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Request for Information – WBC-FOI-00934 – Foster care

Thank you for your request for information received on 06 March 2023.

We aim to respond to you within 20 working days.

Regards

FOI and DPA Officer

[email address]

IMPORTANT:
This email and any of its attachments are intended solely for the use of
the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received
this message in error you must not print, copy, use or disclose the
contents to anyone. Please also delete it from your system and inform the
sender of the error immediately. Emails sent and received by Richmond and
Wandsworth Councils are monitored and may be subsequently disclosed to
authorised third parties, in accordance with relevant legislation.

References

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Request for Information - WBC-FOI-00934 - Foster care

I refer to your request for information received on 06 March 2023.  Please
see the information below in response to your request: -

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

180

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

95

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

53%

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

241

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

87

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

Name of IFA No. of children
Action for Children Fewer than 5
Affinity Fostering <5
Ascent Fostering Agency 9
Avanti Fostering Ltd <5
Banya Family Placement Agency <5
Bridging Gaps Fostering Agency <5
Capstone Foster Care (South East) Limited <5
Children Of All Nations (COAN) <5
Children Of Colour Ltd <5
Chrysalis Care <5
Compass Fostering London Limited 6
Compass Fostering South <5
Credo Care Fostering <5
Family Fostering <5
Flourish Fostering Limited <5
Foster Care Associates Midlands <5
Fostering For You 6
Fostering Innovations <5
Fostering London <5
Fostering Support Group <5
Fostering Support Group:London Office <5
Greater London Fostering <5
Heath Farm Children's Services <5
Medway Council <5
National Fostering Agency <5
Next Step Fostering Services <5
NFA South East 9
Outset Fostering Agency <5
Rainbow Fostering Services Limited <5
Shining Stars Fostering Agency <5
Sunbeam Fostering Agency Limited <5
TACT Fostering - London and the South East <5
Xcel 2000 Fostercare Services <5
Grand Total 87

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

55 internal foster carers, 24 connected foster carers = 79 total

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

194

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?

  Total number of carers receiving fee element
2019/2020 99
2020/2021 109
2021/2022 102
2022/2023 (up to Dec 2022) 82

8) The number of foster carers de-registered from the local authority
provider between 14th December 2019 to14th December 2022, broken down by
years?  Please see below. Note that ‘de-registration’ figures below
includes foster carers where the local authority made the decision to
terminate and where the foster carer also decided to no longer foster for
the council.

Year No. of foster carers de-registered
2019 (14^th December 2019 onwards) 0
2020 41
2021 36
2022 (up to 14^th December 2022) 26
Total 103

You will notice that the phrase ‘fewer than 5’ has been used in lieu of
some exact figures above.  This is because Wandsworth Council considers
that disclosure of very low numbers of individuals would enable the
identification of a living individual from that information, or, from the
information and other data in the possession of, or likely to come into
the possession of, a data controller.  Disclosure of the requested
information would result in a breach of one or more of the principles of
the GDPR/DPA 2018 and the information is therefore exempt in accordance
with Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

I hope this information meets your needs.  If you do not understand the
information provided or wish to discuss anything further, please feel free
to contact us.

Please note, all material provided by Wandsworth Council in response to
your request for information is for your personal, non-commercial use. The
Council reserves all rights in the copyright of the information provided. 
Any unauthorised copying or adaptation of the information without express
written confirmation from the Council may constitute an infringement of
copyright. Any intention to re-use this information commercially may
require consent.  Please forward any requests for re-use of information to
the FOI officer.

If you are dissatisfied with the information provided in relation to your
request, you may make representations to the Information and Transparency
Manager.  Any such request for an internal review should be made within 40
days from today's date.  Correspondence should be addressed
to: [email address]

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
at: [2]https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

Regards,

FOI and DPA Officer

[email address]

IMPORTANT:
This email and any of its attachments are intended solely for the use of
the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received
this message in error you must not print, copy, use or disclose the
contents to anyone. Please also delete it from your system and inform the
sender of the error immediately. Emails sent and received by Richmond and
Wandsworth Councils are monitored and may be subsequently disclosed to
authorised third parties, in accordance with relevant legislation.

References

Visible links
2. https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

Official

Dear Mr Durbidge,

Thank you for your email received on 20 April 2023.  Please see the
information below in response to your follow-up request: -

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

            £2,299,328

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

            £4,924,799

Regards,

FOI and DPA Officer

[1][email address]

From: Joseph Durbidge <[FOI #957502 email]>
Sent: 20 April 2023 13:43
To: FOI WBC <[email address]>
Subject: Re: WBC-FOI-00934 - Foster care

[You don't often get email from
[2][FOI #957502 email]. Learn why this is important
at [3]https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentific... ]

Dear FOI WBC,

Thanks very much for the response, really helpful. With regards to
questions 1 and 2 :

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

180

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

95

What I meant by outturn was the total expenditure. So for question 1 I'm
referring to the total expenditure on providing foster care in-house at
Wandsworth Council, including fees+ admin costs etc

For question 2 I'm referring to independent fostering agencies. Sorry if
that wasn't clear

Yours sincerely,

Joseph Durbidge

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