July 2019 - Discretionary Deferral Funding & Early Entry to School Data

The request was successful.

Patricia Anderson

Dear East Lothian Council,

Please accept this email as a Freedom of Information request.
Please could the Council provide:

(For Qs 1-3 below this data was already requested in an FoI by Sarah McCluckie via the WDTK website in early May so I am looking for either confirmation that your response to that FoI is still accurate or an update on the data if there have been any subsequent applications and decisions).

1) The total number of requests received to date for the Council to provide discretionary funding for a further year of early learning and childcare for children whose fifth birthdays will fall between the day after the school start date in August 2019 and 31st Dec 2019.

2) A breakdown of the total number in 1. above by requests for
a) continued funding in private/voluntary settings and
b) continued funding in council run settings.

3) In relation to question 2, please provide the number of places the Council has agreed to provide continued funding for in
a) private/voluntary settings and
b) council run settings.

4. How many of the children applying have a December birthday?

5a. How many appeals (challenges if there is no official appeals process) did the Council receive against the Council’s decision not to grant funding?

5b. How many of these appeals/challenges resulted in the initial decision being overturned?

6. How many official complaints has the Council received regarding discretionary deferral funding decisions between Nov 2018 and today?

7a. How many applications did the Council receive for children to be permitted early entry to primary school to start in Aug 2019 instead of Aug 2020 (for children who will turn five on or after 1st March 2020)?

7b. How many of these early entry applications were approved?

8. Is the Council’s discretionary deferral funding policy currently under review or are there any plans to update it in the near future?

Yours faithfully,

Patricia Anderson

Freedom Of Information, East Lothian Council

Thank you for your email.

This automated message is East Lothian Council’s acknowledgement that your information request has been received and is receiving attention. The statutory timescales for responses are as follows:

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

20 working days

Environmental Information Regulations 2004

20 working days

Internal Reviews

20 working days

We will contact you again in due course.

Freedom of Information Team
Licensing, Administration and Democratic Services
East Lothian Council
John Muir House
Haddington
EH41 3HA

Tel: 01620 827623
Email: [East Lothian Council request email]<mailto:[East Lothian Council request email]>

Information about East Lothian Council’s complaints procedure can be found here<https://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/info/2105...>.

Details of your rights to requesting information from East Lothian Council are published here<http://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/info/704/d...>.

The Scottish Information Commissioner is responsible for the enforcement of Scotland's freedom of information laws. Guidance regarding your rights of access to information held by Scottish public authorities is available on the Commissioner’s website<http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/>.

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Freedom Of Information, East Lothian Council

1 Attachment

Our Ref: 2019/636222

Dear Ms Anderson,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2004

In response to your enquiry of 18th July 2019, on behalf of East Lothian Council I am now able to provide the information you require; please refer to the PDF attachment.

Under the terms of this legislation, if you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you are entitled to request that we undertake an internal review. Please note, however, that both the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 only relate to the release of information. The Scottish Information Commissioner publishes the following guidance about internal reviews:

You can ask the authority to review its decision if it does not respond or you are unhappy with the way it has dealt with your request, for example by:

• refusing to give you the information
• failing to reply to you within the time limit allowed
• claiming the information is exempt
• failing to give you advice about, and help with, making your request
• asking you to pay a fee that you feel is unreasonable

For example, if you are unhappy because you do not believe the information you have received is accurate, an internal review would not apply. Should this be the case, however, please let me know and I will try to resolve this. If I am unable to help, I will be happy to put you in touch with someone who can.

We must receive a request to review within 40 working days of the date of this notice. A request to review our decision must be in writing (e-mail is acceptable) or another permanent format. When writing, you should include your reasons as to why you are unhappy with our response and why you wish it to be reviewed. Your reasons for dissatisfaction must relate to your information request of 18th July 2019 only and should be addressed to:

Information Governance Compliance Officer
Licensing, Administration and Democratic Services
East Lothian Council
John Muir House
Haddington
EH41 3HA

Email: [East Lothian Council request email]

We will have a maximum of 20 working days from the date we receive your request in order to complete our review and give you our decision. In order to ensure an impartial approach, an independent senior officer will be appointed to carry out the review.

If you are still not satisfied with our decision following the review process, then you may ask the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner (OSIC) to investigate the matter. You must appeal to the Commissioner within six months of receiving the review decision. You may submit your appeal online via OSIC’s website, a link to the online appeal service is provided for your convenience: http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourR...

Alternatively, you may contact OSIC at:

Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9DS

Telephone: 01334 464610
Fax: 01334 464611
E-mail: [email address]

If you remain dissatisfied following the Commissioner’s decision, you may be able to appeal to the Court of Session. You should, however, obtain legal advice before deciding on this course of action. This is because an appeal may only be made on a point of law, not because you disagree with the Commissioner’s view of the case.

Yours sincerely

Lisa Bain
Freedom of Information Team
Licensing, Administration and Democratic Services
East Lothian Council
John Muir House
Haddington
EH41 3HA

Tel: 01620 827623
Email: [East Lothian Council request email]

Information about East Lothian Council’s complaints procedure can be found here.

Details of your rights to requesting information from East Lothian Council are published here.

The Scottish Information Commissioner is responsible for the enforcement of Scotland's freedom of information laws. Guidance regarding your rights of access to information held by Scottish public authorities is available on the Commissioner’s website.

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