Working Together 2013: Safeguarding children detained by the police

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Brent Borough Council should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Brent Borough Council,

My questions are in italics.
Working Together 2013(WT) provides the latest definitive guidance on the provision of services to children.
Paragraph 18 requires LSCBs to publish a threshold document which addresses assessment and provision of services for children in need or who may be in need and section 20, the provision of accommodation, which includes the provision of accommodation for children that the local authority has been requested to receive in response to a request made under section 38(6) Police and Criminal Evidence Act. For the relationship between the two see M v Gateshead Council (2006) EWCA Civ 221.
1. Please provide the threshold document or, if it has not yet been produced, please describe the process to be adopted to assess the need for and arrangements to provide both non-secure and secure accommodation for children who the local authority are required to receive under section 21 together with the estimate of need and the basis on which it has been assessed.
Paragraph 16 states “It is important that there are clear criteria for taking action and providing help across this full continuum. Having clear thresholds for action which are understood by all professionals, and applied consistently, should ensure that services are commissioned effectively and that the right help is given to the child at the right time.”

2. WT consistently emphasized the need for professional assessment and in schedule 2 provides that this can take place in conjunction with any other enactment such as section 38 Crime and Disorder Act concerning safeguarding children in police detention. Schedule 2 also requires action to be taken to reduce the need for criminal proceedings (i.e. children being charged) and to avoid the use of secure accommodation(i.e. through the provision of bail information and support in the case of children who are at risk of having bail refused at the police station)
Please provide the thresholds for action that apply to children detained in the police station; how professionals are engaged in this process and, if you have commissioned services externally; the qualifications, training and experience required by the local authority of persons providing such services. The principal private sector appropriate adult service provider recruits through job centres (search universal job finder for appropriate adults) with the standard of education listed as being at GCSE level which may be a matter of concern if it is inconsistent with local authority standards. Please would you be so kind as to state what are your minimum requirements in this respect taking the safeguarding function defined in section 38 Crime and Disorder Act into account. Please also describe how duties are met under schedule 2 as mentioned above.

Paragraph 31 reminds youth offending teams of their sole responsibility that falls specifically within a safeguarding function: “Under section 38 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, local authorities must, within the delivery of youth justice services, ensure the provision of persons to act as appropriate adults to safeguard the interests of children and young persons detained or questioned by police officers’.” Children are detained from the point of arrest through to release. In the case of children who have been refused bail and detained under section 38 Police and Criminal Evidence Act they remain detained until a court says otherwise it being lawful for a local authority to detain them when moved to local authority accommodation. This is a statutory definition as opposed to a definition found in soft law: Code C under PACE.

3. How has the local authority integrated the guidance in WT into arrangements for the provision of services it is obliged to provide for children detained by the police? What common safer recruitment standards apply to the local authority or its contractors with regard to arrangements for a DBS check that is not only enhanced but also includes a check on the barred list that excludes persons from working with children or vulnerable adults?

Under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 the Secretary of State has power to issue Standards and Guidance in relation to section 38 youth justice services. In April this year revised standards were issued.

The following standards are relevant:

Strategic standard 1: Ensure that all young people who enter the youth justice system in the local area or establishment are allocated an appropriately trained supervising worker. (the entry point obviously being when a child is arrested or, at the very least, charged and detained)

4. What does the local authority consider to be an “appropriately trained worker”? In responding to this question please bear in mind that all documentation be it legislation, codes and guidance make it abundantly clear that an appropriate adult where a parent is unable to act as such shall be a social worker or, if the child is looked after, a social worker or representative of the local authority(e.g. a foster parent) and only FAILING either of these “some other person.”

If your service is contracted out and local authority social workers do not provide the service what training and qualifications do persons involved have that qualifies them to safeguard children and make an assessment under section 17 and in relation to schedule 2 duties described above?

If your service is contracted out is it to a voluntary organisation or the private sector?

