Caseload Information for Troubled Families

The request was refused by Merton Borough Council.

Dear Merton Borough Council,

I would like to find out the following about the Troubled Families programme:

1. How many Lead Professionals/Keyworkers/Dedicated Workers (ie.1-2-1
support staff) across council staff and/or commissioned providers worked with identified Troubled Families (TF) for the years
a. 2013-2014
b. 2014-2015
2. How many of these Leader Professionals/Keyworkers/Dedicated Workers worked full-time/exclusively with TF families
3. Number of families worked with in the years
a. 2013-2014
b. 2014-2015
4. The average caseload of each Lead Professional/Keyworker/Dedicated Worker working full-time with TF families in the years
a. 2013-2014
b. 2014-2015
5. The average caseload of each Lead Professional/Keyworker/Dedicated Worker working part-time with TF families for the years
a. 2013-14
b. 2014-15
6. The number of families entering the TF programme in the years
a. 2013-2014
b. 2014-2015
7. The number of families exiting the TF programme having been ‘turned around’ in the years
a. 2013-2014
b. 2014-2015
8. % of time spent by Lead Professionals/Keyworkers on work not related to their allocated families (eg. meetings, training, general admin)
9. The average number of sick days taken by Lead Professionals/Keyworkers working on the TF programmes.

Many thanks for your help.

Yours faithfully,

Gen Hudson

foi, Merton Borough Council

Thank you for your email message. We aim to respond to all requests under
the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Environmental Information
Regulations 2004 within 20 working days.
More information about the way we deal with information requests is on our
web site at [1]www.merton.gov.uk/foi.
 
Information Governance Team
London Borough of Merton.
020 8545 4634
 
 
 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/www.merton.gov.uk/foi

Rosalind Girdlestone, Merton Borough Council

Dear Gen Hudson
Freedom of Information Act 2000 / Environmental Information Regulations
2004 - Information request 
 
Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 21 May
2015.  Please accept my apology for the delay in responding to your
request, however, we have now considered your requests as set out below. 
 
You asked:
 
I would like to find out the following about the Troubled Families
programme:
 
1.      How many Lead Professionals/Keyworkers/Dedicated Workers (ie.1-2-1
support staff) across council staff and/or commissioned providers worked
with identified Troubled Families (TF) for the years
a.      2013-2014
b.      2014-2015
2.      How many of these Leader Professionals/Keyworkers/Dedicated
Workers worked full-time/exclusively with TF families?
3.      Number of families worked with in the years
a.      2013-2014
b.      2014-2015
4.      The average caseload of each Lead Professional/ Keyworker/
Dedicated Worker working full-time with TF families in the years
a.      2013-2014
b.      2014-2015
5.      The average caseload of each Lead Professional/ Keyworker/
Dedicated Worker working part-time with TF families for the years
a.      2013-14
b.      2014-15
6.      The number of families entering the TF programme in the years
a.      2013-2014
b.      2014-2015
7.      The number of families exiting the TF programme having been
‘turned around’ in the years
a.      2013-2014
b.      2014-2015
8.      % of time spent by Lead Professionals/Keyworkers on work not
related to their allocated families (eg. meetings, training, general
admin)
9.      The average number of sick days taken by Lead Professionals/
Keyworkers working on the TF programmes.
 
 
Our response:
 
Unfortunately we can not provide this information because it would exceed
the time limit for requests, which is 18 hours (as stated in the Freedom
of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004). 
This is because we are unable to answer questions 1,2,4, 5 and 6 within 18
hours because the key worker information (Lead/ Part-time and Full-time
workers) would have to be collated from many data sources (Careworks,
Education, TF, Totalview (via Business Objects) and social workers
directly. And for question 6, 261 of the 370 families (69%) in phase 1
would need to have a referral date allocated to them before we can answer
this question. These dates, where available, have so far been collated
manually from the TF referral forms (which are word documents) for each
family. The remaining dates would need to be gathered from Careworks and
other data sources.  As these disparate datasets come from various systems
around the council for each family, a lot of manual data entry and
cleansing is involved which is very time consuming and would exceed the
time limit for requests.  Therefore, the information requested is exempt
under Section 12 of the Act, which is that the cost of compliance exceeds
the appropriate limit.
 
Please consider refining your request so that it can be answered within
the time limit.   You could do this by asking questions 3, 7, 8 and 9
only.  Please contact me if you would like to do this or if you require
further advice on refining your request so that it can be answered within
the time limit. 
 
If you have any queries or concerns about this please contact me.
 
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request please contact
Karin Lane, the Head of Information Governance at Merton Council, Civic
Centre, Morden, SM4 5DX or e-mail [1][Merton Borough Council request email]
 
If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request or complaint,
you have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at:
 
The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.  
Telephone:0303 123 1113  Website: [2]www.ico.org.uk
 
There is no charge for making an appeal.
 
Yours sincerely
 
 
Rosalind Girdlestone
Information Officer
Information Governance Team
Merton Council
020 8545 4634
[3]www.merton.gov.uk
 
 
 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Merton Borough Council request email]
2. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
3. http://www.merton.gov.uk/