Looked after children 2017

The request was refused by Durham County Council.

Dear Durham County Council,

Would you be able to tell me:

1. How many children became 'looked after' in your local authority in 2017?

2. Of the children in Q1, how many were in a group of siblings of two or more (I would like the number of children, not the number of groups)?

3. How many of the children that became 'looked after' in your local authority in 2017 were initially placed in Kinship Care/Connected Persons care?

4. How many looked after children in your local authority are currently placed following care proceedings:
a) with long term LA foster carers
b) in kinship care foster placements

5.a. How many applications to be a kinship carer did you receive in 2017 in respect of children subject to Care Proceedings?

5.b. How many of those (5.a.) applications were successful?

6. How many children in your local authority were made the subject of Special Guardianship Order following Care Proceedings in 2017?

7. How many of your local authority's current foster carers are prepared and approved to be long term foster carers of sibling groups of:
a) 2
b) 3 or more

Yours faithfully,

Christina Savage

Freedom of Information,

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

 

This letter is our acknowledgement of your request received 12-FEB-2018. 
Please note the reference number in the subject line of this email and
refer to it in any future correspondence. The case officer dealing with
your request is:

 

Christine Paciorek Tel. 03000 268036

 

Depending on the type of request, it will be handled under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) or the Environmental Information Regulations
(EIR).  Both of these have a statutory 20 working day deadline for a
response however, in some cases, the deadline may be extended to 40
working days. The deadline for an FOIA request can be extended if an
extended public interest test is required before deciding to respond. The
deadline for an EIR request can be extended if the information requested
is too voluminous or complex to respond to fully within the 20 day
timescale. If this is the case, we will write to explain that to you.

 

If we hold this information, we will let you know and in most cases supply
it to you.  You may request a particular format for receiving the
information and we will do our best to accommodate. In most cases, we will
respond by email or letter in 12 point Arial font.  If you have a
particular need to receive the material in a different format, please let
us know.

 

In some cases, the information you request will be exempt from disclosure.
What this means is that the legislation allows the Council to refuse to
provide the information. Where this occurs, we will tell you the reasons
why and we will explain how to appeal that decision.

 

If your requests refers to a third party, then they may be consulted about
disclosing the information before we decide whether to release the
information to you.  For example, if someone asks about a contract with a
supplier, we will contact the supplier to consider their views about
disclosing the information.

 

NB: There may be a charge for environmental information. Please contact us
if you have any questions about that charge.

 

In some cases, we may require a payment to cover photocopying, postage, or
other production costs on requests that require large amounts of
photocopying. However, we will discuss this with you and look for ways to
provide the information in electronic formats if possible.  If a payment
is required, it must be provided before we can send you the information. 
If a payment is required, the 20 working day time limit for responses is
suspended until the payment is received. 

 

We may also need to contact you to clarify your request. We are obliged to
do this under s.16 of the Act, which refers to the duty to provide advice
and assistance to applicants.  When we ask to clarify your request, the 20
working day countdown stops until we hear back from you. If you have not
contacted us about the request within 30 days, we will close it.

 

Please note that your request and our response will be put on the
Council’s disclosure log.  What this means is that we keep a log of all
the requests and responses if anyone wants to look at them. When we put
the request and response on the log, we remove the applicant’s name and
any personal references. In any case, where personal information remains,
it will be done in accordance with the Data Protection Act (DPA).

 

If you have any questions or need further information, then please
contact:

 

The Information Management Team

Durham County Council

Assistant Chief Executive’s Office

Room 4/143-148

County Hall

Durham

DH1 5UF

Tel. 03000 268038

Email: [1][Durham County Council request email]

 

Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 745

Fax: 01625 524 510

Email: [2][email address]

[3]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

 

Yours sincerely,

 

The Information Management Team

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Freedom of Information,

Dear Ms Savage

Freedom of Information Act 2000 – Request for clarification - FOI20186506CS

I am writing in regard to your recent request for information. Under s.16, I am asking you to clarify your request so that we can better respond to it. In particular, please can you clarify whether 2017 refers to the financial year 2016/17 or the calendar year 2017?

I look forward to hearing from you. Please be aware that if we have not heard back from you within 30 calendar days, from the date of this clarification, we will consider the request closed. As we have requested clarification, the response will be paused until we hear from you again.
Yours sincerely

Christine Paciorek BA(Hons) PC foi and dp
Freedom of Information and Data Protection Officer
Transformation and Partnerships
Durham County Council
County Hall
Durham
DH1 5UF
Telephone 03000 268036

Switchboard 03000 26 0000

www.durham.gov.uk
Follow us on Twitter @durhamcouncil
Like us at facebook.com/durhamcouncil
Follow us on linkedin.com/company/durham-county-council

show quoted sections

Dear Christine

Thank you for your reply.

I am referring to the calendar year 2017.

Yours sincerely,

Christina Savage

Christina Savage

Dear Freedom of Information,

I would like to re-submit my request, covering a slightly different period of time namely the financial year and not the calendar year:

1. How many children became 'looked after' in your local authority in the financial year of 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017?
2. Of the children in Q1, how many were in a group of siblings of two or more (I would like the number of children, not the number of groups)?
3. How many of the children that became 'looked after' in your local authority in 2016/2017 were initially placed in Kinship Care/Connected Persons care?
4. How many looked after children in your local authority are currently placed following care proceedings:
a) with long term LA foster carers
b) in kinship care foster placements
5.a. How many applications to be a kinship carer did you receive in 2016/2017 in respect of children subject to Care Proceedings?
5.b. How many of those (5.a.) applications were successful?
6. How many children in your local authority were made the subject of Special Guardianship Order following Care Proceedings in 2016/2017?
7. How many of your local authority's current foster carers are prepared and approved to be long term foster carers of sibling groups of:
a) 2
b) 3 or more

Yours sincerely,

Christina Savage

Freedom of Information,

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Savage

Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Response to request for information
FOI20186506CS

Thank you for your request for information.  Please see our response
attached.

Yours sincerely

 

 

Christine Paciorek BA(Hons) PC foi and dp

Freedom of Information and Data Protection Officer 

Transformation and Partnerships

Durham County Council

County Hall

Durham

DH1 5UF

Telephone 03000 268036

 

Switchboard 03000 26 0000

 

www.durham.gov.uk

Follow us on Twitter @durhamcouncil

Like us at facebook.com/durhamcouncil

Follow us on linkedin.com/company/durham-county-council

 

 

show quoted sections

Help protect our environment by only printing this email if absolutely
necessary. The information it contains and any files transmitted with it
are confidential and are only intended for the person or organisation to
whom it is addressed. It may be unlawful for you to use, share or copy the
information, if you are not authorised to do so. If you receive this email
by mistake, please inform the person who sent it at the above address and
then delete the email from your system. Durham County Council takes
reasonable precautions to ensure that its emails are virus free. However,
we do not accept responsibility for any losses incurred as a result of
viruses we might transmit and recommend that you should use your own virus
checking procedures.