Legally Kidnapped

Dear Readers

I got an email that I would like to share with you all, from our beloved alisonegypt from the UK.
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Hi,

Thought you might be interested in these as I could not upload them to your
site.

Also see Link:- http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article6188481.ece

This is his response to the Data Protection Act regarding parents getting their
Social Services files & Family Court documents.

Regards Alison Stevens - PAIN.
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Rt. Hon Jack Straw
Ministry of Justice
102 Petty France London SW1H 9AJ 29
April 2009

Dear Mr Straw RE:
Data Protection Act and the release of files by Social Services Last week, the Children Schools and Families Select Committee published its report on its Inquiry into Looked After Children. In our submission of supplementary evidence to the Committee following our oral evidence on 30 June 2008 we commented that: “A particular feature of the imbalance within proceedings between parent and local authority is the advantage gained by the latter in failing to release documents. Recurring themes in our cases either involve obstructions to Data Protection Act requests for social services files or local authority reports and other documents not being delivered on time to read.”

HYPERLINK "http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmchilsch/111/8063006.htm"

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmchilsch/111/8063006.htm

Parents are entitled to request from social services departments all information on them under section 7(1) of the Data Protection Act 1998. Local authorities are obliged to send the requested files within 40 working days but in our work advising and supporting parents in public law proceedings we find that this limit is often not adhered to and in some cases files do not get released at all before hearings. Evidence is gathered from a variety of sources before children are taken from their parents in the family courts. Tracking down and obtaining these documents can be very difficult because they are held by various bodies and must be applied for in different ways. We feel that parents should be entitled to their files within the statutory time limit and not just social services files but all files; from health visitors, GPs, different hospitals, ambulance trusts, psychologists, paediatricians, to name but a few. We therefore call on you as Justice Secretary to force, in particular, social services and individual courts to comply with the Data Protection Act as we have found in our work that children are being taken into care unnecessarily as a consequence of these files being withheld. Yours sincerely Alison Stevens Chair On behalf of PAIN 
Parents Against INjustice
PAIN 10 Greensward,
East Goscote,
Leicester LE7 3QW
Tel: 0116 260 2855
Mobile PAIN Helpline: 07906 44 1056
Website www.parentsagainstinjustice.org.uk Email: enquiries@parentsagainsinjustice.org.uk

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Here is the reply.

Jack Straw's Reply