Looked After Children Placements/budgets
Case reference FOI2024/01446
Received 27 August 2024
Published 20 September 2024
Request
Under the Freedom of Information Act, I would like to request the following information regarding Looked After Children (also referred to as LAC, children in care, or children looked after by a local authority) Please kindly include responses on the attached spreadsheet.
1. Please could you supply the name, job title, email address and telephone number of the commissioner with responsibility for Looked After Children and/or placements in children’s care homes. For questions 2 through 6, please supply the following information for the financial years 2020/21 to 2023/24, and where possible, the budget or most up to date snapshot available for 2024/25.
2. Please provide the total number of children looked after by the local authority (please include all placements at any point throughout the financial year).
3. Please provide the local authority’s total expenditure on placements for looked after children in regulated children’s homes (this is the total spend on all looked after children and should exclude expenses related to travel, social work visits etc).
4. Of the total number of children looked after by the local authority (q.2) please provide the number of placements in children’s homes (not including unregulated children’s homes, secure units or hostels)
5. Of the total number of children looked after by the local authority in regulated children’s homes (q.4) please provide the number placed inside the local authority boundary (in area) and the number placed outside the local authority boundary (out of area). Please exclude unregulated children’s homes.
6. Of the number of children looked after by the local authority in regulated children’s homes, please provide the number of children looked after by the local authority in:
• In placements inside the local authority boundary, in ‘own provision’ (operated by the local authority)
• In placements outside the local authority boundary, in ‘own provision’ (operated by the local authority)
• In placements inside the local authority boundary, in ‘private provision’ (operated by the independent sector)
• In placements outside the local authority boundary, in ‘private provision’ (operated by the independent sector)
7. For the current financial year (or as recent as possible, provide date), please provide the highest, average (mean), and lowest weekly fee paid for LAC in a regulated children’s home (please include all placements in regulated children’s homes, including those in and outside of the local authority boundary, as well as those operated by the local authority, the independent sector, and others).
Response
A: See attached spreadsheet
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
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