Specialist foster carers and disabled children in care - information on retention levels and cost of living
Dear Newport City Council,
A 2021 Ofsted report warned:
“The number of foster carers in England has only increased by 4% since 2014, while the number of children in foster care has increased some 11%. And while the number of fostering households and carers has gone up, Ofsted research suggests that the range of carers available aren’t always able to meet children’s increasingly complex needs.”
Since the Ofsted report, the cost of living crisis has impacted particularly hard on disabled people, including children, and those who support them, partly because of additional needs, including specialist equipment which may require power.
Academic research has also found that specialist foster care for disabled children and young people reaps dividends for them, but that foster carers can struggle with increased costs of support, difficulties in navigating the benefits system and accessing appropriate care.
1. Please provide figures for the number of children in your area in foster care who have additional needs, such as SEN, or who are described as having a disability and provide those figures from 2019-2022 inclusive.
2. Please provide figures for the number of foster carers in your area providing care for children and young people who have such additional needs from 2019-2022 inclusive.
3. Please give details of the reasons that foster carers quitting the sector have given your council from 2019-2022, with particular emphasis on reasons around not enough support, financial and otherwise, for their work with children and young people with additional needs.
Yours faithfully,
Ms Katharine Quarmby
Dear Sir/Madam
Thank you for your request for information about :
Specialist foster carers and disabled children in care - information on retention levels and cost of living
Received on 21/03/2023
This request has been formally logged in our FOI management system and has been assigned the reference REQ11123.
You should receive a reply to your request within the statutory time limit of 20 working days.
Please remember to quote the reference number REQ11123 in any future communications.
Yours sincerely,
Information Management
Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg, Saesneg neu yn y ddwy iaith. Byddwn yn cyfathrebu â chi yn ôl eich dewis. Ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi.
The Council welcomes correspondence in English or Welsh or both, and will respond to you according to your preference. Corresponding in Welsh will not lead to delay.
Disclaimer/Ymwadiad
This email contains information intended for the addressee only and may be confidential, the subject of legal or professional privilege, or be otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose, distribute or copy the email to any other party. This email and any attached file are the property of Newport City Council.
When you email Newport City Council, you consent to the Council monitoring and reading any such emails for the purposes of security and legislative compliance. For the full disclaimer please access http://www.newport.gov.uk/disclaimer.
Mae'r e-bost hwn yn cynnwys gwybodaeth y bwriedir ar gyfer y derbynnydd yn unig a gall fod yn gyfrinachol, yn destun ragorfraint gyfreithiol neu broffesiynol, neu fel arall wedi’i diogelu rhag cael ei rhyddhau. Os nad chi yw derbynnydd bwriadedig y neges hon, a fyddech cystal â rhoi gwybod i'r anfonwr ar unwaith a pheidio â datgelu, dosbarthu neu gopïo’r e-bost i unrhyw barti arall. Mae’r e-bost hon ac unrhyw ffeiliau atodedig yn eiddo i Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd.
Pan fyddwch yn anfon e-bost at Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd, rydych yn cydsynio i’r Cyngor fonitro a darllen unrhyw e-byst o’r fath at ddibenion cydymffurfio â diogelwch ac â deddfwriaeth. I weld yr ymwadiad llawn ewch i http://www.newport.gov.uk/ymwadiad
Bore Da/Good Morning,
Thank you for your recent request for information which we are dealing
with under the Freedom of Information Act.
In order to process this request further we need to clarify the following:
Can I confirm you are also seeking figures from Wales? Your request
mentions England and Newport is situated in Wales.
Your request will be placed on hold until we receive your response.
If we do not receive a response by 4^th April we will close your request.
If after that time you still require the information please resubmit a new
FOI request.
Freedom of Information requests can now be submitted via the link below.
[1]www.newport.gov.uk/foi
We look forward to your reply.
Kind Regards
Sarah Jones
Information Management
Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg, Saesneg neu yn y ddwy
iaith. Byddwn yn cyfathrebu â chi yn ôl eich dewis. Ni fydd gohebu yn
Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi.
The Council welcomes correspondence in English or Welsh or both, and will
respond to you according to your preference. Corresponding in Welsh will
not lead to delay.
