FOI request (FOIR-687529994)

Disabled adults

Requested Fri 14 February 2025
Responded Tue 18 February 2025

I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information, which relates to care provided or commissioned for severely learning disabled adults, specifically those who lack capacity to express a view on their own gender or any preference as to the sex of their care staff, such as the learning disabled female whose rape and infection with HIV by male care staff is described in this Brent Safeguarding Adult Review:

https://legacy.brent.gov.uk/media/16411756/adult-b-final-report-nov-2018.pdf

1. Does your social care management system (the database or other systems your organisation uses to record personal data for disabled adults in connection with your duties under the Care Act 2014) include a field for the characteristic of gender?

a. Are there a defined set of responses from which to select, and if so, what are they?

b. Please provide any documents, such as notes of meetings, internal correspondence and so on, recording how you determined what should and should not be included in the defined set of responses.

c. How is it populated for adults who lack capacity to express a view on their own gender?

2. Does it include a field for the protected characteristic of sex?

a. Are there a defined set of responses from which to select, and if so, what are they?

b. Is it mandatory to populate this field with some value, or can it be left void/completely blank?

3. Do you have policies or procedures that have the objective of ensuring that users of your services (commissioned or provided directly) of the female sex is who require assistance with intimate care receive this from carers of the female sex. If so, please provide copies.

4. Please provide copies of any policies specific to individual Equality Act protected characteristics (excluding marriage and civil partnership) and the unprotected characteristic of gender of care workers and/or service users, that is, any policies specific individually to:

a. gender reassignment/trans identified care workers and/or service users

b. the age of care workers and/or care workers and/or service users

c. the disability of care workers and/or service users

d. the pregnancy of care workers and/or service users, but there is no need to provide copies of HR employee maternity leave policies

e. the race of care workers and/or service users

f. the religion or belief of care workers and/or service users

g. the sex of care workers and or service users

h. the sexual orientation of care workers and/or service users

i. the non protected characteristic of gender of care works and/or service users

Please provide the information in the form of an email.

Response

Information not held.

Adult Social Care is dealt with by East Sussex County Council, please visit their website for further information:

https://www.eastsussex.gov.uk