Social Engineering by Children’s Social Services to meet targets and acquire bonuses in the best interests of the child.

S. Prichard made this Freedom of Information request to Oxfordshire County Council This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Oxfordshire County Council should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Oxfordshire County Council,

We have been researching why children are being removed from protective parents. These include social services using child protection of “emotional harm” against parents contacting social services for help, advice, or reporting concerns of abuse. We, and the protective parents themselves, still cannot fathom why parents are being criticised or punished and having their children removed for asking for the very services that the authorities readily advertise that they provide.

Following numerous adverse judgements against social services, Sir James Munby recently said:-

Re A (A Child) 2015, paragraph 16
“I am not condoning that for a moment, but the courts are not in the business of social engineering. …”

Our research has shown that several cases the protective parent has been discredited, in most cases unlawfully or underhand tactics used by the authorities. The child is then placed, on the recommendation of social workers, with the un-protective parent, be it in their own authority or another authority. Some time passes and then a social workers or agency report concerns, similar to what the protective parent previously reported, and places the child for either foster care or adoption.
We understand, and speaking to people working within the system, that social workers and the authorities receive bonuses for adoption. These bonuses derived from Tony Blair’s previous government to enforce targets.

In short
The first trigger is from the protective parent reporting concerns
The child is removed from the protective parent; concerns ignored, parent discredited.
The second trigger is made by concerns raised by authorities or outside agencies
Following this stage both parents are deemed a “risk”
Child is placed in foster or adopted.

We believe that this is social engineering to meet targets and acquire authorities’ funds, not being in the best interest of children.

Because we cannot set a date of the “second trigger” we are asking for this request to go back 10 years.

1. We are asking how many parents have been placed on child protection for “emotional harm” for:-
a) Seeking advice
b) Seeking help (financial or asking for a service)
c) Seeking medical attention or advice (NHS now alert social services)
d) Reporting abuse
i) Sexual
ii) Psychical
iii) Emotional

2. How many times did your authority recommend the child be placed with the person or family that had concerns raised against them, as per Q1 (placed with the un-protective parent)

3. And following Q2 how many children were placed within:-
a) Your authorities jurisdiction
b) Another authorities jurisdiction

4. Following Q3, How many concerns were raised by authorities or agencies against the un-protective parent that were previously raised (or similar concerns) in Q1 by the protective parent(s)

5. Following Q4, How many children were then placed for adoption or fostering.

6. Following Q5, How much does the authority / social worker receive for
a) Placing a child for adoption
b) Placing a child in foster care

7. What are the ongoing costs received by central government to local government social workers / foster careers etc. for
a) Children adopted.
b) Children in foster care.

Yours faithfully,

S. Prichard

Joint Commissioning FOI, Oxfordshire County Council

Our reference: 8120 FOI

Dear S Prichard

Thank you for your request of 5 April 2015 in which you asked for information about children's services.

Your request is being considered and Oxfordshire County Council will respond within 20 working days in compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This means that the council will send a response to you by 5 May 2014.

There may be a fee payable for this information. You will be informed if this is the case and you can decide if you wish to proceed with your request.

If appropriate, the information requested can be made available in alternative formats, including other languages, Braille, large print, and audiocassette. If you require any of these formats then please let me know.

Please contact the team if you have any have further enquiries about your request. I would be grateful if you could quote the reference number given at the top of this email.

Yours sincerely

Complaints and Information Team
Joint Commissioning.
Oxfordshire County Council.
Tel: 01865 323589
Email: jointcommissioning[Oxfordshire County Council request email]

show quoted sections

S. Prichard (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

*** If you are a parent that has been affected by the misuse of
child protection please let our team know and we will direct this
request to your council ***

Joint Commissioning FOI, Oxfordshire County Council

Our reference:  8120 FOI

Dear S Prichard

Thank you for your request of 5 April 2015 in which you asked for
information about children's services over the last 10 years..

 

Please see our response below:

 

1. We are asking how many parents have been placed on child protection for
“emotional harm” for:-

a) Seeking advice

b) Seeking help (financial or asking for a service)

c) Seeking medical attention or advice (NHS now alert social services)

d) Reporting abuse

i) Sexual

ii) Physical

iii) Emotional

Response

Parents are not placed on child protection so the answer for this is zero.

Children are made subject to child protection plans under the category of
Emotional Abuse if they are experiencing significant harm due to the care
given to them by their parents/care giver therefore they would not be made
subject to child protection plans due to 1a-d and i-iii.

 

2. How many times did your authority recommend the child be placed with
the person or family that had concerns raised against them, as per Q1
(placed with the un-protective parent)

Response

I am writing to inform you that we have searched our records and the
information you requested is not held by Oxfordshire County Council.

 

3. And following Q2 how many children were placed within:-

a) Your authority’s jurisdiction

b) Another authority’s jurisdiction

Response

I am writing to inform you that we have searched our records and the
information you requested is not held by Oxfordshire County Council.

 

4. Following Q3, How many concerns were raised by authorities or agencies
against

the un-protective parent that were previously raised (or similar concerns)
in Q1 by

the protective parent(s)

Response

I am writing to inform you that we have searched our records and the
information you requested is not held by Oxfordshire County Council.

 

5. Following Q4, How many children were then placed for adoption or
fostering.

Response

I am writing to inform you that we have searched our records and the
information you requested is not held by Oxfordshire County Council.

 

 

6. Following Q5, How much does the authority / social worker receive for

a) Placing a child for adoption

b) Placing a child in foster care

Response

Social Workers and the local authority receive no payment for placing
children for adoption or placing them in foster care.

 

7. What are the on-going costs received by central government to local
government

social workers / foster careers etc. for

a) Children adopted

b) Children in foster care

Response

Social Workers receive no remuneration from central government, or any
other body, for children adopted or in foster care.

Foster carers receive an allowance to cover the cost of providing care for

the children in their care. Central government contributes to Local
Government funding which includes the cost of providing for children
placed in foster care or adopted.

In terms of funding from central government to local authorities for
on-going costs, councils receive an allocation towards all the services
they provide made up of retained business rates and revenue support grant
(RSG).  The allocation is calculated by central government based on a
complex formula.  The grant itself is not broken down into the specific
services, but contributes to the overall funding of the local authority’s
budget.

 

The value of this funding each year can be found in the annual Statements
of Accounts on the internet at [1]Annual accounts and audit | Oxfordshire
County Council.

 

In line with the council’s document retention policy the last 6 years
Statements of Accounts are retained.

 

 

Internal review

If you are dissatisfied with the service or response to your request you
can ask for an internal review as follows:

 

•           Contact the Complaints & Freedom of Information team in Law &
Governance : [2][Oxfordshire County Council request email] 

•           Use the online complaints form on our website:
[3]www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/complaints

•           Write to the Complaints & Freedom of Information team at the
FREEPOST address:

 

Complaints and Comments

Oxfordshire County Council

FREEPOST (SCE 7709)

Oxford OX1 1YA.

 

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request or complaint,
you have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Telephone:0303 123 1113 Website: [4]www.ico.gov.uk

 

Yours sincerely,

Teresa Rogers

Adoption, Permanence & Fostering Service Manager

Oxfordshire County Council

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References

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1. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/conte...
2. mailto:[Oxfordshire County Council request email]
3. http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/complaints
4. http://www.ico.gov.uk/

Dear Joint Commissioning FOI,

Thank you for your response. With regards to Q1 is it your policy not to punish parents for, for example, reporting suspected abuse, as we have researched other councils have been. If there is any laws or national policies please direct us to them. Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

S. Prichard