Every child in England to go on safety list database

By Richard Garner, Education Editor

05 March 2004

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=498034

The Independent

Details of every child in England will be kept on an electronic database as
part of an overhaul of children's services in the wake of the Victoria
Climbie murder.

Professionals such as GPs, social workers, teachers and the police will be
able to log any concerns about the 11 million children on the electronic
record under the £100m plan.

Outlining plans for new legislation to protect children yesterday, Margaret
Hodge, the Children's minister, stressed: "It will have the child's name,
date of birth, where they go to school and who their GP is.

"If, for example, a GP is worried about a low birth weight, they will be
able to log their concern on the record. Then, if, say, a nursery nurse
becomes worried that the child is withdrawn or anxious, they would be able
to log their concern and the two professionals could talk about it."

One of the criticisms made in the inquiry by Lord Laming into the death of
Victoria Climbie, the eight-year-old Haringey girl who was tortured to death
by her aunt and her lover, was the failure of various branches of children's
services to communicate with each other. Mrs Hodge said yesterday she
believed professionals sharing information was essential to any attempt to
avoid a repeat of the Climbie tragedy. She added that failure to do so was a
key element in most of the 50 reports she had read about the deaths of
children because of neglect over the past 25 years.

But concerns were raised during consultation on the Bill about client
confidentiality and the impact of data protection legislation. GPs, in
particular, were worried about disclosing health information about children
in their care. As a result, the Government is stressing that they need only
register a concern about the child - not details of the complaint the child
was suffering from.

Other measures announced yesterday include appointing a Children's
Commissioner who will liaise with children to give them a say in policies
and carry out inquiries on the orders of the Government where faults in
services have been uncovered.

Charles Clarke, the Secretary of State for Education, said of the move:
"This will be an independent appointment. The commissioner will be able to
report publicly."

The legislation also calls on all local authorities to appoint by 2008 a
Director of Children's Services, who will have responsibility for education
and social services, and to set up a Children's Trust to run the budgets for
all children's services. In addition, Ofsted, the education standards
watchdog, will be given a wider remit to inspect all children's services. If
they are found to be failing, emergency powers would be brought in to take
the service out of the hands of the local council.

Social workers will also be placed in schools and will be available for
children to visit all year round.

Children's charities gave a cautious welcome to the Bill yesterday but said
it did not go far enough. Carolyne Willow, national co-ordinator of the
Children's Rights Alliance, said the proposed powers for the Children's
Commissioner did not go as far as in other parts of the UK.

"Without independent powers to access information, to enter establishments,
to subpoena witnesses and to meet children in private, the commissioner will
be indistinguishable from children's charities," she said. "England's 11
million children need a powerful body that is truly independent from
government to protect their rights."

John Dunford, the general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association,
said: "[We] will want the commissioner to take into account the needs of the
majority as well as those of the individual. This is especially important in
dealing with difficult behaviour issues, which sometimes lead to exclusion
from school, where the head is seeking to protect the interests of the
majority."

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