Policies and Procedures / Social Services - Child Adoption
Dear Birmingham City Council,
Under the Freedom of information act please can you send to me electronic copies of
A The policies and procedures which relate to social services removing children from the care of their parents.
B The criteria which has to be fulfilled to make a child eligible for being adopted out of a parents care
C What psychological assessments are used on the parents? (or other assessments) and a copy of a blank version.
PLEASE NOTE FOR CLARITY SAKE:
This FOI is made by the following organisation and not by an individual
This FOI Request is made by the Advocacy Fund which is an organisation and not by an individual.
ICO Section 8 Guidance states:
In the case of a company, it is not necessary to provide the full registered name. It will be acceptable to provide another name which exists as a real entity, such as a trading name.
Also under the guidance an email address is considered sufficient under the DPA for an address.
FOR CLARITY:
The Advocacy Fund is the Name of the organisation that is managed by Advocati Massa Ltd (Reg In England), who appoints it officers. Both are Not for Profit Organisations.
Both are real names in law and this FOI request is therefore compliant with the FOI Act and section 8 Guidance.
Please Forward all Responses to our Information Officer
Yours faithfully
Jane Clearly
Information Officer
The Advocacy Fund
Dear Advocacy Fund
Thank you for your request for information held by the Council under the
provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which was received on
28/06/2012
We will contact you again once it has been ascertained what data is held
by Birmingham City Council. In some circumstances a fee may be payable
and if that is the case, we will let you know. A fees notice will be
issued to you, and you will be required to pay before we will proceed with
your request.
If you require any further information or are not happy with our response
please do not hesitate to contact me quoting the reference number above in
any future communications. Steve Cullen should also be copied in on any
correspondence relating to this request.
Yours sincerely
Tracey Robinson
Business Continuity and Information Governance Officer
Sent on behalf of:
Steve Cullen
Information Governance Manager
Governance and Policy
Children, Young People and Families Directorate
Birmingham City Council
Tel: 0121 464 4591
Email: [email address]
Data Protection Act 1998
The information you have provided within your Freedom of Information
request will be held on our database and may also be held within manual
records for a period of 2 years from the date Birmingham City Council
received your request. Any personal data that you provide to Birmingham
City Council will be held in line with the requirements set out within the
Data Protection Act 1998.
Re Use of Public Sector Information
Where Birmingham City Council is the copyright holder of any information
that may be released, re-use for personal, educational or non-commercial
purposes is permitted without further reference to the City Council. Where
the re-use is for other purposes, such as commercial re-use, the applicant
should notify the City Council in writing to seek approval or agree terms
for re-use.
Dear Sir
I am writing in respect of your recent enquiry for information held by the
Authority under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000:
Under the Freedom of information act please can you send to me electronic
copies of
A The policies and procedures which relate to social services
removing children from the care of their parents.
B The criteria which has to be fulfilled to make a child eligible for
being adopted out of a parents care
C What psychological assessments are used on the parents? (or other
assessments) and a copy of a blank version.
Please find herewith the following:
A - We assume that the use of the word "remove" implies compulsion, so
this does not refer to situations in which the child enters LA
accommodation with the consent of, or at the request of, the parents or
through the absence or incapacity of the parents. The procedures which
apply would be those which relate to care proceedings - section C06C,
attached. If urgent action is required, section C06D gives information,
guidance and procedure for application for an emergency protection order.
B - This is set out in Sections 18 - 19 of the Adoption and Children Act
2002 - either each parent or guardian of the child has given consent to
adoption or the court has made a Placement Order. Section C12H of our
procedures sets out the circumstances in which the LA has a duty or a
power to apply to court for a placement order, at paragraphs 1.10 - 1.15
C - This will generally be in the court arena, therefore any assessment
which leads the court to grant an order will generally be "as directed by
the court". However, if the request relates to the assessment which leads
the LA to apply for an order, then the answer would be a core assessment.
Whilst we have undertaken a thorough search of the information held by
Birmingham City Council, it may be that, due to the size and amount of
information held by Birmingham City Council, some information may have
been inadvertently missed.
If you have any information which may assist us in determining or locating
any missed information, we would be grateful if you would contact us with
details of this information, so that we can conduct a further search.
If you are not satisfied with the response you may ask for an internal
review. If subsequently you are not satisfied with the Council’s decision
you may apply to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally,
the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints
procedure provided by the Council. The Information Commissioner can be
contacted at the following address:
The Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545745 Web Address: www.ico.gov.uk
Yours faithfully,
Steve Cullen
Information Governance Manager
Governance and Policy
Children, Young People and Families Directorate
Birmingham City Council
Tel: 0121 464 4591
Email: [email address]
Re-use of Public Sector Information
The information provided is subject to Birmingham City Council copyright,
however, it may be re-used for personal, educational or non-commercial
purposes without further reference to the City Council. If the re-use is
for other purposes, such as commercial re-use, you should notify the City
Council in writing to seek approval or agree terms for re-use. Where
Birmingham City Council does not hold the copyright, it has indicated the
copyright holder. Permission for re-use should be sought from them
directly.
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