Information Team Croydon
Digital Services
Assistant Chief Executive Directorate
Bernard Wetherill House
7th Floor, Zone B
Croydon
CR0 1EA

Contact: Information Team
[Croydon Borough Council request email]

 

NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email. If
you have a processing request, please ensure you quote that reference in
your emails to us.

DEAR Joseph Durbidge

 

Freedom of information request - FOI/7173

 

Subject: Foster Care Statistics

Your request is being considered and you will receive a response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days, subject to the application of
any exemptions. Where consideration is being given to exemptions the 20
working day timescale may be extended to a period considered reasonable
depending on the nature and circumstances of your request. In such cases
you will be notified and, where possible, a revised time-scale will be
indicated. In all cases we shall attempt to deal with your request at the
earliest opportunity.

If we are unable to provide you with the information requested we will
notify you of this together with the reason(s) why, and details of how you
may appeal.

Please note that the directorate team may contact you for further
information where we believe that the request is not significantly clear
for us to respond fully. 

Kind Regard

Information Management Team

 

Croydon Digital Services

Assistant Chief Executive Directorate

 

7th Floor, Zone B

Bernard Weatherill House

8 Mint Walk

Croydon CR0 1EA

Information Team Croydon
Digital Services
Assistant Chief Executive Directorate
Bernard Wetherill House
7th Floor, Zone B
Croydon
CR0 1EA

Contact: Information Team
[Croydon Borough Council request email]

 

Dear Joseph Durbidge

Request FOI/7173

Further to your request received on 06/03/2023, I confirm that the Council
has now considered your request under the Freedom of Information Act
2000. Specifically, you have requested the following information:

 

1) In the financial year 2021/22 what was the outturn for provided foster
care?

£4,794,934.

 

2) In the financial year 2021/22 what was the outturn for purchased foster
care?

£7,512,387

b) The average proportion of foster care placements in the financial year
2021/22, in percentage terms, that were purchased from independent
agencies  

52%

 

3) What is the total number of looked after children?

CLA as of 31^st March 2022 was 550

4) The number of looked after children who are being accommodated via
purchased fostering service

52%

b) The exact number of children in each of the contracts held by a
purchased fostering service, specifying the agencies used.  

The Council considers the cost information requested to be commercially
sensitive information and covered by the exemption provided in Section 43
of Freedom of Information Act.  This exemption applies to information
which if disclosed would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial
interests of any person, including the Council, providing the information
would reveal confidential contractual terms that would give a competitor a
commercial advantage if publicly disclosed.

It is important to remember that when information is released under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000, it is considered released to the wider
public. In deciding whether to apply this exemption the Council is
expected to balance the public interest test in withholding the
information against the public interest in disclosing the information.
Although there is always a clear case for transparency of council spend
and in informing the public how the council allocates taxpayer’s
resources, the information is considered, by the Council, to be
commercially sensitive as its disclosure would, or would be likely to,
prejudice the commercial interests of the of Council, as it is considered
that if the information is disclosed to you it could potentially weaken
the Council ability to obtain value for money in respect of any future
purchases of this type.

 

5) The number of looked after children who are being fostered via the
local authority provider

CLA as of 31^st March 2022 placed via PR1 in one of the foster placements
(U1-U6) were 263

6) The number of looked after children who are placed outside of the local
authority

CLA as of 31^st March 2022 placed outside LA boundary 265

 

7) The average number of registered foster carers who receive a fee from
the local authority provider between 14th December 2019 to 14th December
2022, broken down by years.

Dec 19 = 228

Dec 20 = 227

Dec 21 = 211

 

8) The number of foster carers de-registered from the local authority
provider between 14th December 2019 to 14th December 2022, broken down by
years.

2019/20 : 27  (from Dec 14^th to March 31^st)   

2020/21 : 87  

2021/22 : 51

2022/23 : 60 (from April 2022 to Dec 14^th 2022)

Individual carers, majority are part of two carer household.

 

The Council publishes Access to Information requests and responses on its
online Disclosure Log. (Any request included within this log will be
anonymised appropriately)

To view the Council’s Disclosure Log, please visit our website available
here:

[1]The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act | Croydon Council
(disclosure-log.co.uk)

 

If you are dissatisfied with the way the Council has handled your request
under the Freedom of Information Act, you may ask for an internal review.
This should be submitted to us within 40 working days of this response.
You can do this by outlining the details of your complaint by:

 

Email:        [2][Croydon Borough Council request email]

 

Writing:     Information Team

London Borough of Croydon

Bernard Weatherill House

Floor 7 - Zone B

8 Mint Walk

Croydon, CR0 1EA

 

Any requests received after the 40 working day time limit will be
considered only at the discretion of the council.

 

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:

 

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire, SK9 5AF

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Team

Croydon Digital Services

Assistant Chief Executive Directorate

Bernard Wetherill House,

Mint Walk,

Croydon,

CR0 1EA

 

 

[3][Croydon Borough Council request email]

[4][email address]

 

References

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1. https://croydon.disclosure-log.co.uk/
2. mailto:[Croydon Borough Council request email]
3. mailto:[Croydon Borough Council request email]
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