Serious case reviews/child death inquiries – Powys

The request was refused by Powys County Council.

Dear Powys County Council,

Please send me electronic copies of all serious case reviews or child death inquiries (otherwise or also known as Part 8 Reviews) conducted by the Local [Powys?] Safeguarding Children Board or by any other predecessor or successor body, which have been published since 1st January 2003 to date.

Please send copies of the Overview/Full Report; otherwise please send copies of the Executive Summaries. Where Executive Summaries only are available please provide reasons for absence of the overview/full report.

If none are available or are withheld please provide the reason for non-publication.

01.04.2017

Yours faithfully,

dai pugh

Freedom of Information Queries (CSP - Generic), Powys County Council

 

Cyfarwyddwr Strategol: Rheoli Gwybodaeth/
Adnoddau
Information Compliance
Strategic Director: Resources
Neuadd Y Sir / County Hall
David Powell
Spa Road East

Llandrindod Wells

Powys LD1 5LG
  If calling please ask for / Os yn galw
gofynnwch am
 
 
 
Tel / Ffôn:  01597 82 7543         
 
Fax / Ffacs:  01597 82 6215      
 
Email/Llythyru electronig:
  [1][Powys County Council request email]

Our ref / Ein cyf:  0426

Date / Dyddiad:   03/04/17

 

 

Request Accepted

 

FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000

Reference No: F2017/

 

Dear Mr Pugh

 

Thank you for your request for information, received at this office on 
03/04/17, in which you requested details of the following:

 

            Serious Case Reviews

 

The above is a summary of your request. The full details of the
information sought is provided to the officer to whom the request is
tasked.

 

Your request will now be considered and you will receive a response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act, subject
to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third
party. In some circumstances Powys County Council may be unable to achieve
this deadline. If this is likely you will be informed and given a revised
time-scale at the earliest opportunity.

 

There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of
the information you request. If this is the case you will be informed and
the 20 working day timescale will be suspended until we receive payment
from you. If you choose not to make a payment then your request will
remain unanswered.

 

Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to
another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest
possible way. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.

 

The due date for responding to this request for information is 04/05/17.

 

Should you need to discuss this further please contact the Information
Compliance Team on 01597 827543.

 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Powys County Council.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Information Compliance Team

 

 

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Powys County Council request email]

Freedom of Information Queries (CSP - Generic), Powys County Council

Cyfarwyddwr Strategol: Rheoli Gwybodaeth/
Adnoddau
Information Compliance
Strategic Director: Resources
Neuadd Y Sir / County Hall
David Powell
Spa Road East

Llandrindod Wells

Powys LD1 5LG
  If calling please ask for / Os yn galw
gofynnwch am
 
 
 
Tel / Ffôn:  01597 82 7543         
 
Fax / Ffacs:  01597 82 6215      

Email/Llythyru electronig:
[1][Powys County Council request email]

Our ref / Ein cyf:  0426

Date / Dyddiad:   21/04/17

 

Reference No: F2017-0426

 

 

Dear Mr Pugh

 

Thank you for your request for information dated 01/04/17 concerning
Serious Case Reviews

 

This is to inform you that your request has been considered and I can
provide the following response:

 

The Request:

Please send me electronic copies of all serious case reviews or child
death inquiries (otherwise or also known as Part 8 Reviews) conducted by
the Local [Powys?] Safeguarding Children Board or by any other predecessor
or successor body, which have been published since 1st January 2003 to
date.

 

Please send copies of the Overview/Full Report; otherwise please send
copies of the Executive Summaries. Where Executive Summaries only are
available please provide reasons for absence of the overview/full report.

 

If none are available or are withheld please provide the reason for
non-publication.

 

The Response

Powys Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB) is a statutory body in
its own right, distinct from Powys County Council.  However, it should be
noted that Powys LSCB is not a public authority for the purposes of the
Freedom of Information Act.  The Commissioner’s guidance on Information
held by a public authority for the purposes of the FOIA states that when a
public authority holds information solely on behalf of another person it
is not held for the purposes of the FOIA and that each case needs to be
considered according to the specific circumstances. Should any
information/reports be held then it is not held for the Local Authority’s
own purposes rather it is for agencies & individuals to learn lessons to
improve the way they work collectively to safeguard and promote the
welfare of children. 

Section 1(1) of the FOIA states that: “Any person making a request for
information to a public authority is entitled – (a) to be informed in
writing by the public authority whether it holds information of the
description specified in the request, and (b) if that is the case, to have
that information communicated to him.”  Section 3(2) of the FOIA states
that: “For the purpose of this Act, information is held by a public
authority if – (a) it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf
of another person, or (b) it is held by another person on behalf of the
authority.”  The only circumstance in which information, which is
physically in the possession of the Council, would not be held for its own
purpose would be where the Council holds that information on behalf of
another person or body.

We would argue that any information held is done so on behalf of the LSCB.
It therefore asserts that the information sought by the complainant is not
held for the purposes of the FOIA by virtue of section 3(2)(a). Section 13
of the Children Act 2004, requires each Local Authority to establish a
LSCB for their area and it specifies those organisations & individuals who
make up the Board. Page 63 of the Working Together guidance states: “All
LSCB member organisations have an obligation to provide LSCB’s with
resources (including finance) that enable the LSCB to be strong and
effective.” The Authority is therefore obliged to provide administrative
and financial support to the LSCB and to provide a minimum membership of
that Board.  The Authority therefore concludes that the lSCB is an
independent body and as such is on the same footing as bodies such as the
Coroner’s Office. Each Authority is just one of the “building blocks”
which enable the LSCB to generate reports.  Members of the Council’s
staff, who sit as members of the LSCB, were provided with copies of
reports purely for the purpose of their work for the Board.

Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards created under the Children’s Act 2004
no longer exist in Wales.  Local safeguarding arrangements are facilitated
by each Local Authority through multi-agency Local Operational Groups,
which report to a Regional Safeguarding Board. 

Regional Safeguarding Boards were introduced in Wales by Part 7 of the
Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 to discharge statutory
functions in regard to safeguarding children and adults at risk.  The Mid
& West Wales Regional Safeguarding Board covers the counties of
Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Powys. 

For more details on the Mid & West Wales Regional Safeguarding Board, see
[2]www.cysur.wales or [3]www.cysur.cymru

 

However, we can advise that having undertaken a search of electronic
systems Powys County Council have no recorded information.

 

We believe that this request is now complete and shall be closed
immediately. Should any further information be requested regarding this
topic, a separate request will need to be submitted.

 

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Powys County Council.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Compliance Team

 

 

The supply of documents under Freedom of Information does not give the
person or organisation who receives them an automatic right to re-use the
documents in a way that would infringe copyright.

 

You are free to use any information supplied for your own use, including
for non-commercial research purposes. The information may also be used for
the purposes of news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for
example, by publishing the information or issuing copies to the public
will require the permission of the copyright owner.

 

The copyright of most of the information that we provide in response to
Freedom of Information Act requests will be owned by Powys County Council.
The copyright in other information may be owned by another person or
organisation, as indicated in the information itself.

 

For HMSO Guidance Notes on a range of copyright issues, see the Office of
Public Sector Information(OPSI) website.

[4]http://www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/crown-copy...

 

If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received in relation to
your request and wish to make a complaint, please contact Information
Management. Our complaints procedure is available on request or on our
website.

 

If you are still not satisfied following this, you can make an appeal to
the Information Commissioner, who is the statutory regulator. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

 

Information Commissioner's Office

2nd floor

Churchill House

Churchill way

Cardiff

CF10 2HH

Tel: 029 2067 8400

Email: [5][email address]

[6]www.ico.org.uk

 

 

 

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Powys County Council request email]
2. http://www.cysur.wales/
3. http://www.cysur.cymru/
4. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/crown-copy...
5. mailto:[email address]
6. http://www.ico.org.uk/

Dear Powys County Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Powys County Council's handling of my FOI request 'Serious case reviews/child death inquiries – Powys'.

Thank you for your response which is disappointing as far as disclosure of the requested information viz Serious Case Reviews [SCR’s] is concerned.

It is disturbing that SCR’s are not publicly available [even in anonymised format] and I note that Haringey Council in a response to a Robin Smith [Ref: 144095] dated 01.02.2013 disclosed three SCR’s plus an Executive Summary following a request going back to 01.01.1975.

In addition in a similar request to Pembrokeshire Council [01.04.2017/ref 638015] some material was disclosed or where it could be accessed [via website].

Finally I am surprised that electronic copies of reports are not held by the local authority bearing in mind Haringey were able to provide electronic copies and electronic copies of SCR’s of other authorities are available electronically including on websites, eg Pembrokeshire Council

I should be obliged if you would conduct a review not least to establish that

1. such information can be withheld from public scrutiny [including scrutiny by Council Members acting for their constituents or as Corporate Parents];

2. information [SCR’s] is only published by the selection or the discretion of non-public authorities, such as the Mid Wales LCSB/CYSUR which is/are nevertheless publicly/taxpayer funded, as to what information should be disclosed.

3. The SCR’s are reliant on information being provided to Safeguarding Board eg the Mid Wales LCSB/CYSUR by the local authority and other agency services which may or may not be withheld from the Report writer.

4. The terms of reference for the SCR are drawn up by the agency services possibly limiting the probative and outcome value of any SCR.

5. Does Powys Council have scanning and/or electronic filing facilities/capabilities?

Thank you in advance of your response/review.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...

Yours faithfully,

dai pugh

Freedom of Information Queries (CSP - Generic), Powys County Council

Dear Mr Pugh

We acknowledge receipt of your complaint regarding the Information relating to "Serious Case Reviews". I regret that you have expressed dissatisfaction in the service provided by Powys County Council in respect of your recent request for information. Your complaint will be referred to the most appropriate individual for review, in accordance with the Council’s Freedom of Information Complaints Policy.

Powys County Council attempts to respond to requests for a review within 20 working days, however, this is not possible in all cases. We will endeavour to respond by 6th June 2017.

Regards

Information Compliance Team

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Freedom of Information Queries (CSP - Generic), Powys County Council

1 Attachment

  • Attachment

    Response Internal Review For Release F2017 0426 Serious Case Reviews.docx

    17K Download View as HTML

Dear Mr Pugh

Please find attached the response to your request for an Internal Review into F2017-0426 Serious Case Reviews. Please accept our apology for the delay in proving your response and any inconvenience this may have caused.

Regards

Information Compliance Team

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Dear Freedom of Information Queries (CSP - Generic),

Thanks for your response.

As CYSUR, from your response, it appears intend to publish this information on a website [designated page] I will await what is provided on the website.
Yours sincerely,

dai pugh

D Farmer left an annotation ()

You might have to wait a long time
CYSUR have not publicised all the information the statutory instrument (2015) and the guidance says they should!