SEN Direct Payments
Dear Kent County Council,
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, could you please
provide details of:
(i) the number of direct payments for special educational needs granted under the SEN (Direct Payments) (Pilot Order) 2012.
(ii) details of what types of provision these payments were awarded for
(iii) the number of requests refused and the reasons for the
refusals (including head teacher refusing consent)
(iv) copies of any block funding contracts with health service providers for special educational needs provision
Yours faithfully,
E Doherty
Dear E Doherty
Thank you for your email below.
Kent County Council acknowledges your request for information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Assuming KCC holds this information, we
will endeavour to supply the data to you as soon as possible but no later
than 2 August 2013 (20 working days from date of receipt).
We will advise you as soon as possible if we do not hold this information
or if there are exemptions to be considered and/or any costs for providing
the information. Please quote our reference - FOI/13/1031 - in any
communication regarding this particular request.
Best regards
Miss Jemila Dodge
Information Access Officer
Information Resilience & Transparency Team,
Business Strategy & Support, Governance & Law
Kent County Council, Room 2.71, Sessions House, County Road, Maidstone,
ME14 1XQ
Tel: 01622 696265, Internal 7000 6265,
Fax: 01622 696075
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/your_council/cont...
Dear Ms Doherty
Thank you for your request for information made under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) 2000, relating to SEN direct payments. I am pleased
to provide the response below:
1) The number of direct payments for special educational needs granted
under the SEN (Direct Payments) (Pilot Order) 2012.
At the time of writing, Kent County Council has issued a direct payment to
50 families of children and young people with SEN who have chosen this for
their SEN Transport. This is in addition to approximately 800 families of
disabled children who are receiving a personal budget for their short
breaks. There have been are currently 4 children and young people with
special educational need whose cases may result in direct payments
although funding decisions are unlikely before September 2013.
2) Details of what types of provision these payments were awarded for:
As referred to in (i) these direct payments relate to special educational
needs transport and short breaks for disabled children.
3) The number of requests refused and the reasons for the refusals
(including head teacher refusing consent)
There have been no refusals to date and there are currently 4 children and
young people with special educational need whose funding decisions are
unlikely before September 2013.
4) Copies of any block funding contracts with health service providers for
special educational needs provision
The Council and its health partners (NHS Kent and Medway, now Kent and
Medway Commissioning Support Unit) have been working with parent carers,
specialist teachers, schools and the voluntary sector to review the
current commissioning arrangements for health services. This will lead to
joint commissioning arrangement which will be based on procurement via
block contracts. To obtain information relating to this framework, you
should re-direct you request to the Kent and Medway Commissioning Support
Unit via the following link: http://www.kmcsu.nhs.uk/contact/.
If you are unhappy with this response, and believe KCC has not complied
with legislation, please ask for a review by following our complaints
process; details can be found at this link
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/your_council/have...
on our website. Please quote reference FOI/13/1031.
If you still remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you can
appeal to the Information Commissioner, who oversees compliance with the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Details of what you need to do, should
you wish to pursue this course of action, are available from the
Information Commissioner’s website [2]http://www.ico.org.uk/complaints.
Yours sincerely
James Mercer
Information Access Officer
Information Resilience & Transparency Team
Business Strategy & Support, Governance & Law
Kent County Council, Room 2.71, Sessions House, County Road, Maidstone,
ME14 1XQ.
Telephone: 01622 221037, Internal: 7000 1037, Fax: 01622 696075
[3]http://www.kent.gov.uk/your_council/cont...
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