Dear Mr Knowles

Request for Information RFI-6370-23 Re: Looked After Children in
Unregulated Accommodation

Thank you for your request for information relating to Looked After
Children in Unregulated Accommodation which was received on 19 April 2023.

In accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
the council will respond to your request within 20 working days, saying
whether we have the information that you want, and if there will be any
charges. 

If, for any reason, we cannot provide you with the information, we will
tell you why.

If we need to clarify your request, we will contact you again.

In the meantime, if you need to contact me about your request, please do
so quoting the above reference number.

Yours sincerely,

Julie Noble

Assistant Assurance Officer

Walsall Council 

0800 0856018

[1]www.walsall.gov.uk 

[2]Walsall Council, Proud of our past, our present and for our future 

Disclaimer: The information in this message should be regarded as
confidential and is intended for the addressee only unless explicitly
stated. If you have received this message in error it must be deleted and
the sender notified. The views expressed in this message are personal and
not necessarily those of Walsall Council unless explicitly stated. Emails
sent or received from Walsall Council may the subject of a request under
data protection, freedom of information or environmental information
legislation and therefore could be disclosed to third parties. We strongly
advise you not to email any information, which if disclosed to unrelated
third parties would be likely to cause harm or distress. If you have an
enquiry related to your confidentiality or data protection, please visit
the council data protection pages on our website

References

Visible links
1. http://www.walsall.gov.uk/

Dear Mr Knowles,

FOI Request for Information - Our Ref: RFI-6370-23

Re: Looked After Children in Unregulated Accommodation

I write to acknowledge and apologise for the delay in responding to your
request relating to Looked After Children in Unregulated Accommodation. As
you know, the council is required to respond to all requests for
information under the Freedom of Information Act within 20 working days,
unless a ‘qualified exception’ applies that requires the consideration of
the Public Interest.

Walsall Council takes its obligations under this legislation extremely
seriously and I am sorry that in this case we have not met this timescale.

I would like to take this opportunity to assure you of our best
intentions in this regard. I can confirm that a full reply to your request
will be sent to you on or before 16th June 2023

If you have any queries in regard to this process, please do not hesitate
to contact us.

Yours sincerely,

Kim Pahal

Assurance Officer

Walsall Council 

0800 0856018

[1]www.walsall.gov.uk 

[2]Walsall Council, Proud of our past, our present and for our future 

Disclaimer: The information in this message should be regarded as
confidential and is intended for the addressee only unless explicitly
stated. If you have received this message in error it must be deleted and
the sender notified. The views expressed in this message are personal and
not necessarily those of Walsall Council unless explicitly stated. Emails
sent or received from Walsall Council may the subject of a request under
data protection, freedom of information or environmental information
legislation and therefore could be disclosed to third parties. We strongly
advise you not to email any information, which if disclosed to unrelated
third parties would be likely to cause harm or distress. If you have an
enquiry related to your confidentiality or data protection, please visit
the council data protection pages on our website

References

Visible links
1. http://www.walsall.gov.uk/

Dear Mr Knowles,

FOI Request for Information - Our Ref: RFI-6370-23

Please accept my sincerest apologies for the delay you have experienced in
receiving a response to your Freedom of Information Request. As you know,
the council is required to respond to all requests for information under
the Freedom of Information Act within 20 working days, unless a ‘qualified
exception’ applies.

I am however happy to provide the information you requested below. I hope
this information is still of use to you. Please note that the information
given in this response is as at the date of your request.

If you do have any queries or additional questions regarding the
information that has been provided please do not hesitate to contact me
direct on the details at the bottom of this email.

Further to your request for information about Looked After Children in
Unregulated Accommodation, I can tell you the following:

FOI REQUEST

1.   On how many separate occasions over the past 12 months (March 2022
- March 2023) have you needed to house any of your looked after children
(under the age of 16) in (short term emergency) unregulated (not
regulated by OFSTED) accommodation?

2.     Referring to Question 1, how many separate children or young
people (under the age of 16) did that relate to?

3.   How many days in total were your children and young people (under
the age of 16) housed in unregulated accommodation over the past 12
months (March 2022 - March 2023)?

4.    What was your total spend on support agencies over the past 12
months (March 2022 - March 2023) to cover the support costs of
supporting your children and young people (aged under 16) who were
housed unregulated accommodation?

FOI REQUEST

1.   In the past 12 months (March 2022 - March 2023) there have been 24
separate occasions where the council has had to house looked after
children and/or young people (under 16) in (short term emergency)
unregulated accommodation?

2.     With reference to Question 1 this related to a total of 14
separate children and/or young people (under 16).

3.    A cumulative total of 1818 days were spent by children and/or
young people (under 16) housed in unregulated accommodation over the
past 12 months (March 2022 - March 2023)?

4.   The councils total spend on support agencies for the past 12 months
(March 2022 - March 2023) to cover support costs of supporting your
children and/or  young people (aged under 16), housed in unregulated
accommodation was equal to  £1,476,535

Most of the information that we provide in response to Freedom of
Information Act 2000 requests will be subject to copyright protection.  In
most cases the copyright will be owned by Walsall Council. The copyright
in respect of other information may be owned by another person or
organisation, as indicated.

You are free to use any information supplied to you in response to this
request for your own non-commercial research or private study purposes.
The information may also be used for any other purpose allowed by a
limitation or exception in copyright law, such as news reporting.
 However, any other type of re-use, for example by publishing the
information in analogue or digital form, including on the internet, will
require the permission of the copyright owner.

I hope that the information provided is useful to you. However, if you are
dissatisfied, you should set out in writing your grounds for complaint and
send to: Lead Assurance Officer, Business Change, Civic Centre, Darwall
Street, Walsall, WS1 1TP.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a decision.
Please remember that, generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you
have first exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the council. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF.

Again I would like to offer my apologies for any inconvenience the delay
to your request may have caused you

Yours sincerely,

Kim Pahal

Assurance Officer

Walsall Council 

0800 0856018

[1]www.walsall.gov.uk 

[2]Walsall Council, Proud of our past, our present and for our future 

Disclaimer: The information in this message should be regarded as
confidential and is intended for the addressee only unless explicitly
stated. If you have received this message in error it must be deleted and
the sender notified. The views expressed in this message are personal and
not necessarily those of Walsall Council unless explicitly stated. Emails
sent or received from Walsall Council may the subject of a request under
data protection, freedom of information or environmental information
legislation and therefore could be disclosed to third parties. We strongly
advise you not to email any information, which if disclosed to unrelated
third parties would be likely to cause harm or distress. If you have an
enquiry related to your confidentiality or data protection, please visit
the council data protection pages on our website

References

Visible links
1. http://www.walsall.gov.uk/