Information Team Croydon
Digital Services
Assistant Chief Executive Directorate
Bernard Wetherill House
7th Floor, Zone B
Croydon
CR0 1EA

Contact: Information Team
[Croydon Borough Council request email]

NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email. If
you have a processing request, please ensure you quote that reference in
your emails to us.

DEAR Olivia Letza cooper

Freedom of information request - FOI/7129

Subject: Statistics in relation to support provided under the local offer
to care leavers.

Your request is being considered and you will receive a response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days, subject to the application of
any exemptions. Where consideration is being given to exemptions the 20
working day timescale may be extended to a period considered reasonable
depending on the nature and circumstances of your request. In such cases
you will be notified and, where possible, a revised time-scale will be
indicated. In all cases we shall attempt to deal with your request at the
earliest opportunity.

If we are unable to provide you with the information requested we will
notify you of this together with the reason(s) why, and details of how you
may appeal.

Please note that the directorate team may contact you for further
information where we believe that the request is not significantly clear
for us to respond fully. 

Kind Regard

Information Management Team

Croydon Digital Services

Assistant Chief Executive Directorate

7th Floor, Zone B

Bernard Weatherill House

8 Mint Walk

Croydon CR0 1EA

Information Team Croydon
Digital Services
Assistant Chief Executive Directorate
Bernard Wetherill House
7th Floor, Zone B
Croydon
CR0 1EA

Contact: Information Team
[Croydon Borough Council request email]

Dear Olivia Letza cooper

Request FOI/7129

Freedom of Information Request

Further to your request received on 1/3/2023, we confirm that the Council
has considered your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Please accept our sincerest apologies for the significant delay you have
experienced whist we have been processing your request.

We are writing to inform you that we are now going to close your request.
To date we have only been able to partially collate some of the
information you have requested. The information we have not located is due
to either the data not being captured at this level or that it would
exceed the appropriate limit to manually search individuals records and
also cannot be retrieved by a reasonable search in the relevant
databases. The Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit)
Regulations 2004 specifies an “appropriate limit” for the amount of time
the council needs to spend undertaking that search.  If the council
estimates that the time taken to locate, retrieve and extract the
information requested will exceed the appropriate limit, then under
Section 12 of the Act, it is not obliged to comply with that request.

Specifically, you have requested the following information:

“1. How much funding was allocated by the Council for the Higher Education
bursary for the 2017/18, 2019/20 and 2021/22 academic years respectively?
(By Higher Education bursary we mean the relevant amount referred to in
s23C(5A) Children Act 1989).

(a) How many applications for a Higher Education bursary were received in
each of the stated years?
(b) What was the total number of successful applications for each of the
stated years?
(c) What was the total amount paid out in bursaries in each of the stated
years?

2. How much funding was allocated by the Council for the ‘setting up home
grant’, as referred to in Croydon's local offer to care leavers, for the
2017/18, 2019/20 and 2021/22 financial years respectively?

(a) How many applications for the grant were received in each of the
stated years?
(b) What was the total number of successful applications in each of the
stated years?
(c) What was the total amount paid out for the grants in each of the
stated years?

3. How much was allocated by the Council for the “money based incentives
for attendance in education or training”, as referred to in Croydon’s
local offer to care leavers, for the 2017/18, 2019/20 and 2021/22
financial years respectively?

(a) How many requests for such incentives were received in each of the
stated years?
(b) What was the total amount paid out in such incentives in each of the
stated years?

4. How many former relevant children were given free access to sports
facilities in Croydon in 2018, 2020 and 2022 respectively?

(a) How many applications for such free access were received in each of
the stated years?

5. How much was allocated in funding for transport costs when travelling
to training, school/college, apprenticeships or job interviews, as
referred to in Croydon’s local offer to care leavers, for the 2017/18,
2019/20 and 2021/22 financial years respectively?

(a) How many requests were made for support with transport costs in each
of the stated years?
(b) What was the total amount paid out in such transport costs for each of
the stated years?

6. How many ring-fenced opportunities for work experience, apprenticeship
and employment, as referred to in Croydon’s local offer to care leavers,
existed in 2018, 2020 and 2022.

(a) How many of those opportunities were applied for in each of the stated
years?
(b) How many of those applications were successful in each of the stated
years?”

Please find below the information that we are able to provide, which
unfortunately may not fulfil your request.

We had 5 care leaver apprenticeships in the Virtual School which ran for
up to 18 months- 2yrs (Due to covid).  In the academic years  2019-2020
and 2020-2021. 4 of whom are now long term council employees.

This was specific funding offered to us via CMF, a grant from the DFE
specifically for high migration areas. It was a one off. We have not had
this before or since.

As for the rest of the offer we have no direct link- except advising and
informing the HE cohort of info when they get their exam results.

The Council publishes Access to Information requests and responses on its
online Disclosure Log. (Any request included within this log will be
anonymised appropriately)

To view the Council’s Disclosure Log, please visit our website available
here:

[1]The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act | Croydon Council
(disclosure-log.co.uk)

If you are dissatisfied with the way the Council has handled your request
under the Freedom of Information Act you may ask for an internal review. 
This should be submitted to us within 40 working days of this response. 
You can do this by outlining the details of your complaint by:

Email:        [Croydon Borough Council request email]

Writing:     Information Team

London Borough of Croydon
Bernard Weatherill House
3^rd Floor - Zone E
8 Mint Walk
Croydon CR0 1EA

Any requests received after the 40 working day time limit will be
considered only at the discretion of the council.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire   SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely 

Croydon Council

References

Visible links
1. https://croydon.disclosure-log.co.uk/