The Government announced, on 8 December 2005, their intention to implement a national index in 150 local authorities by the end of 2008. We are now nearing completion of the design phase which will include agreement of the proposed build and implementation plan.
Section 12 of the Children Act 2004, and affirmative resolution regulations to be made under section 12, will set out the information that must or may be included on the index.
The index will contain a limited and basic record for all children in England up to the age of 18 including basic identifying information—name, address, gender, date of birth, and a unique identifying number based on the existing child reference number/national insurance number; contact details for the child’s parent or carer; contact details for services involved with the child; a means for practitioners to indicate that they have information to share, have taken action, or have undertaken a Common Assessment Framework in relation to the child; and other information, included solely for the purposes of identifying and managing the quality of data in the index, for example the date of the last update to the record.
Section 12 and the supporting regulations specifically prohibit the inclusion of any case information on the index.
To help support the transition to adult services, there is provision for records of young people who receive additional services—for example care leavers and those with learning disabilities—to remain on the index, with their consent, up to the age of 25.
A recent public consultation, which concluded on 14 December 2006, sought views on a number of additional data items for inclusion on the index including the addition of name and contact details of the child’s health visitor, school nurse and named midwife and, where appropriate, the date of death. Inclusion of the date of death will help to ensure that practitioners who had been working with the child become aware that the child has died and, where approaching the family is necessary, can do so sensitively. It will also enable a timely closure of the record.
The index will be populated from existing national and local data sources. Data sources are yet to be confirmed but officials are in discussions with a number of national organisations. Draft regulations set out those organisations and bodies whom we expect to be required and those whom we expect to be permitted to supply information to the index. Wherever it is possible, securing data from existing practitioner systems will avoid the need for double data entry on the part of practitioners. Where direct data feeds are not possible, practitioners may be required to enter the information directly into the index via a web browser or indirectly via an authorised index user.
We see now the need to introduce penalties relating specifically to the index. There are already measures in criminal law which impose penalties for theft or misuse of data or unauthorised access to computer records. Mandatory training for all users and operators of the index will stipulate that section 55 of the Data Protection Act 1998 makes it an offence to unlawfully obtain or disclose personal data without the consent of the data controller. The DCA are considering increasing the penalty for those who misuse personal data from a fine to imprisonment for up to two years. The Computer Misuse Act 1990 provides that unauthorised access, or attempted unauthorised access, to a program or data held on a computer may be punishable by imprisonment.
The draft regulations made under section 12 specify the types of practitioners in the children’s work force whose role would make it appropriate for them to have access to the index including practitioners from health, education, social care and youth justice. Access will be granted according to the role of the practitioner. For example, in a school a small number of named designated staff, such as teachers of children with special educational needs or those with pastoral or child protection responsibilities will have access. Before being granted access to the index, all practitioners will have undergone an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check, any other relevant checks and relevant training in the safe and secure use of the index.
The draft regulations will be laid before Parliament for debate under affirmative resolution procedures.