The inclusion of all children and young people in England is a legal requirement of ContactPoint and its purpose could never be achieved through a consent-based or opt-out system. Including all children avoids the potential stigma that a targeted directory could have. The information on ContactPoint is very limited and it is proportionate to hold this information for all children rather than having to continuously make and review threshold decisions as vulnerable children's circumstances change over time. It is also important and appropriate to cover every child in England because any child or young person could require the support of additional services at any time. It is not possible to predict accurately in advance which children will have additional needs—estimates show that 3-4 million children and young people will need additional targeted and specialist services at any one point in time and 5-6 million will have such needs at some point throughout their childhood. We need a universal approach because we do not know, or cannot readily predict, who they may be, or when their needs may arise.
All children have a right to the universal services of education and primary health care. ContactPoint will show whether or not they are receiving those services. ContactPoint will also support local authorities to identify children not in receipt of universal services.
They have duties, for example, to identify children missing education. Only a universal system can do this.
Since the introduction of ContactPoint in January 2009 the DCSF has received 58 requests via correspondence from parents to have their child’s details removed from the ContactPoint database.
We are not aware of the numbers of requests made direct to local authorities.
There have been no convictions related to misuse of the ContactPoint.
ContactPoint is designed, built, operated and managed to HM Government standards for security and complies with the strict controls imposed by HM Government security policy. Before being granted access, all users must have completed identity checks, enhanced Criminal Records Bureau disclosure (renewable every three years) and mandatory training which covers the importance of security and good security practice, the Data Protection Act and Human Rights Act. Users will also be members of the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) Scheme when it is introduced.
Every access to a child’s record is detailed in the audit trail. This is regularly reviewed to ensure that any misuse is detected and investigated.
ContactPoint training and guidance will also alert users that any misuse will lead to an immediate investigation, disciplinary procedures and criminal sanctions where appropriate. Criminal sanctions include fines under the Data Protection Act 1998 and fines or imprisonment under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.