Safeguarding referrals received

The request was refused by Gloucestershire County Council.

Michael Carroll-Owen

Dear Gloucestershire County Council,

I would like to ask the following:

Local Authorities in England & Wales Question:

Between the dates of 1st Jan 2021 and 30th of Jan 2022 how many safeguarding referrals* have been received from the following organisations "Department for Work & Pensions", "Centre for Health & Disability Assessments also known as Maximus", "ATOS also known as Independent Assessment Services" and "Capita"?

*Adult Safeguarding Referrals only

Local Authorities in Scotland Question:

Between the dates of 1st Jan 2021 and 30th of Jan 2022 how many "Adult Support & Protection" referrals have been received from the following organisations "Department for Work & Pensions", "Centre for Health & Disability Assessments also known as Maximus", "ATOS also known as Independent Assessment Services" and "Capita"?

Yours faithfully,

Michael Carroll-Owen

Gloucestershire CC, Gloucestershire County Council

Information request
Our reference: 24265760

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Dear Michael Carroll-Owen
 
Request for Information (Reference: 24265760 )
 
Thank you for your request for information, received on 31 January 2022.
 
Request summary:
1) Between the dates of 1st Jan 2021 and 30th of Jan 2022 how many
safeguarding referrals* have been received from the following
organisations "Department for Work & Pensions", "Centre for Health &
Disability Assessments also known as Maximus", "ATOS also known as
Independent Assessment Services" and "Capita"?
 
Due to the ongoing uncertainty of the full impact of COVID-19 there are
likely to be disruptions to our services. At the moment, we are focussing
on high priority work and the remainder will be subject to delays. We
appreciate your patience during these unprecedented times.
 
We aim to respond to your request no later than midnight on 28 February
2022 (the statutory timescale of 20 working days, starting on the working
day following receipt of your request). We may need to contact you if the
request needs to be clarified; this is to ensure we provide you with the
information you require.
 
If the information you have requested is held by another public authority,
we will inform you of this so that you can contact them directly.
 
Gloucestershire County Council is committed to the principles of
information disclosure and will, wherever possible, provide all
information requested. However, some information you have requested may
not be provided to you; this will only be information that can be withheld
by law, and, in most cases, the reason will be explained to you when we
send out any information that can be released. We will also inform you as
soon as possible if we do not hold the information you have requested.
 
You may find answers to your questions on our frequently asked questions
page -
[1]https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/counc...
 
Our response to your request may be published in our disclosure log, with
your personal details removed. Our new disclosure log can be found on our
website at: [2]www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/foi.  In future, you may find
that the answer to your questions about the Council has already been
published.
 
Yours faithfully

Request Support Assistant
Information Management Services

01452 324000

References

Visible links
1. https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/counc...
2. http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/foi

Gloucestershire CC, Gloucestershire County Council

Information request
Our reference: 24265760

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Dear  Michael Carroll-Owen
 
Freedom of Information Act 2000
 
1) Between the dates of 1st Jan 2021 and 30th of Jan 2022 how many
safeguarding referrals* have been received from the following
organisations "Department for Work & Pensions", "Centre for Health &
Disability Assessments also known as Maximus", "ATOS also known as
Independent Assessment Services" and "Capita"? .

I am not able to provide information regarding your request, as it is
currently too large*.  If it will take more than 18 hours or cost more
than £450 to find the information you've asked for, we are not required to
look for it. 

*The request is refused under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information
Act. This is because I have concluded that the cost of complying with your
request will exceed the 'appropriate limit' of £450 (18 hours @ £25 per
hour) which is laid down by the Act and associated Regulations[1][1].

Your request has been fully investigated but I have to inform you that
Social Care do not record this level of detail in a central database.
Approximately 2500 referrals would need to be interrogated individually,
in order to establish who made the referral. This would take approximately
5 minutes per file, which equates to 208 hours of work required, costing
£5200 to find everything you've asked for

Under Section 16 of the FoIA, it is the duty of the public authority to
provide advice and assistance, so far as it would be reasonable to expect
the authority to do so, to persons who propose to make, or have made,
requests for information to it. Due to the level of interrogation required
to generate information for this request, I do not believe that there are
any alternative ways in which to retrieve this information, without
exceeding the 'appropriate limit' specified within Section 12 FoIA. 

This email therefore acts as a refusal notice under section 17 of the FoIA
as all of the information you have requested is exempt from disclosure.

[2][1] SI 3244 2004 Freedom of Information and Data Protection
(Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 

 
If you are unhappy with my response, you can complain or ask for a review
of your request by writing to us within 40 working days of receiving this
response. The full procedure is on our website at
[3]http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/foi. This should be addressed to:
 
Shire Hall
Westgate Street
Gloucester
GL1 2TG
[4][email address

We would like to hear your views on our service. If you'd like to tell us
how we did, you can complete our feedback form online at
[5]http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/foifee...

Yours faithfully
Carly Doyle
Information Requests Officer
Information Management Service
[6][email address]
01452 324000

References

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1. file:///tmp/foiextract20220502-566909-17rclc4#_ftn1
2. file:///tmp/foiextract20220502-566909-17rclc4#_ftnref1
3. http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/foi
4. mailto:[email address]
5. http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/foifee...
6. mailto:[email address]