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Partnerships
Information sharing and assessment (ISA) are key elements in the Children Act 2004. The main aims are to improve services for children by:
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea was one of ten local authorities in England selected to be a Trailblazer, in 2002, for what was then known as Identification, Referral and Tracking (IRT).
In 2003 a Project Team was set up that developed a simple IT system for a universal child index and a number of tools and processes to assist practitioners in working more closely together and sharing information. An integral feature of the process was to consult as widely as possible and there were a number of well-attended, multi-agency design forums.
A simple computerised Child Index was built. It was designed to hold a child’s name, address, gender, date of birth, school, GP contact details, a unique identifying number and the contact details of the parent/carer with parental responsibility. Access to the index would only have been given to practitioners who had received training and been checked by the Criminal Records Bureau.
The security system was designed to have a two-stage access with two different passwords (as with internet banking). A multi-agency information sharing protocol (incorporating current legislation on data protection, information sharing, human rights and the common law of confidentiality) was in place to govern all practitioners using the system. Access would have been on a “need to know” basis only and an audit trail was there to monitor all enquiries and use of the system.
The index was not built to hold actual reports or sensitive information on a child/young person. It was designed for practitioners to show their involvement with a family by showing their contact details by a child/young person’s name. This would only be done with the young person/parent giving their consent. The only exception to obtaining consent was when there were serious child protection concerns (s47 Children Act 1989).
The ultimate aim of the index was to improve services for children/young people and their families by providing the information to speed up communication between practitioners and thus enabling better joint planning and working with the family.
A pilot to test the index and tools and processes, in the Central and South area of the borough, did not proceed as planned in October 2003. For the index to be universal, it was necessary to populate it with as many names as possible of children and young people living in the borough. This information was to have come from the Primary Care Trust (PCT) and the Education Department. Unfortunately it emerged that there was no clear legal framework to enable the PCT to share their children’s data (name, address and such like) with the Council. Section 12 of the present Children Act 2004 addresses this difficulty.
The Government has yet to decide how to implement its policy on Child Indexes. When this is clear and the new regulations are in place, it should be possible to proceed with developing and using a Child Index in Kensington and Chelsea.
The Project has continued to seek ways to address the original aims set out above. The focus is now on developing a simple, multi-agency early planning tool, known as a Common Assessment, which will be based on a solution- focussed approach. This is a chance for those working in the borough to shape what will become a national requirement. A range of other tasks are also being worked on to support the whole process of joint working between agencies.
Children's Service Directory – services and activities for young people
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