Disclaimer/Ymwadiad
This email contains information intended for the addressee only and may be
confidential, the subject of legal or professional privilege, or be
otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient
of this message, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose,
distribute or copy the email to any other party. This email and any
attached file are the property of Newport City Council.
When you email Newport City Council, you consent to the Council monitoring
and reading any such emails for the purposes of security and legislative
compliance. For the full disclaimer please access
http://www.newport.gov.uk/disclaimer.
Mae'r e-bost hwn yn cynnwys gwybodaeth y bwriedir ar gyfer y derbynnydd yn
unig a gall fod yn gyfrinachol, yn destun ragorfraint gyfreithiol neu
broffesiynol, neu fel arall wedi’i diogelu rhag cael ei rhyddhau. Os nad
chi yw derbynnydd bwriadedig y neges hon, a fyddech cystal â rhoi gwybod
i'r anfonwr ar unwaith a pheidio â datgelu, dosbarthu neu gopïo’r e-bost i
unrhyw barti arall. Mae’r e-bost hon ac unrhyw ffeiliau atodedig yn eiddo
i Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd.
Pan fyddwch yn anfon e-bost at Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd, rydych yn cydsynio
i’r Cyngor fonitro a darllen unrhyw e-byst o’r fath at ddibenion
cydymffurfio â diogelwch ac â deddfwriaeth. I weld yr ymwadiad llawn ewch
i http://www.newport.gov.uk/ymwadiad
References
Visible links
1. http://www.newport.gov.uk/foi
Dear NCC - Information Management,
REQ11123
Thank you for your email. Yes, I am seeking information about your council for my Welsh research.
Yours sincerely,
Ms Katharine Quarmby
Good Afternoon,
Thank you for your response.
A new FOI has been logged for you, your new reference number is REQ11241
You should receive a reply to your request within the statutory time limit of 20 working days.
Please remember to quote the reference number REQ11241 in any future communications.
Kind Regards,
Sarah Jones
Information Management
Dear Katharine Quarmby,
Thank you for your recent request for information which we are dealing
with under the Freedom of Information Act.
In order to process this request further we need to clarify the following:
In relation to Qs1 and 2 we would not details of all children in the
Newport area as some may be with foster carers living in Newport but with
Independent Foster Agency fosterers. Could you advise if you would like
the figures that we hold?
For Q3 we do not hold the level of information you are requesting, would
like us to provide information we hold as per Foster Wales?
Your request will be placed on hold until we receive your response.
If we do not receive a response by 3^rd May we will close your request.
If after that time you still require the information please resubmit a new
FOI request.
Freedom of Information requests can now be submitted via the link below.
[1]www.newport.gov.uk/foi
We look forward to your reply.
Regards
Sarah
Information Management
Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg, Saesneg neu yn y ddwy
iaith. Byddwn yn cyfathrebu â chi yn ôl eich dewis. Ni fydd gohebu yn
Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi.
The Council welcomes correspondence in English or Welsh or both, and will
respond to you according to your preference. Corresponding in Welsh will
not lead to delay.
Disclaimer/Ymwadiad
This email contains information intended for the addressee only and may be
confidential, the subject of legal or professional privilege, or be
otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient
of this message, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose,
distribute or copy the email to any other party. This email and any
attached file are the property of Newport City Council.
When you email Newport City Council, you consent to the Council monitoring
and reading any such emails for the purposes of security and legislative
compliance. For the full disclaimer please access
http://www.newport.gov.uk/disclaimer.
Mae'r e-bost hwn yn cynnwys gwybodaeth y bwriedir ar gyfer y derbynnydd yn
unig a gall fod yn gyfrinachol, yn destun ragorfraint gyfreithiol neu
broffesiynol, neu fel arall wedi’i diogelu rhag cael ei rhyddhau. Os nad
chi yw derbynnydd bwriadedig y neges hon, a fyddech cystal â rhoi gwybod
i'r anfonwr ar unwaith a pheidio â datgelu, dosbarthu neu gopïo’r e-bost i
unrhyw barti arall. Mae’r e-bost hon ac unrhyw ffeiliau atodedig yn eiddo
i Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd.
