FOI request (FOIR-837315562)

I am writing to request recorded information regarding your local authority’s exploration and use of family and connected persons placements, including placements outside England and outside the UK, for children who are or have been looked after.

This request relates to information held by your authority in accordance with duties under the Children Act 1989 and the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010. Local authorities are required to safeguard and promote the welfare of looked after children and to prioritise placement with relatives or connected persons where consistent with the child’s welfare.

To support consistency and minimise administrative burden, we have provided a secure response form: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/DesignPageV2.aspx?host=Excel_Win32&subpage=design&id=FpfyhwNFtkiIYYKiB8mub12f8ZpveotPgk2idEpFTe9UOTk3TFlMRkNYWkZIUUdXMkZaQlZYMUQxQyQlQCN0PWcu&topview=Preview

This form is hosted via Microsoft Forms (Microsoft 365), a platform widely used across UK public sector organisations and compliant with standard data security requirements. It is designed to mirror the structure of the request and minimise manual reformatting.

Instructions for completion of the form:
- Please provide your full Local authority name.
- Please provide recorded local authority data for the period 2023–2025 where available.
- Enter “0” where the answer is nil.
- If data cannot be provided, please explain using the question at the end of each section (e.g. data not recorded or unable to retrieve).

Questions in the Microsoft form are laid out below to help you to prepare to fill out the structured form. For ease of response, please use the secure Microsoft form to submit all data. We estimate that completion of the structured form takes approximately 15-20 minutes where data is readily available.