Youth Access

Information Sharing and Confidentiality: making sense of the implications

06 January, 2009

13 February 2006

Information Sharing and Confidentiality:

Making Sense of the Implications of Recent Government Proposals

Since the publication of the Every Child Matters policy in 2004, the Government has issued a number of consultation documents relating to the theme of information sharing. The proposals have implications for all services seeking to provide confidential services to young people.

Youth Access has attempted to follow this agenda and has written responses to Government consultation papers, produced articles on the issues involved and joined with other organisations to challenge what many see as an inappropriate tilting of the balance away from professional judgement to a de facto requirement to exchange information as a matter of course.

The amount of information now available in this area can be confusing. The following is an attempt to put the various developments into context by offering a brief description of the relevant papers and a link to documents available on the Youth Access website.

In considering the policy developments, it is also important to reflect on the impact of two recent high level inquiries: the inquiry of Lord Laming on the death of Victoria Climbie and Sir Michael Bichard’s report on the deaths of the two Soham girls. These tragic and appalling deaths have pointed to failings in statutory services. The recommendations of both reports have been influential in the development of the policy on information sharing. Although in at least one instance, Sir Michael Bichard has sought to distance himself from the interpretations of some sections regarding information sharing about young people’s sexual activity.

Copies of all the Government documents should be available on www.everychildmatters.gov.uk.

The Green Paper Every Child Matters (2003)

Amongst the various proposals, Government proposed to improve information sharing amongst practitioners and services by removing legislative and technical barriers and establish a database of all children and young people.

Information Sharing Databases In Children Services(October 2004)

This consultation paper sets out the options and Government’s views about the working of a database. It includes the recording of practitioner details for potential sensitive services and the recording of concerns about children and young people.

Read Youth Access’ response to the various proposals in this paper.

Children Act 2004

The Act came into force in December 2004. Section 12 of the Act allows for further secondary legislation and statutory guidance to be made to the setting up of databases or indexes that contain basic information about children and young people. During 2005, the Government tested the feasibility of the database.

Summary Report to the Consultation on Information Sharing Databases in Children’s services (June 2005)

This report gives an insight to the different perspectives of practitioners to the development of the database and the general concept of information sharing through their response to the consultation.

Read the report.

Information sharing: A mechanism for protection? July 2005

Following a meeting at the DfES in which we had the opportunity to raise some of our concerns about the predominant focus on children rather than young people in the information sharing debate, we published

Information sharing: A mechanism for protection?

Working Together to Safeguard Young People 2005

This draft paper sets out how all the different organisations and individuals should work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. While much of the paper concerns more general child protection policy and practice matters, an area that raised considerable concern among many practitioners in the health and youth sectors was the possible routine sharing of information about under 16s sexual activity.

Read Youth Access response to the proposals:

Cross Government Guidance on Sharing Information (August 2005)

This document seeks to provide national guidance to practitioners about when and how to share information about children and young people, including guidance about the legal framework.

Read Youth Access response to this document.

ARCH and Legal Opinion

ARCH - Action on Rights for Children - has enabled a number of organisations with growing concerns about the way in which the balance regarding young people’s rights to confidentiality is being tipped by the different threads of Government policy. Youth Access joins with others such as British Medical Association, Brook, Liberty, English Secondary Students Association and Faculty of Public Health of the Royal Colleges of Physicians to publicise our concerns.

Read the Press notice regarding the campaign.

This campaign culminates in the publication of a legal opinion from Bindmans on the proposals contained in Working Together and two existing protocols on child protection. While the legal opinion focuses on the proposals to reporting under 16s sexual activity, it also re-states a number of legal principles regarding wider information sharing matters.

Read the legal opinion.

A Crime Against Confidentiality (January 2006)

Youth Access publishes an article in its Update newsletter, which considers the opinions of Bindmans and the Children’s Legal Centre on the Working Together proposals on sexual activity and the Cross Government Guidance on Sharing Information.

Read the article:

DfES Announcement on Database (December 2005)

On 8th December 2005, Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for the DfES announced that the Government is to go ahead and set up a national database of all children and young people.

The index will partition the data into 150 parts - each relating to one of the 150 local authorities in England. It will contain:

• Basic identifying information such as name, address, date of birth etc
• Contact details of school, GP and other practitioners and services working with them.
• Where judged appropriate and necessary, a practitioner may log an indicator to say they wish to be contacted by others as they want to share relevant information, are taking action or have undertaken an assessment.

Voluntary sector providers delivering statutory services will be expected to enter information on the index and have access to it. It will be possible for other voluntary sector providers to enter information or have access but this will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Data Protection Guidance January 2006

Advice Services Alliance, as part of a series of briefings to support agencies with or working towards the LSC’s Quality Mark have produced a very useful briefing entitled ‘Data Protection When Dealing With Young People – Keeping Your Client’s Confidence’.

While the briefing is aimed primarily at advice agencies, it has a wider application and is a must for any agency working with young people in confidential services.

Judicial Review of DH Guidance

On 8th – 10th November 2005, the High Court began hearing an application for a judicial review of the Department of Health’s guidance for professionals on the provision of advice and treatment to young people under 16 on contraception, sexual and reproductive health. This case was initiated by Mrs Sue Axon who took the government to court to challenge the current guidance giving under 16s the right to contraception and terminations without their parents' knowledge. On 23rd January the Court upheld the DH guidance, ensuring agencies can continue to provide confidential services for young people under 16.

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