Foster care stats
Dear Croydon Borough Council,
1) Could you provide me with the weekly foster care allowances for all age bands given to local authority carers, not including any fee/reward element, from 2008- the present day, broken down by year. When allowances were changed, please give the date of change.
b) Could you provide me with the average number of children in each age band in the last 3 financial years, as well as the current number, broken down by year
2) Could you provide me with weekly fees paid to local authority foster carers from 2008- the current amounts, broken down by year. Please break these down by the different bands and state what the criteria for each band is. When fees were changed, please give the date of change.
3) Please detail any allowances that ALL foster carers can claim in addition to their weekly allowance, from 2008- the present, broken down by year
e.g. holiday allowance or mileage. If any allowances were added,changed or removed please give the date of change.
b) Does the council provide council tax exemption for foster carers? If so please provide the policy
c) What are foster carers entitlements to respite care? Please provide the councils policy on this
4) Please could you give me the average total of registered foster carers for the last 3 financial years, broken down by year, as well as the current number. Please could you break this down by type of carer.
5) In the financial years 2022/2023, 2021/22 and 2020/2021 what was the expenditure for foster care provided by the local authority agency and what is the current expenditure this year? Please provide a breakdown of costs. This is not including Kinship care
6) In the financial years 2022/2023, 2021/22 and 2020/2021 what was the expenditure for purchased foster care and what is the current expenditure this year? This refers to Independent fostering agencies
b) The proportion of foster care placements in the financial years 2022/2023, 2021/22 and 2020/2021, in percentage terms, that were purchased from independent agencies and also the current proportion as of 14/12/23
c) The average numbers of foster care placements in the financial years 2022/2023, 2021/22 and 2020/2021 as well as the current numbers as of 14/12/23, in nominal terms, that were purchased from independent agencies and the average numbers placed with the local authority agency
d) The exact number of children as of 14/12/23 in each of the contracts held by a purchased fostering service, specifying the agencies used.
When allowances or fees were changed in a given year, please specify the exact date they were changed.
Where I’ve asked for an average for a year, if you could choose multiple dates and then create an average from that, NOT provide a total for the year. If this isn’t possible please choose one date and provide the date used. Please provide the response in PDF format, many thanks.
Yours faithfully,
Joseph Durbidge
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]
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Dear Joseph Durbidge
Freedom of information request - FOI/8937
Subject: FOI - Foster Care stats
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
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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/8937
Further to your request received on 03/01/2024, 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) Could you provide me with the weekly foster care allowances for all age
bands given to local authority carers, not including any fee/reward
element, from 2008- the present day, broken down by year. When allowances
were changed, please give the date of change.
b) Could you provide me with the average number of children in each age
band in the last 3 financial years, as well as the current number, broken
down by year
2) Could you provide me with weekly fees paid to local authority foster
carers from 2008- the current amounts, broken down by year. Please break
these down by the different bands and state what the criteria for each
band is. When fees were changed, please give the date of change.
3) Please detail any allowances that ALL foster carers can claim in
addition to their weekly allowance, from 2008- the present, broken down by
year e.g. holiday allowance or mileage. If any allowances were
added,changed or removed please give the date of change.
b) Does the council provide council tax exemption for foster carers? If so
please provide the policy
c) What are foster carers entitlements to respite care? Please provide the
councils policy on this
4) Please could you give me the average total of registered foster carers
for the last 3 financial years, broken down by year, as well as the
current number. Please could you break this down by type of carer.
5) In the financial years 2022/2023, 2021/22 and 2020/2021 what was the
expenditure for foster care provided by the local authority agency and
what is the current expenditure this year? Please provide a breakdown of
costs. This is not including Kinship care
6) In the financial years 2022/2023, 2021/22 and 2020/2021 what was the
expenditure for purchased foster care and what is the current expenditure
this year? This refers to Independent fostering agencies
b) The proportion of foster care placements in the financial years
2022/2023, 2021/22 and 2020/2021, in percentage terms, that were purchased
from independent agencies and also the current proportion as of 14/12/23
c) The average numbers of foster care placements in the financial years
2022/2023, 2021/22 and 2020/2021 as well as the current numbers as of
14/12/23, in nominal terms, that were purchased from independent agencies
and the average numbers placed with the local authority agency
d) The exact number of children as of 14/12/23 in each of the contracts
held by a purchased fostering service, specifying the agencies used.
When allowances or fees were changed in a given year, please specify the
exact date they were changed.
Where I’ve asked for an average for a year, if you could choose multiple
dates and then create an average from that, NOT provide a total for the
year. If this isn’t possible please choose one date and provide the date
used. Please provide the response in PDF format, many thanks.
Please see attached responses.
We have provided a partial response and we are still awaiting responses to
questions 5, 6(b) and (c), apologies for any inconveniences caused.
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
Visible links
1. https://croydon.disclosure-log.co.uk/
2. mailto:[croydon%20borough%20council%20request%20email]
3. mailto:[croydon%20borough%20council%20request%20email]
4. mailto:[email%20address]
Dear [email address],
Hi there, thank you for this partial response. I look forward to the rest of the questions being answered, do you have any idea of a timeline for that?
With regards to questions 1 and 2, I think you've given me the allowances for 22/23 and 23/24 and then I believe you're saying for 24/25 they will be in line with the English national minimums set by the government?
For question 2 I've asked for the fees, what I mean by this is the skills element, separate to the allowances. In question 1 you've said "not requested". Would you be able to also provide me with the fees/skills element in addition to the allowances you have provided as foster carers receive two different kinds of payments.
Many thanks
Yours sincerely,
Joseph Durbidge
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/8937
Further to your request received on 03/01/2024, I confirm that the Council
has now considered your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to your request.
Please find attached the completed responses to your FOI request.
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
Visible links
1. https://croydon.disclosure-log.co.uk/
2. mailto:[Croydon Borough Council request email]
3. mailto:[Croydon Borough Council request email]
4. mailto:[email address]
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