Pan fyddwch yn anfon e-bost at Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd, rydych yn cydsynio
i’r Cyngor fonitro a darllen unrhyw e-byst o’r fath at ddibenion
cydymffurfio â diogelwch ac â deddfwriaeth. I weld yr ymwadiad llawn ewch
i http://www.newport.gov.uk/ymwadiad
References
Visible links
1. http://www.newport.gov.uk/foi
Dear NCC - Information Management,
REQ11123
Many thanks for your email.
On the first point, please just provide the figures you hold.
On the second, the information you have from Fostering Wales is sufficient.
Yours sincerely,
Ms Katharine Quarmby
Dear K Quarmby,
Thank you for your recent request for information which I have enclosed
below for ease of reference. Your request has been treated in accordance
with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and/or the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004.
Your Request : REQ11241
I can confirm that we do not hold information that falls within the scope
of your request. The answers to your questions have been provided in Red
Text below.
1. Please provide figures for the number of children in your area in
foster care who have additional needs, such as SEN, or who are described
as having a disability and provide those figures from 2019-2022 inclusive.
We do not hold this level of detail at this time for our own foster
carers. There will also be children who have additional needs living in
the Newport area who are with IFA foster carers from other local
authorities, including English local authorities.
2. Please provide figures for the number of foster carers in your area
providing care for children and young people who have such additional
needs from 2019-2022 inclusive. We do not hold this level of detail at
this time on Foster Wales Newport carers.
3. Please give details of the reasons that foster carers quitting the
sector have given your council from 2019-2022, with particular emphasis on
reasons around not enough support, financial and otherwise, for their work
with children and young people with additional needs. This information is
not recorded. Please note that the Freedom of Information Act requires
public authorities to provide recorded information held by an
organisation. As such, the council is not obliged to provide information
that is not recorded or to give an opinion or judgement.
I hope this provides the information you were looking for; if there is any
further information that we can provide, please submit a further request.
If you have any queries about this email or if you are unhappy with the
service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a
complaint or request a review of our decision, please contact me.
If you are not content with the subsequent outcome of your complaint, you
may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision.
Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the
Councils complaints procedure. To contact the Information Commissioner
click [1]HERE.
For future reference, all Freedom of Information requests can now be
submitted via the link below.
[2]www.newport.gov.uk/foi
Kind regards,
Jodi
Information Management
Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg, Saesneg neu yn y ddwy
iaith. Byddwn yn cyfathrebu â chi yn ôl eich dewis. Ni fydd gohebu yn
Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi.
The Council welcomes correspondence in English or Welsh or both, and will
respond to you according to your preference. Corresponding in Welsh will
not lead to delay.
Disclaimer/Ymwadiad
This email contains information intended for the addressee only and may be
confidential, the subject of legal or professional privilege, or be
otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient
of this message, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose,
distribute or copy the email to any other party. This email and any
attached file are the property of Newport City Council.
When you email Newport City Council, you consent to the Council monitoring
and reading any such emails for the purposes of security and legislative
compliance. For the full disclaimer please access
http://www.newport.gov.uk/disclaimer.
Mae'r e-bost hwn yn cynnwys gwybodaeth y bwriedir ar gyfer y derbynnydd yn
unig a gall fod yn gyfrinachol, yn destun ragorfraint gyfreithiol neu
broffesiynol, neu fel arall wedi’i diogelu rhag cael ei rhyddhau. Os nad
chi yw derbynnydd bwriadedig y neges hon, a fyddech cystal â rhoi gwybod
i'r anfonwr ar unwaith a pheidio â datgelu, dosbarthu neu gopïo’r e-bost i
unrhyw barti arall. Mae’r e-bost hon ac unrhyw ffeiliau atodedig yn eiddo
i Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd.
Pan fyddwch yn anfon e-bost at Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd, rydych yn cydsynio
i’r Cyngor fonitro a darllen unrhyw e-byst o’r fath at ddibenion
cydymffurfio â diogelwch ac â deddfwriaeth. I weld yr ymwadiad llawn ewch
i http://www.newport.gov.uk/ymwadiad
References
Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/
2. http://www.newport.gov.uk/foi
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