Strategic standard 9: Ensure systems are in place for identification and generation of management information (including passing this securely to the YJB).
Strategic standard 10: Put in place systems that ensure that management information is used for strategic planning and service development, and is passed securely to partners where necessary and in compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

5. What information systems do you have in place or intend to put in place to ensure that information concerning requests received for accommodation under section 21(2)(b) Children Act are centrally collated rather than spread across systems inputted by EDT, Children’s Services and the YOT?

For the last six months for which information is available how many requests for accommodation (divided between secure and on-secure) were received; how many such children were moved to local authority accommodation and how many remained in police cells?

Strategic standard 11: Establish and implement clear local policies and protocols in relation to:…. safeguarding and child protection which should take account of any existing local authority policies and thresholds….complaints procedure which gathers feedback from all parties including young people and parents/carers….complaints procedure which gathers feedback from all parties including young people and parents/carers.

6. Please provide policies and procedures concerning safeguarding children in police detention and link to the thresholds described in WT 2013.

What complaints procedures are in place together with arrangements for making children aware of them when they have been charged and detained and NOT moved to local authority accommodation? What proactive steps are taken to make such children and those who represent them aware of their right to complain?

Strategic standard 14: Ensure that a local policy/protocol is in place which outlines the provision of an Appropriate Adult service (as required by section 38 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998) in line with the National Appropriate Adult Network’s National Standards.
To ensure that this policy makes provision within and outside office hours….

7. The PACE clock ticks 24 hours a day. Inspections of custody suites often talk of a bedding down culture where children are arrested in the evening and nothing happens into the morning. Such Inspections tend to blame the lack of appropriate adult services for this but it is not so simple. Police overtime may not have been granted or the arresting officer may think that a night in the cells will make a confession more forthcoming. From what hours is your service available and what plans do you have to make it available when children need it? In responding to this question please bear in mind that the UN Convention the Rights of the Child and PACE itself require that detention should only be used when necessary and then for the shortest possible time. Please also bear in mind that many adolescents live a nocturnal lifestyle.

These current Standards, particularly in relation to accommodation for detained children are reflected in earlier standards of 2004 and 2010 which would suggest that arrangements are in place; bedded in and therefore my questions should be simple and straightforward to answer.

What is described as National Standard 3 states:
“Outcome
A comprehensive local remand management strategy is in place to ensure provision of:
Appropriate Adults; facilities to accommodate young people detained under section 38 (1) of PACE where, by virtue of section 38(6) of PACE, local authority accommodation is required; bail information, supervision and support; liaison with the local authority regarding appropriate accommodation.”
8. What appropriate accommodation is available for such children? On how many occasions has it been used over the last 12 months? When used have any children failed to appear at court or committed any further offences overnight? If so, how many?

These standards are backed up by Guidance which still applies though it was issued in 2010 but is a living, changing document.

Amongst other things they state:

Bail and remand management is a crucial part of the service provided by YOTs at various points and places in the youth justice system. These include:
at the police station, following the arrest of a child or young person
The overall aim of bail and remand management is to:
minimise inappropriate use of custody
ensure that children and young people attend court

Possibility of bail being refused
Where an appropriate adult identifies that there is a possibility that bail will be refused, they should alert the YOT immediately.
Where it is necessary to detain a child or young person overnight in accordance with section 38 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, the YOT should be contacted to make the arrangements as outlined later in this section
The custody officer is required to liaise with the local authority to request PACE accommodation transfers. Given that the YOT may hold information and/or assessments on the child or young person, it is expected that the YOT will be involved in this referral process.
9. What specific procedures are in place for the appropriate adult to alert the YOT where bail may be refused? On how many occasions has this happened where children have subsequently been charged and detained? What action does the YOT take in practice? Please note that at no point in the Standards or the Guidance is the Out-od-Hours Service required to be involved in arrangements.

