Freedom of information response

1. Who within the Local Authority has the commissioning responsibility for residential family centre placements. Please provide their:

a. Name

Childrens Commissioning Officer – please note that we are unable to provide the contact details of staff members below the directorate level under S40 please instead use this email address - [email protected]

b. Job Title

c. Telephone number

d. Email address

2. Please could you provide the average weekly fee paid to an independent residential family centre for a 12 week residential programme. Answer:

2021 / 2022 – NA

2022 / 2023 - £56,400

2023 / 2024 - £80,208

3. Please provide the total number of family placements in made an independent residential family centre each year for a minimum of 12 weeks residential programme

2021 / 2022 – Under 5

2022 / 2023 – Under 5

2023 / 2024 - 5

    4. Please provide a list of the independent residential family centre provider names with which families were placed during the year.

2021 / 2022 – N/A

2022 / 2023 - Name not disclosed, figure under 5

2023 / 2024 – Name not disclosed, figure under 5.

Please do let me know if there are any queries in relation to this request.

Unfortunately we are unable to provide in full the information you have requested.  We do hold the information but an absolute exemption applies.  Personal Information (Section 40,2) 

Personal data of any other person (third party data) is exempt under section 40(2) if disclosure would breach one of the data protection principles. This aspect of Section 40 is an Absolute Exemption and is therefore not subject to the Public Interest Test. 

The names of officers working for the Council is personal data specific to them. It is therefore subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act. Information can be withheld if its disclosure would be likely to breach one or more of the Principles of the Data Protection Act. There is no prior expectation on the part of team Managers (or other officers working below the level of Director) that their names and job titles / positions would be published into the wider public domain under FOI. A disclosure made under FOI constitutes a publication to the world at large. We believe that to disclose this would be likely to breach the first Principle of the Data Protection Act by unfairly contravening their right to privacy and confidentiality in the work place.  

However, in the interests of transparency we are able to share details relating to senior officers (Director  level and above). For these officers, there is already a greater expectation of openness about their role given their level of accountability for service provision and budgetary decision making.  

For your information please see the following link which outlines staff details of Director and above: https://www.thurrock.gov.uk/chief-executive-directors-and-services 

We are unable to provide an exact number for questions 3 and 4 above as: 

• There is a low number involved. 

• The release of this information could identify individuals which would constitute their personal data under the Data Protection Act  
• There is no prior expectation on the part of these individuals that their personal information would be published in the wider public domain under the FOI Act 
• Personal data of any other person is exempt under section 40 (2) of the Data Protection Act. 

However in the interests of transparency we are able to provide this information to you categorised as fewer than 5 to give you an indication of the figures