UPDATE - FOI
FOI response received 6th August
Q1. Following the Health Minister’s announcement in October 2024 regarding additional funding for children’s disability services, please confirm how much funding was allocated to the South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust?
A1. The total funding received was £368,000.
Q2. Please confirm the amount received by the Trust from the £2 million made available for the remainder of the 2024–25 financial year and provide a breakdown of how the Trust’s share of this funding was spent, including the categories of expenditure and the amount allocated to each category.
A2. Please see Table 1.
Category
Amount
Salaries & Wages
£49,163
Goods & Services
£321,292
Q3. Please confirm the Trust’s allocation from the annual funding of up to £13 million for children’s disability services for the 2025–26 financial year and provide a breakdown of how this funding has been allocated or spent by the Trust, including the categories of expenditure and the amount allocated to each category.
A3. The total funding received for 2025 – 2026 was £2,115,686.
Please see Table 2 for the expenditure breakdown.
Category
Amount
Trust Recurrent CWD Business Case
£1,255,699
Trust Non-Recurrent CWD Business Case
£819,778
Regional No-recurrent Business Case
£64,250
Q4. Please confirm the annual lease cost for Greenhill.
A4. For the Trust Children’s Disability Service please below costs:
Cabins Contract January/February/March 2026
Accommodation: £6170.75 x 3 = £18,512.25
Activities: £2318.90 x 3 = £6956.70
Meals: £2708.65 x 3 = £8125.95
Clean/Laundry: £508.55 x 3 = £1525.65
Overall total: £35120.55
Per Year: £140,482.20
Q5. Please provide a copy of the current Statement of Purpose for Greenhill.
A5. Refer to Attachments 1 – 5 enclosed.
Q6. Please also provide copies of any previous versions of the Statement of Purpose for Greenhill since the service began operating in 2021.
A6. These can be accessed on the RQIA public website: www.rqia.org.uk
Q7. What is the maximum number of overnight respite placements that Greenhill is registered and approved to provide per night?
A7. Due to the complexity of the children and the small space it is 1 child 6 nights per week, there are 2 nights in the month where there are 2 children.
Q8. What is the current number of overnight respite placements being operated per night?
A8. 1 child 6 nights per week, with 2 nights in the month where there are 2 children.
Q9. In a previous FOI response the Trust confirmed that 20 families were receiving overnight respite at Greenhill House and 15 families were on the waiting list. Please confirm whether these figures remain the same or have changed?
If these figures have changed, please provide the current number of families receiving overnight respite at Greenhill House and the current number of families on the waiting list.
A9. At the end of April 2026 there were 15 young people in receipt of the service, receiving a minimum of 1 overnight short break per month with a further 16 on the waiting list.
( My son has sometimes had to wait 5 5 weeks for a night and i know a single mum whos children have been assessed for overnights at Greenhill, whos 2 children have to go on seperate nights, that hasnt even had a night over the summer for either of her children )
Q11. Please confirm the duration of the lease for Redwood House, including the lease end date and whether there are any break clauses or renewal options within the lease agreement.
A11. 5 years from lease signed 21 July 2025 with a break clause after 3 years.
Q12. Please provide a copy of the current Statement of Purpose for Redwood House Children’s Home.
A12. Refer to Attachment 6.
Q13. Please confirm how many Family Support Workers are currently employed within Children’s Disability Services across the Trust.
A13. There are 2 band 4 Family Support Workers per team, with one current vacancy. These staff were in place before the addition of the investment monies. The addition of the investment monies has enabled 6 new Senior Family Support Officers at band 5 to be employed, 2 per Children’s Disability Community Team. They have all been appointed and currently in post, there are no current vacancies.
Q14. Please confirm the date or dates on which the Trust advertised Family Support Worker posts within Children’s Disability Services.
A14. All the Redwood House Children’s Home posts went out to add the three weeks before the bespoke recruitment day on Saturday 8th March 2025 this included all the residential family support and senior family support posts with a waiting list created in case of drop outs from recruitment process.
All the Greenhill Children’s Home posts went out to add the three weeks before the bespoke recruitment day on Saturday 17th May 2025 this included all the residential family support and senior family support posts with the addition of anyone interested in becoming a bank member of staff, alongside a waiting list created in case of drop outs from recruitment process.
All the Community based posts went out to add the three weeks before the bespoke recruitment day on Saturday 7th June 2025 this included all the residential family support and senior family support posts with the addition of anyone interested in becoming a bank member of staff, alongside a waiting list created in case of drop outs from recruitment process.
Q15. Please confirm how many Family Support Worker posts were advertised across the Trust as part of this recruitment process.
A15. There were 6 posts in Community Teams, 6 in the Outreach Service, 3 in the Early Intervention Team, 14 in Redwood and 17 in Greenhill.
Q16. Please confirm how many applicants were appointed to these posts.
A16. All of these posts were filled on the day with both the band 4 and 5 family support workers also having significant waiting list. Subsequent to this a small number have dropped out of the recruitment process, come into post and moved on or been subsequently promoted.
Q17. Please confirm whether a reserve or waiting list was created for these posts and, if so, how many applicants were placed on this list.
A17. Yes, and the numbers were as follows:
Waiting list for Redwood – 30, waiting list exhausted, Greenhill - 23 waiting list exhausted, further recruitment in February, March, April 2026. Waiting list for Lisburn.
Q18. Please confirm how many staff are currently employed to provide outreach support within Children’s Disability Services across the Trust.
A18. There are 6 of the 9 posts currently filled, there is one band 6 sick vacancy, one long-term sick band 6, one vacant band 5 Senior Family Support worker post which is currently out to recruit, the rest of posts are filled in Outreach.
Q19. Please confirm whether any recruitment for additional outreach staff has taken place since January 2025.
A19. Yes, for band 6 co-ordinator has gone out twice and is currently out on Health & Social Care recruit as is the band 5 which was filled and then staff member left.
Q20. If so, please confirm the date of the recruitment process and how many staff were appointed.
A20. Please refer to A19.