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]

NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email. If
you have a processing request, please ensure you quote that reference in
your emails to us.

Dear [Name Removed]

Freedom of information request - FOI/8392

Subject: FOI -schooling

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
notify you of this together with the reason(s) why, and details of how you
may appeal.

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 [name removed]

Request FOI/8392

Freedom of Information Request

Your request has been considered under the provisions of the Freedom of
Information Act. Please accept our apologies for the lengthy delay in
responding to you. Specifically, you have requested the following
information:

1)For each of the last 3 years, how many children who would turn 5 that
academic year and so expected to enter Reception year, with High Needs or
an EHCP requiring ELP or Special School provision remained in a maintained
nursery school

2) how many of these children remained in other settings for their
Reception year (when they turned 5 during the academic year)?

Data for the funded children via SENIF spreadsheets and have checked for
EOOYG children in MNS, PVIs and School nurseries:

Children who should have started school in September 2021:
•           1 child in receipt of SENIF who remained in a maintained
school nursery.
•           none in receipt of SENIF who remained in a maintained nursery
school.
•           none in receipt of SENIF who remained in a PVI.

Children who should have started school in September 2022:
•           1 child in receipt of SENIF who remained in a maintained
school nursery.
•           2 children in receipt of SENIF who remained in a maintained
nursery school.
•           4 children in receipt of SENIF who remained in a PVI.

Children who should have started school in September 2023:
•           2 children in receipt of SENIF who remained in a PVI.
•           Please ask Mel from CLSS for data regarding maintained school
nurseries and maintained nursery schools as she has held this data from
September 2023 onwards.

These children all remained in nursery for an additional year, however, we
do not have access to further information such as why they remained there
and whether at the time they were awaiting a Final EHCP. This would need
to be explored with via children’s case files.

The council does not separately capture this information and in order to
provide it a manual search of children’s case files would need to searched
which would exceed the appropriate limit.  The Freedom of Information
(Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004 specifies an “appropriate
limit” for the amount of time the council needs to spend undertaking that
search.  If the council estimates that the time taken to locate, retrieve
and extract the information requested will exceed the appropriate limit,
then under Section 12 of the Act, it is not obliged to comply with that
request.

The appropriate limit currently specified by the Regulations for local
authorities is £450. This represents the estimated cost of one person
spending two and a half working days in locating, retrieving and
extracting the information from where it is stored.  We estimate that the
cumulative time it would take officers to retrieve the complete records
you are seeking would exceed the appropriate limit. Therefore, we are
unable to disclose the information you are seeking.

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:        [Croydon Borough Council request email]

Writing:     Information Team

London Borough of Croydon
Bernard Weatherill House
3^rd Floor - Zone E
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 

Croydon Council

References

Visible links
1. https://croydon.disclosure-log.co.uk/