Welfare Checklist (PLO) 2008 introduced to ensure children are placed with relatives rather than in care

Mrs L Taylor made this Freedom of Information request to Peterborough City Council This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was partially successful.

Dear Sir or Madam,

http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk...

December 2006 - Evidence shows children in care are being let down
and suffer more than those placed with relatives.

We are interested to see how the introduction of the PLO (Public
Law Outline) Welfare Checklist 2008 has altered the outcomes for
children.

I would be grateful if under the FOIA you could advise how many
times your Local Authority has applied for care orders via the
Family Courts WITHOUT the Welfare checklist set out in section 1 of
the Children Act 1989 being completed. The completion of the
Welfare Checklist would confirm that extended family members had in
fact been contacted prior to any application for a care order.

Whoever signs the application for a care order is responsible for
ensuring that the Welfare checklist has been fully completed,
please state who within your authority holds this position.

‘The Government recognises the importance of family members taking
care of children who cannot be cared for by their parents. We know
that a child brought up by a family member benefits from living
with someone they already know and trust rather than a stranger.
The Children Act 1989 placed a duty on local authorities to support
the upbringing of children by their families wherever possible, and
that services should be provided to children in need and their
families to enable this to happen.

There is now an increased focus on the steps that must be taken
prior to any court proceedings. Unless it is necessary to take
emergency action to protect a child from immediate harm, the local
authority must undertake various steps before initiating care
proceedings. Welfare checklist set out in section 1 of the Children
Act 1989’

Yours faithfully,

Mrs L Taylor

Zerafa Ed, Peterborough City Council

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST - FOI-09-0024

Dear Madam,

Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act:

December 2006 - Evidence shows children in care are being let down and
suffer more than those placed with relatives.

We are interested to see how the introduction of the PLO (Public Law
Outline) Welfare Checklist 2008 has altered the outcomes for children.

I would be grateful if under the FOIA you could advise how many times your
Local Authority has applied for care orders via the Family Courts WITHOUT
the Welfare checklist set out in section 1 of the Children Act 1989 being
completed. The completion of the Welfare Checklist would confirm that
extended family members had in fact been contacted prior to any
application for a care order.

Whoever signs the application for a care order is responsible for ensuring
that the Welfare checklist has been fully completed, please state who
within your authority holds this position.

The Government recognises the importance of family members taking care of
children who cannot be cared for by their parents. We know that a child
brought up by a family member benefits from living with someone they
already know and trust rather than a stranger. The Children Act 1989
placed a duty on local authorities to support the upbringing of children
by their families wherever possible, and that services should be provided
to children in need and their families to enable this to happen.

There is now an increased focus on the steps that must be taken prior to
any court proceedings. Unless it is necessary to take emergency action to
protect a child from immediate harm, the local authority must undertake
various steps before initiating care proceedings. Welfare checklist set
out in section 1 of the Children Act 1989'

Your request is being considered and you will receive the information, if
held, within the statutory timescale of 20 working days, subject to the
information not being exempt.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours faithfully

Ed Zerafa

Information Specialist

Peterborough City Council

Town Hall

Peterborough

PE1 1HG

ed.zerafa[1]@peterborough.gov.uk

Telephone 01733 452295

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Zerafa Ed, Peterborough City Council

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST - FOI-09-0024

Dear Madam

Your request for information has now been considered. The information
requested is as follows;

December 2006 - Evidence shows children in care are being let down and
suffer more than those placed with relatives.

We are interested to see how the introduction of the PLO (Public Law
Outline) Welfare Checklist 2008 has altered the outcomes for children.

I would be grateful if under the FOIA you could advise how many times your
Local Authority has applied for care orders via the Family Courts WITHOUT
the Welfare checklist set out in section 1 of the Children Act 1989 being
completed.

Peterborough City Council has reviewed the cases which are currently
before the courts and identified five instances where a formal welfare
checklist was not included in the initial statement; of these five cases:

. three arose out of emergency referrals from external agencies and
required immediate court applications.

. one involved parents who had no extended family in the UK.

. the final case although lacking a formal welfare checklist makes
it clear within the body of the statement that extended family has been
involved extensively before the application was made to court.

The Council has carried out a preliminary assessment of the information
for non-current cases and it is estimated that the cost of complying with
your request would exceed the appropriate limit of £450. The appropriate
limit has been specified in regulations and for local Government it is set
at £450. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending two
and a half working days in determining whether the authority holds the
information, and locating, retrieving and extracting the information.
Under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act the authority is not
obliged to comply with your request and we will not be processing your
request further.

You may wish to refine and resubmit your request so that it reduces the
cost to within the "appropriate limit". Please contact me if you would
like some advice on refining your request.

The completion of the Welfare Checklist would confirm that extended family
members had in fact been contacted prior to any application for a care
order.

Whoever signs the application for a care order is responsible for ensuring
that the Welfare checklist has been fully completed, please state who
within your authority holds this position.

At Peterborough City Council the person who signs the application is
ordinarily the lawyer with conduct of the matter on behalf of the
Solicitor to the Council, so it varies in each case. They are obliged to
ensure that the application is ready for issue and are responsible for
complying with the Practice Directions of the court as regards the filing
of evidence in support.

`The Government recognises the importance of family members taking care of
children who cannot be cared for by their parents. We know that a child
brought up by a family member benefits from living with someone they
already know and trust rather than a stranger. The Children Act 1989
placed a duty on local authorities to support the upbringing of children
by their families wherever possible, and that services should be provided
to children in need and their families to enable this to happen.

There is now an increased focus on the steps that must be taken prior to
any court proceedings. Unless it is necessary to take emergency action to
protect a child from immediate harm, the local authority must undertake
various steps before initiating care proceedings. Welfare checklist set
out in section 1 of the Children Act 1989'

The information supplied to you in response to your request is the
copyright of Peterborough City Council and is protected by the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988. You may use it for the purposes permitted by
that Act, including non-commercial research and news reporting. Any other
re-use, for example commercial publication, requires the permission of the
copyright holder. If you wish to re-use any information supplied you must
first gain the Council's explicit written consent. In order to make a
request to re-use the information please contact me at the address at the
foot of this letter.

You have the right of appeal against the decision. If you wish to appeal
please set out in writing your grounds of appeal and send to the
Information Specialist, Peterborough City Council, Town Hall, Bridge
Street, Peterborough, PE1 1HG; Telephone: 01733 747474, e-mail:
[1][email address]

If you are not content with the outcome your appeal, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted
the Council's complaints procedure. The Information Commissioner's Office
can be contacted as follows:-

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane
Wilmslow, Cheshire
SK9 5AF 
Telephone:   01625 545 700
[2]http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx

Yours sincerely

Ed Zerafa

Information Specialist

Peterborough City Council

Town Hall

Peterborough

PE1 1HG

[3][email address]

Telephone 01733 452295

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Conditions apply to the confidentiality, copyright, legal liability and
use of this email. For full information relating to the transmission and
use of this email please visit [4]www.peterborough.gov.uk/emaildisclaimer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.peterborough.gov.uk/emaildisc...