Key findings of the Freedom of Information request to all local authorities in England 

• 1 in 6 councils had no records of the number of Subject Access Requests [SARs] made in a 12 month period by adult care leavers.
• Where councils did have records, there was wide variation as to the number of SARs made in any one year. The average was a fifth of all SARs received, and three councils reported SARs from adult care leavers were just over 50% of the total number of applications.
• The pattern of significant variation across England resonates with findings from other enquiries by the Access to Care Records Campaign Group [ACRCG] that despite statutory guidance on the need to have skilled staff to deal with these SARs and supports tailored to the individual’s needs, this is not evident

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In partnership with the Care Leavers Association, and  by using care leavers for research, we commissioned a paper into the experience of Care Leavers when trying to access their records from Local Authorities. It is entitled

“Battling with a “care-less” process” – November 2017, and can be downloaded by following this link