Referrals of those who Abuse / Neglect Children

LS Palmer made this Freedom of Information request to Conwy County Borough Council This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was refused by Conwy County Borough Council.

Dear Conwy Council,

1. In relation to the years from 2003 to 2010 Please could you provide your accounts in respect of

A. children's Services
B. Legal Services.

2. Since 2003, Regarding abuse/neglect of children by staff(employed and agency) of children's services, please could you provide a year by year breakdown of how many applications/referrals you have made to:

a. GSCC
b. The Criminal Court/Crown Prosecution
c. Independent Safeguarding Authority (or Equivalent).

3. Since 2003, Regarding abuse and neglect of children by clients of children and Family services, please could you provide a year by year breakdown of how many applications/referrals you have made to.

a. The Family Court
b. The Criminal Court/Crown Prosecution
c. The Independent Safeguarding Authority (or Equivalent)

Yours faithfully,

LS Palmer

Info Regs Unit/Uned.Rheol-Gwyb, Conwy County Borough Council

Diolch am eich neges e-bost.
Os ydych yn gofyn am fynediad at wybodaeth dan delerau Deddf Rhyddid
Gwybodaeth 2000 cewch ymateb o fewn ugain niwrnod gwaith.

Thank you for your email.
If you are requesting access to information under the terms of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 you will receive a response within twenty working
days.

Uned Reoliadau Gwybodaeth/Information Regulations Unit
Cyngor Bwrdeistef Sirol CONWY County Borough Counci
E-Bost/E-Mail; [Conwy Council request email]

"Mae'r neges e-bost hon ac unrhyw ymgysylltiadau yn gyfrinachol, ac wedi
eu bwriadu ar gyfer yr un sy'n cael ei h/enwi yn unig. Gallent gynnwys
gwybodaeth freintiedig. Os yw'r neges hon wedi eich cyrraedd ar gam, ni
ddylech ei chopio, ei rhannu na dangos ei chynnwys i unrhyw un. Cysylltwch
efo Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Conwy ar unwaith. Nid yw'r Cyngor na'r un
sydd wedi anfon y neges yn derbyn unrhyw gyfrifoldeb am feirysau, a'ch
cyfrifoldeb chi yw sganio unrhyw ymgysylltiadau. Mae'r Awdurdod yn
monitro'r defnydd o e-bost/rhyngrwyd a chynnwys y rhain i ddibenion
busnes. " "This email and any attachments are confidential and intended
for the named recipient only. The content may contain privileged
information. If it has reached you by mistake, you should not copy,
distribute or show the content to anyone but should contact Conwy County
Borough Council at once. Neither the Council nor the sender accepts any
responsibility for viruses, and it is your responsibility to scan any
attachments. The Authority monitors e-mail/internet usage and content for
business purposes"

Info Regs Unit/Uned.Rheol-Gwyb, Conwy County Borough Council

1620-11

Dear LS Palmer

Thank you for your recent enquiry.

Your request has now been considered. The Council has received a number of similar requests in sufficiently close proximity of each other for similar information and has decided to aggregate the cost of complying with all the requests for the purposes of estimating whether the appropriate limit would be exceeded in relation to any one of those requests.

The requests are:
1593-11. Child protection or Child Trafficking for XX. (dated 18/1/2011).
1595-11. Protecting Human Rights in Care Proceedings. (dated 18/1/2011).
1620-11. Referrals of those who abuse/neglect children. (dated 23/1/2011).
1623-11. Justification for taking children from their families. (dated 24/1/2011).
1625-11. Mao's China/Stalin's Russia - Destroying families where parents complain. (dated 24/1/2011).

These requests have been sent to a large number of public authorities as evidenced by the following links:

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/user/ls_pa...
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/user/sophi...

The Regulations state that requests can be aggregated in the following circumstances:
* two or more requests for information must have been made to the same public authority.
* they must be either from the same person, or from 'different persons who appear to the public authority to be acting in concert or in pursuance of a campaign' (section 12(4)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act).
* the requests relate to the same or similar information.
* they have been received by the public authority within a space of 60 consecutive working days.

Section 12 of the Act makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of dealing with them would exceed the appropriate limit, which for local government is set at £450. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 working hours in determining whether the requested information is held, and then locating, retrieving and extracting the information.

It is estimated that to determine the appropriate material and locate, retrieve and extract the information in relation to these requests would greatly exceed the appropriate limit. Therefore your request will not be processed further. Any further requests of a similar nature will also be aggregated with those above.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of this response and should be addressed to this Unit.

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

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 - Wales, Cambrian Buildings,
Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff, CF10 5FL.

Uned Reoliadau Gwybodaeth/Information Regulations Unit
Cyngor Bwrdeistef Sirol CONWY County Borough Council
E-Bost / E-Mail: [Conwy Council request email]

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Dear Info Regs Unit/Uned.Rheol-Gwyb,

I have made 3 requests

I am looking to make a comparison on how much is spent on
1. keeping children within their families - helping families in need.

2. Removing children from families - care proceedings.

I am also looking to see if:

3. The children removed from their families were 'known' to be children definitely at risk of SIGNIFICANT harm ie there was enough evidence to remove them, all procedures and laws were followed and human rights were respected.

4. The children removed were not placed in a position that they became at risk of SIGNIFICANT harm due to their removal from their family.

I think information since 1 April 2009 would be sufficient however it may help to provide information for other years if you have it to hand.

