The number of individual referrals to Children’s Social Care Services

Arun District Council did not have the information requested.

Letter 2 - 2015

Dear Arun District Council,
In accordance with The Freedom Of Information Act [2000] I am requesting the following Information:

For clarity, in all requests, if the response to a specific question is ‘one case’ or ‘two cases, please respond with ‘fewer than three cases’. If the response to a specific question is ‘zero cases’, please say so.

• How many individual referrals to Children’s Social Care Services were made in your Local Authority, involving suspected Fabricated and Induced Illness (FII) and/or Muchausens By Proxy Syndrome (MBPS) in 2015?

• In those referrals involving suspected FII or MBPS in 2015, how are they defined to be genuine cases of FII or MBPS?

• Please provide a breakdown of the overall number of these referrals involving suspected FII or MBPS in 2015, by the type of organisation that made the initial referral, as shown in the table. For the NHS and Local Authority categories, please break down by clinic/department (add rows as required).

Type of Organisation
Clinic or Department
Number of referrals on Grounds of FII or MBPS
NHS

Local Authority

Schools (please do not identify individual schools).

Other (Please describe type of organisation in this case)

• In how many of these referrals involving suspected FII or MBPS in 2015 were, children removed form families and placed for adoption? How many were returned to families? Please specify a figure for each question.

• In each of these referrals were suspected FII or MBPS was not substantiated. How many of these cases were, closed completely with records amended to reflect no FII or MBPS? How many were subject to on-going monitoring? Please specify a figure for each question please.

I look forward to receiving a response to this request within 20 working days from receipt as per section 10 of The Freedom Of Information Act [2000].

Yours faithfully

Mrs C Emery

Infomanagement, Arun District Council

Dear Mrs Emery

Thank you for your Information Request below.

Please be advised that Arun District Council is not the local authority responsible for Social Services/Children within the area. The responsible authority is West Sussex County Council and therefore your request should be directed to:

https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/about-the-...

If you are dissatisfied with the way your request for information has been handled, you can write, within the next two months, to the Information Management Team at: Arun District Council, Arun Civic Centre, Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, West Sussex, BN17 5LF (email [Arun District Council request email]).

If, having exhausted our review procedure, you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request or complaint, you will 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 www.ico.org.uk). There is no charge for making an appeal.

Yours sincerely,

Information Management Team
Arun District Council

Information Management Team  |  Arun District Council | Location: First Floor,
Arun Civic Centre, Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, BN17 5LF
Internal: 37709 | External: +44 (0) 1903 737709 | E-mail: [Arun District Council request email]
Visit Arun's web site at www.arun.gov.uk Save the environment - think before you print.

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