Good afternoon,

I am emailing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I am requesting:

1. For each month between and including March 2019 and December 2021, please provide the number of detentions of children (under 18) detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983

2. The total number of individual children detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act during the following periods:
a. 28/02/2019 to 29/02/2020
b. 01/03/2020 to 01/03/2021

3. In reference to question (1), for each detention can you provide:
a. The month and year of the detention (MM/YYYY)
b. The age of the child (broken down into the following bands to avoid potential identification):
i. 0-5
ii. 5-11
iii. 12-15
iv. 16-17
c. The gender of the child
d. The reason for detention
e. Was it a detention of a child looked after by a local authority?
f. Where did the detention take place:
i. Accident and emergency department
ii. A paediatric ward
iii. A “place of safety” at a mental health trust
iv. Other
g. How long was the person detained?

4. How many “places of safety” (as required under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act) are there within the trust’s area of responsibility and what is the capacity of each?

I would like to receive the information electronically in a spreadsheet, with the questions as column headers.

If the decision is made to withhold some of this information using exemptions in the Act, please inform me of that fact and cite the exemptions used.

If you need clarification please contact me at this email address. Under your section 16 duty to provide advice and assistance I would expect you to contact me if you find this request unmanageable in any way before the 20th working day.

I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request, and I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Thank you for your time,

Gareth Davies