The Number of Individual Referrals to Childrens Social Care Services

Dumfries and Galloway Council did not have the information requested.

Dear Dumfries and Galloway 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 2014?

• In those referrals involving suspected FII or MBPS in 2014, 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 2014, by the type of organisation that made the initial referral. For the NHS and Local Authority categories, please break down by clinic/department.

Type of Organisation ------- Clinic or Department
NHS
Local Authority
Schools (please do not identify individual schools).
Other (Please describe type of organisation in this case)

Number of referrals made on the grounds of FII or MBPS for each of those departments in 2014.

Please provide these statistics in a table format.

• In how many of these referrals involving suspected FII or MBPS in 2014 were, children removed from 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

Dumfries and Galloway Council

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002

Thank you for your request for information which was received on 10/04/2018 which we are dealing with in terms of the above legislation. We have given your request the unique reference 328212 and we would appreciate it if you could quote this on all correspondence to us.

Under the terms of the legislation, we have an obligation to respond to your request within 20 working days from the day after your request was received. We will therefore aim to respond to your request by 09/05/2018.

Please be aware that, in some circumstances, a fee may be payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of the information you have requested. If this is the case, a fees notice will be issued, which would need to be paid in order to progress your request.

If your request for information is considered and deemed as a 'business as usual' request, it will be responded to by the appropriate Service within the Council.

If you have any queries in the meantime, please contact [email address].

Kind Regards

FOI Unit
Dumfries and Galloway Council

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Dumfries and Galloway Council

Please find below the Council's response to your request 328212 which was received on 10/04/2018.

Details of request: 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 2014?

? In those referrals involving suspected FII or MBPS in 2014, 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 2014, by the type of organisation that made the initial referral. For the NHS and Local Authority categories, please break down by clinic/department.

Type of Organisation ------- Clinic or Department
NHS
Local Authority
Schools (please do not identify individual schools).
Other (Please describe type of organisation in this case)

Number of referrals made on the grounds of FII or MBPS for each of those departments in 2014.

Please provide these statistics in a table format.

* In how many of these referrals involving suspected FII or MBPS in 2014 were, children removed from 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.

Response:

In accordance with Section 17(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, Dumfries and Galloway Council can confirm that it does not hold any of the information requested.

Our Social Work service has advised that their user database does not record this information therefore no information is held in respect of your request.

Please be aware that the Council holds the copyright, where applicable, for the information provided and it may be reproduced free of charge in any format or media without requiring specific permission. This is subject to the material not being used in a misleading context. The source of the material must be acknowledged as Dumfries and Galloway Council and the title of the document must be included when being reproduced as part of another publication or service.

If you require any further clarification, please contact us. However, if you are not satisfied with the way in which your request has been dealt with, you can request us to carry out an internal review of the decision by emailing [email address] or writing to us within 40 working days of receiving this response.

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the review, you have the right to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision. Appeals to the Commissioner can be made online at www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal or in writing to: The Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner, Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS.

Kind Regards

FOI Unit
Dumfries and Galloway Council

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Any email message sent or received by the
Council may require to be disclosed by the
Council under the provisions of the Freedom
of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.