Preventing refusal of police bail
Alternatives to Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 transfers
Where there is a possibility that the police will refuse bail, the YOT staff responsible for bail and remand support should look at providing bail information and/or bail supervision and support to help facilitate bail being granted. As soon the appropriate adult identifies that there is a possibility of bail being refused, YOT staff should begin liaising with the custody officer to address any concerns about granting bail. If the liaison with the YOT does not satisfy the police concerns about granting bail then it is most likely that the child or young person will be put before a court to hear a remand application.
Addressing police concerns about granting bail
YOT staff should assess the young person's situation and circumstances to:
• establish their previous offending and bail history
• identify whether or not the child or young person is known to the YOT or other statutory service
• determine whether they are able to return home
• verify the suitability and stability of the proposed bail address.
• The YOT practitioner should then:
• advocate for bail where appropriate
• provide bail information that may address the police's concerns
• outline the available support and the measures that will be taken to ensure the young person's attendance at court
• ensure that all other available options have been considered.

10. Please provide your policy and procedures that reflect implementation of this guidance. In relation to children who, over the last 12 months, have been charged and detained, on how many occasions has a YOT worker attended the police station, regardless of time of day, and engaged in the practice standards described above? Are arrangements in place to monitor implementation of this guidance?

Unscheduled court hearings
On a daily basis, YOT staff should proactively identify, as early as possible, any child or young person who has been:
• detained overnight by the police to be produced in court the next day
• subject to a PACE transfer
• arrested on a warrant.
These children or young people will be most likely to receive a custodial remand and should therefore be the focus of bail information and/or bail supervision and support.

Identifying target young people
Proactive liaison with police and courts
Local procedures should be in place between the YOT, police and court so that the YOT is kept informed about any child or young person detained overnight by the police, PACE transferred or appearing on a warrant, so that by 9am YOT staff are alerted to these children or young people and can be proactive in addressing their bail and remand issues.
What proactive steps are reflected in your procedures that demonstrate that this guidance is followed? For example, does the YOT call the police station before the end of normal working hours to ascertain if there are children in the cells where bail may be refused? There is indicative evidence that a significant number of children are charged and detained where the local authority does not provide the appropriate adult, that is, a parent or some other person from the private sector attends? On the other hand, in places such as Sunderland where the YOT provides a 24 hour service the number of children charged and detained is minimal and those that are, are moved to local authority accommodation in all cases (4) over the last 12 month period being granted bail when appearing in court Sunderland having put into practice the above standards and guidance.

11. What steps have been taken or are planned to be taken to engage with the police force in your area to ensure that, as described in the Metropolitan Police’s guidance, “Detention at the police station, of a juvenile post charge, should be the exception rather than the rule.”

12. Please provide any other policies and operational procedures concerning children detained by the police; arrangements to monitor their implementation and the outcome of the last audit/inspection exercise.

Yours faithfully,

Charles Bell

Dear Brent Borough Council,
I do not appear to have received any acknowlegement to this request to which I should receive a response by September 9th.

Could you please confirm the date it was received and reassure me that matters are in hand?

Yours faithfully,

Charles Bell

FOI, Brent Borough Council

Dear Mr Bell

Please accept our apologies for that oversight. I can confirm that your request is under active consideration with the above reference.

The request requires contributions from a number of service areas which will require collation and we will make every effort to respond within the timeframe.

Regards

Stephen Williams

For Brent ITU

Brent Civic Centre
Engineers Way
Wembley HA9 0FJ

Tel 020 8937 1426

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Dear FOI,

This is overdue. When can I expect a response?

Yours sincerely,

Charles Bell

FOI, Brent Borough Council

Dear Mr Bell

 

Thank you for your email below regarding your request.  I have forwarded
your email to the Action Officer dealing with your request for them to
respond to you directly on progress.

 

Regards.

 

Veni Kotak

Information Management Officer

Information Technology Unit

Legal and Procurement

Brent Council

 

Tel:  020 8937 2410

Mob: +447867183883

Fax:  020 8937 6038

 

[1]www.brent.gov.uk  

 

I am now based at the new Brent Civic Centre.

 

 

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Adrian Hobbs, Brent Borough Council

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    FOI Response 1611904 LAC 12 Placements.xlsx.vnd.openxmlformats officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet.xlsx

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Brent Council - INFORMATION REQUEST

Our Reference: 1611904
====================================================

Dear Mr. Bell,

Your request for information has now been considered and the information
requested is enclosed.I would like to offer my apologies for the length of
time this request has taken to action, this was due to an administration
error and safeguard measures have now been put in place to ensure that
 this does not reoccur.
 
