I would be grateful if you could send me the full Overview report of Q Residential Home (November 2013) which l presume? refers to one of the homes run by Atlas. What other reports have been commissioned / completed into the abuse?”
Devon County Council does hold a copy of the Serious Case Review (SCR) document prepared in respect of Q residential home by the former ( prior to the Care Act 2014) Devon Safeguarding Adults Board. However, we are unable to release this information as we consider that it is exempt under Section 30(2) of the Freedom of Information Act – Investigations and Proceedings – for the reasons given below.
The Devon Safeguarding Adults Partnership is not a “public authority” for the purposes of Schedule 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and so is not subject to Freedom of Information legislation.
Now that the criminal proceedings have ended, the Devon Safeguarding Adults Board is undertaking a full Safeguarding Adults Review (SAR) pursuant to section 44 of the Care Act 2014 (“the Review”). The Serious Case Review is likely form the basis for the Review and therefore we are concerned that releasing its detail into the public domain, may reveal information that could prejudice the Review. Furthermore we are concerned that releasing this information at this time, might lead to difficulties concluding the Review. For this reason we feel section 30(2) of the Freedom of Information Act applies.
Devon County Council recognises that there is a public interest in openness and transparency, however on this occasion, we believe that there is a greater public interest in ensuring that the Review is able to function effectively and in a manner that is not hampered by the release of information contained in the Serious Case Review. The Council is also mindful that the findings and any recommendations of the Review are to be made public on its conclusion and much of what is contained in those findings will have formed the subject matter of the Serious Case Review in any event. We therefore feel that this weighs the public interest in favour of exempting this information from disclosure at this time.