I do intend to make further requests for information that I have missed that can help me build a picture on the points above, such as regarding failed adoptions, and other information to do with proceedings. I will look at other questions that others have asked
to see if the information is already available.

Yours sincerely,

LS Palmer

Info Regs Unit/Uned.Rheol-Gwyb, Conwy County Borough Council

Diolch am eich neges e-bost.
Os ydych yn gofyn am fynediad at wybodaeth dan delerau Deddf Rhyddid
Gwybodaeth 2000 cewch ymateb o fewn ugain niwrnod gwaith.

Thank you for your email.
If you are requesting access to information under the terms of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 you will receive a response within twenty working
days.

Uned Reoliadau Gwybodaeth/Information Regulations Unit
Cyngor Bwrdeistef Sirol CONWY County Borough Counci
E-Bost/E-Mail; [Conwy Council request email]

"Mae'r neges e-bost hon ac unrhyw ymgysylltiadau yn gyfrinachol, ac wedi
eu bwriadu ar gyfer yr un sy'n cael ei h/enwi yn unig. Gallent gynnwys
gwybodaeth freintiedig. Os yw'r neges hon wedi eich cyrraedd ar gam, ni
ddylech ei chopio, ei rhannu na dangos ei chynnwys i unrhyw un. Cysylltwch
efo Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Conwy ar unwaith. Nid yw'r Cyngor na'r un
sydd wedi anfon y neges yn derbyn unrhyw gyfrifoldeb am feirysau, a'ch
cyfrifoldeb chi yw sganio unrhyw ymgysylltiadau. Mae'r Awdurdod yn
monitro'r defnydd o e-bost/rhyngrwyd a chynnwys y rhain i ddibenion
busnes. " "This email and any attachments are confidential and intended
for the named recipient only. The content may contain privileged
information. If it has reached you by mistake, you should not copy,
distribute or show the content to anyone but should contact Conwy County
Borough Council at once. Neither the Council nor the sender accepts any
responsibility for viruses, and it is your responsibility to scan any
attachments. The Authority monitors e-mail/internet usage and content for
business purposes"

Info Regs Unit/Uned.Rheol-Gwyb, Conwy County Borough Council

1620-11

Dear LS Palmer

You are referred to our email response dated 25/1/2011 provided again below and the content therein.

Your subsequent response to that email will be treated as an Internal Review. This will be carried out and you will be advised of the outcome as soon as practicably possible, but no later than the 24/2/2011.

Uned Reoliadau Gwybodaeth/Information Regulations Unit
Cyngor Bwrdeistef Sirol CONWY County Borough Council
E-Bost / E-Mail: [Conwy Council request email]
Email dated 25/1/2011.

Dear LS Palmer

Thank you for your recent enquiry.
Your request has now been considered. The Council has received a number of similar requests in sufficiently close proximity of each other for similar information and has decided to aggregate the cost of complying with all the requests for the purposes of estimating whether the appropriate limit would be exceeded in relation to any one of those requests.
The requests are:
1593-11. Child protection or Child Trafficking for XX. (dated 18/1/2011).
1595-11. Protecting Human Rights in Care Proceedings. (dated 18/1/2011).
1620-11. Referrals of those who abuse/neglect children. (dated 23/1/2011).
1623-11. Justification for taking children from their families. (dated 24/1/2011).
1625-11. Mao's China/Stalin's Russia - Destroying families where parents complain. (dated 24/1/2011).

These requests have been sent to a large number of public authorities as evidenced by the following links:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/user/ls_pa...
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/user/sophi...
The Regulations state that requests can be aggregated in the following circumstances:
* two or more requests for information must have been made to the same public authority.
* they must be either from the same person, or from 'different persons who appear to the public authority to be acting in concert or in pursuance of a campaign' (section 12(4)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act).
* the requests relate to the same or similar information.
* they have been received by the public authority within a space of 60 consecutive working days.
Section 12 of the Act makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of dealing with them would exceed the appropriate limit, which for local government is set at £450. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 working hours in determining whether the requested information is held, and then locating, retrieving and extracting the information.

It is estimated that to determine the appropriate material and locate, retrieve and extract the information in relation to these requests would greatly exceed the appropriate limit. Therefore your request will not be processed further. Any further requests of a similar nature will also be aggregated with those above.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of this response and should be addressed to this Unit.

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.
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 - Wales, Cambrian Buildings,
Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff, CF10 5FL.
Uned Reoliadau Gwybodaeth/Information Regulations Unit
Cyngor Bwrdeistef Sirol CONWY County Borough Council
E-Bost / E-Mail: [Conwy Council request email]

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Info Regs Unit/Uned.Rheol-Gwyb, Conwy County Borough Council

1620-11

Dear LS Palmer

An internal review has been carried out as a result of your expressed dissatisfaction of a decision by the Council to aggregate a number of requests for the purposes of estimating whether the appropriate limit would be exceeded in relation to complying with any one of them.

The outcome of the internal review is that the Councils position remains unchanged and your request will not be processed further for the reasons previously given.

The Council reserves the right to aggregate any further requests of a similar nature received within the space of the next 60 consecutive working days and/or to treat them as vexatious or repeated requests under Section 14.

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 - Wales, Cambrian Buildings, Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff, CF10 5FL.

David J Smith
Rheolwr Gwybodaeth a Chwynion Corfforaethol/Corporate Information & Complaints Manager
Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Conwy/Conwy County Borough Council

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