Ruth Sommersby

FOI Request

Please provide the information requested below

Placement Numbers

Placement Type / Total Number of Looked After CYP in Placement at Date of your FOI response / Total Number of CYP Placed within your LA boundary at Date of your FOI response / Total Number of CYP Placed Outside of your LA boundary at Date of your FOI response / Average Cost of Placements
(This is not commercially sensitive information as I am asking for a sector average rather than individual fees)
In-house Foster Care Placements (excluding short break / respite placements) / 94 / 59 / 35 / £706
Independent Foster Care Placements (excluding short break / respite placements) / 105 / 15 / 90 / £776
In-house Residential Care Placements (excluding short break / respite placements) / 0 / 0 / 0 / N/A
Independent Residential Care Placements (excluding short break / respite placements) / 29 / 1 / 28 / £3460
Independent SEN Day School Placements / 7 / 0 / 7 / £51 561
Independent SEN Residential (38week Placements) / 1 / 0 / 1 / Can be identified as less than 5
Independent SEN Residential (52week Placements) / 13 / 0 / 13 / £57 275.74

Lead Contacts

Please provide the contact details (name, job title, telephone and email) of staff in the following roles:

Role / Name / Job Title / Telephone Number / Email Address
Budget holder for independent foster care placement expenditure / Andrew Carter / Head of Service, Children’s Social Care / 01375 659676 /
Budget holder for independent residential care placement expenditure / Andrew Carter / Head of Service, Children’s Social Care / 01375 659676 /
Budget holder for SEN Independent non-maintained school placement expenditure / Andrew Carter / Head of Service, Children’s Social Care / 01375 659676 /
Service Lead / Commissioner responsible for commissioning of independent fostering providers / Sue Green / Strategic Leader Service Transformation and Children’s Commissioning / 01375 652340 /
Service Lead / Commissioner responsible for commissioning of independent residential care providers / Sue Green / Strategic Leader Service Transformation and Children’s Commissioning / 01375 652340 /
Service Lead / Commissioner responsible for commissioning of SEN independent school provision / Sue Green / Strategic Leader Service Transformation and Children’s Commissioning / 01375 652340 /

Budget and Expenditure

Placement Type / Budget for 2014/15 Financial Year / Forecast Expenditure for 2014/15 Financial Year
In-house Foster Care Placements / £3,125,157 / £3,125,157
Independent Foster Care Placements / We do not disaggregate these totals and there is one budget for external placements
£9,084,455.00 / £7,867,585.00
In-house Residential Care Placements
Independent Residential Care Placements
Independent SEN Residential (38week or 52week) Placements
Independent SEN Day School Placements

Procurement

Role / Independent Foster Care Placements / Independent Residential Care Placements / SEN Independent non-maintained school placements(Day and/or 38/52 week Residential School)
Does your Local Authority have a tendered foster care framework in place for Independent Fostering Providers? / Yes / No / No
If so what is the name of the contract? / Eastern Region Select List
When does it expire / 2018
If so, which Independent Providers are on the contract / This information is available on the Council’s Website
Also is this a collaborative contract, and if so which other Local Authorities use it? / Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire

Strategy

Role / Strategy / If Yes, could you please either provide a weblink showing where it can be found online, or email a copy? / If No, what is the reason for this?
Does your Local Authority have a current Children and Young People’s Plan? / Yes / Available from Local authority website
Does your Local Authority have current Children in Care Sufficiency Strategy? / Yes / Yes / This Strategy is currently in the process of revision and reformatting and will be available again after that process has been completed
Does your Local Authority have a current SEN strategy or plan? / Yes / Please see for details of Thurrock SEN provision

Market

Role / Providers
Please provide the names of the 5 largest Independent Fostering Providers in terms of total number of placements within your Local Authority catchment area / We would not know how many placements an Independent Fostering Provider would have within our catchment area
Please provide the names of all Independent Children’s Residential Providers of which you are aware that operate children’s homes within your Local Authority catchment area / Satash Community Care Project