Named Person service: practitioners' feedback and future opportunities: FOI release
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
FOI reference: FOI/18/01307
Date received: 8 May 2018
Date responded: 19 June 2018
Information requested
"To simplify your job, I would therefore like all information as requested from the bills introduction to Parliament to present. This should include feedback or views from practitioners from education and health sectors limiting to information held from the children and families directorate."
This was following your previous request: "Under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, I would like to ask the Scottish Government of all details in which the Named Person Service has been welcomed and encouraged from a practitioner perspective. Information should include any positive feedback from practitioners and future opportunities to promote the service."
Response
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. The named person service has been a key aspect of GIRFEC policy and since the introduction of the Bill there has been a range of correspondence and engagement with stakeholders including a large number that could be termed practitioners. Further, there are over 150 staff members in the children and families directorate. In our view, the scope of your request to try and identify this information across the whole of SG would exceed the cost limit of £600 under section 12 of FOI. Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12
You may, however, wish to consider further reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600. The following suggestions may aid you in your thinking:
Health and education practitioners can be defined in its widest term as individuals who are involved in the provision of services such as any health, care and learning services, this could include front line nursery staff, police officers right up to directors of children's services. Was there a particular group that interests you?
You may wish to limit your request to specific Scottish Government teams e.g. the GIRFEC policy team.
In addition, could you please clarify what you mean by 'future opportunities to promote the service' to help us deal with your request appropriately.
You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner's 'Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs' on his website at:
http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourRights/Tipsforrequesters.aspx
However, to be as helpful as possible, we have undertaken a search of the records we hold of minutes of face to face meetings, where the GIRFEC policy team engaged with education and health practitioners about matters including Named Person service since the introduction of the Children and Young People (Information Sharing) Bill.
In addition some of the information you have requested is available from the responses to previous Freedom of Information requests which are available here /publications/foi-17-02940/
You may find it helpful to refer to the following websites. The GIRFEC website provides general information and resources.
http://www.gov.scot/Topics/People/Young-People/gettingitright
The Education and Skills Committee has a webpage for the Children and Young People (Information Sharing) Bill, which provides access to the Committee documents and reports, including evidence submitted by health and education professionals about the Bill and the Named Person service.
http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/CurrentCommittees/105493.aspx
The Getting It Right For Every Child Practice Development Panel is responsible for producing a draft Code of Practice for information sharing to accompany the Children and Young People (Information Sharing) (Scotland) Bill. The Panel includes representatives from the health and education sector. The minutes of these meetings are available from this webpage
/groups/girfec-practice-development-panel/
Your response comprises of the following information.
| Date | Information Provided |
|---|---|
| 15 March 2018 | Note of meeting with CEL 29 Health Board Change Managers |
| 17 April 2018 | Note of meeting with Third Sector Engagement Group |
| 19 April 2018 | Note of meeting with Lead Officers |
| 14 February 2018 | Note of meeting with National Implementation Support Group |
| April 2018 | Statutory Guidance Reference Group Report |
An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to a small amount the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names/contact details of individuals, and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 1998.
Should you wish any further information, kindly submit a new request for information.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses
Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
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