Details: Dear Brent Borough Council,
    
     1. As of the most recent date for which information is available
     how many looked after children aged 12 years or more were
     accommodated in what type of placement distinguishing between type
     of provider and whether located within your local authority area or
     in the area of another local authority?
 
As at 30/6/13 = 218 looked after children aged 12+
 
30 children accommodated at semi independent of which 18 where out of LA
areas
1 child accommodated at secure out of LA area
23 children accommodated at residential home of which all of LA area
2 children accommodated with parents out of LA area
18 children accommodated with relative or friend all out of LA area
65 children accommodated with Brent Foster Cares all out of LA area
65 children accommodated at Independent Foster Carers out of which 63 out
of LA area
3 children accommodated at Secure all out of LA area
9 children accommodated at Residential School of which all were out of the
LA area
 
Please see attached spreadsheet for breakdowns of allocation
 
 
     2. What are the vacancy and occupancy rates for each type of
     placement?
 
 This is all done on spot purchase
 
     3. What is the cost of each type of placement broken down on a per
     day basis?
 
IFA - £108.98 per day
Semi - £48.55 per day
Residential Home - £216.78 per day
Residential School - £276.39 per day
Respite - £303.30 per day
4. What accommodation and how many beds are available for children who
should be received under section 21(2)(a) and those under 21(2)(b)
Children Act ?
 
Provision of accommodation and beds for children who should be received
under section 21(2)(a) and those under 21(2)(b) Children Act is allocated
through each individual case and placed within our existing
infrastructure. In the event where it is not possible to place a child
within their own family or community, the service will look to finding
carers outside of the child's community through adoption, long term foster
care, short term foster care or residential care to meet the child's needs
for protection and stability.
 
 
 
     5. How many of these two categories of children have been placed in
     what type of accommodation over the last 12 months for which you
     have information available?
 
01/04/12 to 30/06/13 = 60 relate to section 21 (2)a
 
Specific statistics are not kept for request made by the police under
s38(6) PACE 1984.(section 21 (2)b
 
 

Please note that the information provided may be subject to copyright and
you may require further permission from the Council to re-use it. If you
require further guidance please write to the IT Standards Manager (contact
details below).

If you are dissatisfied with the response or how the Council has handled
your request you can complain to the Council by writing to the following
address: IT Standards Manager at Brent Civic Centre, Floor 7, Engineers
Way, Wembley HA9 0FJ.  Telephone 020 8937 1402, e-mail
[1][Brent Borough Council request email].  It is the Council's policy to ensure that, where
practicable, your complaint is dealt with by someone who was not involved
in the original decision.  You also have a right of appeal about our
decision to the Information Commissioner, however, the Information
Commissioner will not normally consider an appeal until you have exhausted
your rights of redress and complaint to the Council. The Information
Commissioner can be contacted as follows:

Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF; Telephone: 01625 545 700,
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

As part of our commitment to improve our service to our customers we would
welcome any feedback on the way that we have dealt with your request.

Yours sincerely

Adrian Hobbs,
Freedom of Information and Systems Support Officer

Phone: 020 8937 4979
[email address]
 

References

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Dear Adrian Hobbs,

Thanks for the effort but what you sent only remotely corresponds to my questions. You mention numbers under 21`(2)a and acknowlege that you dont record for 21(2)b...which you should cos they come within DfE statistics the latest of which I received yesterday.

The other questions have no answer. Has something been sent to someone else by mistake?

Yours sincerely,

Charles Bell

Hobbs, Adrian, Brent Borough Council

Dear Mr Bell,

Thank you for your email, I will investigate and report back with my findings.

Regards,

Adrian Hobbs
Freedom of Information and Support Officer
Children & Families Policy and Performance
Strategy, Partnerships & Improvement Department

+44 (0) 20 8937 4979

Email:  [email address]
Secure Email:  [email address]

--------------------------------------------------------------------

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Williams, Stephenf, Brent Borough Council

 

 

Dear Mr Bell

 

Mr Hobbs has copied me in to your email to him today.  We will deal with
your response as a reuest for Internal Review.

