2021-2022 P1 Deferral Rates & Related Questions - East Lothian

The request was successful.

Patricia Anderson

Dear East Lothian 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/ childminder etc) for children whose fifth birthdays have will fall between the day after the school start date in August 2021 and 31st Dec 2021.

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 2020 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 2021 instead of Aug 2022 (for children who will turn five on or after 1st March 2022)?

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 for 2022-2023?

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?

10a. How many requests did the Council receive for older children* to defer their primary one start till Aug2022?

*(by "older children" I mean those who had already reached the age of five by the school commencement date in August 2021).

10b. How many older children* has the Council permitted to defer their primary one start till Aug 2022?

*(by "older children" I mean those who had already reached the age of five by the school commencement date in August 2021).

11. Has the Council requested to be part of the 2022-2023 expansion of the Scottish Government's pilot scheme to fund a further year of ELC for all mid-Aug to 31 Dec born children deferring their p1 start before the law is rolled out nationally from Aug 2023?

12a. Please provide SIMD deciles for all applications received as per the total number provided in your response to question 1.

12b. Please provide SIMD deciles for all applications granted as per the total number provided in your response to question 3.

12c. Does the Council take the SIMD decile of applicants into consideration when deciding whether to authorise a discretionary deferral ELC funding application?

Yours faithfully,

Patricia Anderson

Freedom Of Information, East Lothian Council

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Freedom of Information Team

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2. mailto:[East Lothian Council request email]
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4. Link to ELC website
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Freedom Of Information, East Lothian Council

1 Attachment

Our Ref:   2021/769737 

 

Dear Ms Anderson

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002

ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2004

 

Further to your enquiry of 26 August, on behalf of East Lothian Council I
am now able to provide our response; please refer to the PDF attachment.

 

Under the terms of this legislation, if you are unhappy with the way your
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internal review.  Please note, however, that both the Freedom of
Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the Environmental Information
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The Scottish Information Commissioner publishes the following guidance
about internal reviews:

 

You can ask the authority to review its decision if it does not respond or
you are unhappy with the way it has dealt with your request, for example
by:

 

·                refusing to give you the information

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We must receive a request to review within 40 working days of the date of
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Customer Feedback and FOI Team

People and Governance

East Lothian Council

John Muir House

Haddington

EH41 3HA

 

Email: [1][East Lothian Council request email]

 

We will have a maximum of 20 working days from the date we receive your
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If you are still not satisfied with our decision following the review
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appeal service is provided for your convenience: 
[2]http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourR...

 

Alternatively, you may contact OSIC at:

 

Scottish Information Commissioner

Kinburn Castle

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St Andrews

Fife

KY16 9DS

 

Telephone:  01334 464610

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E-mail:  [3][email address]

 

If you remain dissatisfied following the Commissioner’s decision, you may
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Yours sincerely

 

Shelley Neville

Freedom of Information Team

East Lothian Council

John Muir House

Haddington

EH41 3HA

 

Tel: 01620 827623

Email: [4][East Lothian Council request email]

 

Information about East Lothian Council’s complaints procedure can be found
[5]here.

 

Details of your rights to requesting information from East Lothian Council
are published [6]here.

 

The Scottish Information Commissioner is responsible for the enforcement
of Scotland's freedom of information laws.  Guidance regarding your rights
of access to information held by Scottish public authorities is available
on the Commissioner’s [7]website.

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