficiently carry out the same process for 2019 at the same time. We respectfully request and internal review and request our FOI is reconsidered.

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,

SEND Crisis Warwickshire

Warwickshire County Council

 
Information request
Our reference: 6761889

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Dear SEND Crisis Warwickshire
 
Thank you for your request for a review received on 17 May 2021. I am
sorry that you are dissatisfied with our attempts to handle your request
under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
 
I can confirm that we are considering your concerns and we will aim to
provide you with a response as soon as possible. We aim to provide you
with a response within 20 working days (15 June 2021). We may extend this
time period in exceptional circumstances and we will let you know if we
need to do so.
 
Please note. in line with many organisations nationally and
globally, Warwickshire County Council is experiencing unprecedented
challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst we will endeavour to
adhere to our Information Rights timescales during this period, there may
be times when we need to redirect our resources to assist the council and
partner agencies to respond to the outbreak.  Therefore, you may
experience delays in receiving a response from us in relation to
information rights requests during this time.   

Further guidance can be found on the Information Commissioner's Office
website
at  [1]https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/you...
appreciate your cooperation and understanding during this time.  

 
 

 Kind regards

Jason Williams
Legal Assistant

Law and Governance - Legal Services
Shire Hall
Warwick
CV34 4RL

 

 
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.

References

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Lucy Adams, Warwickshire County Council

2 Attachments

Please find attached my letter dated 24 June in response to your request
for an internal review dated 17 May 2021.

 

Lucy Adams

Solicitor

Planning and Litigation

Warwickshire Legal Services

Governance and Policy

Resources Directorate - Warwickshire County Council

Telephone: 01926 738813

 

My working days: Monday (9am to 1pm), Tuesday to Thursday (usual office
hours). 

 

 

COVID-19  Working arrangements

 

Warwickshire Legal Services will be working as normal during this period
of self isolation.  A skeleton team of staff will be covering the office
at Shire Hall, with all other staff working from home.

 

We will not be attending face to face meetings, any meetings will be via
Microsoft Teams or telephone conference.

  

If you need to contact us urgently and I am not available please email
[1][email address] or Tel 01926 414901 (9:00 – 17:00
Weekdays).

 

Thank you for your consideration during this time.

 

 

This transmission is intended for the named addressee(s) only and may
contain confidential, sensitive or personal information and should be
handled accordingly. Unless you are the named addressee (or authorised to
receive it for the addressee) you may not copy or use it, or disclose it
to anyone else. If you have received this transmission in error please
notify the sender immediately. All email traffic sent to or from us may be
subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance with relevant
legislation.

References

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1. mailto:[email address]

Lucy Adams, Warwickshire County Council

2 Attachments

Please find attached my letter dated 24 June 2021 in response to your
request for an internal review which was received on 3 May 2021.

 

Lucy Adams

Solicitor

Planning and Litigation

Warwickshire Legal Services

Governance and Policy

Resources Directorate - Warwickshire County Council

Telephone: 01926 738813

 

My working days: Monday (9am to 1pm), Tuesday to Thursday (usual office
hours). 

 

 

COVID-19  Working arrangements

 

Warwickshire Legal Services will be working as normal during this period
of self isolation.  A skeleton team of staff will be covering the office
at Shire Hall, with all other staff working from home.

 

We will not be attending face to face meetings, any meetings will be via
Microsoft Teams or telephone conference.

  

If you need to contact us urgently and I am not available please email
[1][email address] or Tel 01926 414901 (9:00 – 17:00
Weekdays).

 

Thank you for your consideration during this time.

 

 

This transmission is intended for the named addressee(s) only and may
contain confidential, sensitive or personal information and should be
handled accordingly. Unless you are the named addressee (or authorised to
receive it for the addressee) you may not copy or use it, or disclose it
to anyone else. If you have received this transmission in error please
notify the sender immediately. All email traffic sent to or from us may be
subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance with relevant
legislation.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]