 

The timetable for responding to Internal Reviews is 20 working days from
complaint, although this can be extended to 40 wd where the issues are
complex.  Where practicable the review will be undertaken by a senior
manager who has not involved in handling the request.

 

Clearly one of the issues to investigate is the response to question 4 re
records relatiing to section 21 (2) (b) but you go on to say that “The
other questions have no answer.  Has something been sent to someone else
by mistake?”

 

Perhaps you can explain what you mean  as a response has been supplied to
each of the five question asked as part of this request?

 

Regards

 

 

 

Stephen Williams

 

for Brent ITU

 

 

 

 

Brent Civic Centre

Engineers Way

Wembley HA9 0FJ

 

020 8937 1426

 

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The use of Brent Council's e-mail system may be monitored and
communications read in order to secure effective operation of the system
and other lawful purposes.

Dear Williams, Stephenf,

You state above that you treated my query as an internal review....the outcome of which is now overdue.

It is very simple. The response to my current questions was a response to an earlier and unrelated set of questions sent to you.

I still await a reply to "Working Together 2013 Safeguarding children detained by the police."

Yours sincerely,

Charles Bell

Williams, Stephenf, Brent Borough Council

I am away from the office until 6/11/13

 

If you are making an foi request please re-submit this to [Brent Borough Council request email]

 

If you are making a request under the DPA please submit to
[email address]

Ronnie Ferguson, Brent Borough Council

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    1759972 C Bell.vnd.openxmlformats officedocument.wordprocessingml.document

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Brent Council - INFORMATION REQUEST

Our Reference: 1759972
====================================================

Dear Mr. Bell,

Your request for information has now been considered and the information
requested is enclosed.

Please accept our apologies for the severely delayed response.

Please note that the information provided may be subject to copyright and
you may require further permission from the Council to re-use it. If you
require further guidance please write to FOI (contact details below).

If you are dissatisfied with the response or how the Council has handled
your request you can complain to the Council by writing to the following
address: FOI at Brent Civic Centre, Floor 4, Engineers Way, Wembley HA9
0FJ.  Telephone 020 8937 1426, e-mail [1][Brent Borough Council request email].  It is the
Council's policy to ensure that, where practicable, your complaint is
dealt with by someone who was not involved in the original decision.  You
also have a right of appeal about our decision to the Information
Commissioner, however, the Information Commissioner will not normally
consider an appeal until you have exhausted your rights of redress and
complaint to the Council. The Information Commissioner can be contacted as
follows:

Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF; Telephone: 01625 545 700,
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

As part of our commitment to improve our service to our customers we would
welcome any feedback on the way that we have dealt with your request.

Yours sincerely

Rhys Williams

Phone: 020 8937 6672
[email address]
 

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communications read in order to secure effective operation of the system
and other lawful purposes.

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Rhys Williams, Brent Borough Council

Brent Council - INFORMATION REQUEST

Our Reference: 222183628
====================================================

Dear Mr. Bell

Thank you for your request for information received on 31 May 2014. We aim
to respond to your request within 20 working days. If for any reason we
are unable to meet this deadline we will keep you fully informed of the
reasons for this and let you know how long the delay will be. If there is
a fee to be paid before the information can be sent to you we will write
and tell you at the earliest opportunity what the fee will be.

Yours sincerely

Rhys Williams
Phone: 020 8937 6672
[email address]

--
The use of Brent Council's e-mail system may be monitored and
communications read in order to secure effective operation of the system
and other lawful purposes.

Dear Rhys Williams,

My request of 31st May was different to my previous request concerning safeguarding. My current request is specific to appropriate adult provision. Please un-connect!

Yours sincerely,

Charles Bell

ASC - Freedom of Information Requests, Brent Borough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Bell,

 

Please find attached response to your FOI request.  We apologise for the
delay in responding.

 

Regards,

[1][email address]

 

Your Brent. Your community. Your services. Help shape the future of Brent
by responding to the Borough Plan Call For Evidence by November 28:
www.brent.gov.uk/boroughplan

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and other lawful purposes.

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