Contactpoint exemptions.

Dear Ms Brookes,

Thank you for your recent email. A reply will be sent to you as soon as
possible (where a response is required). For information, the
departmental standard for correspondence received is that responses
should be sent within 15 working days or 20 working days if you are
requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2009/0057891

Thank you.

Central Allocation Team

Public Communications Team

Tel: 0870 0002288
www.dcsf.gov.uk

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Dear Ms Brookes,
Thank you for your email of 24^th June 2009 which has been passed to me
for reply.

ContactPoint is a tool to help improve the wellbeing of all children, help
keep them safe and ensure that no child slips through the net of support
services. It provides a quick way for authorised practitioners in
different services to find out who else is working with the same child,
which will enable them to work together and provide faster, more
coordinated support to meet a child's needs. ContactPoint has been
developed in response to a key recommendation of Lord Laming's Inquiry
into the tragic death of Victoria Climbie.

Practitioners have told us that they find it difficult to identify who
else is working with a child or young person and that they spend a
considerable amount of time trying to do so; time that would be much
better spent providing support to those that need it. All too often,
support provided to a child or young person does not take account of the
wider picture. The practitioners who were involved in local pilot systems
demonstrated that this type of tool does provide effective support to them
and their managers, and contributed to improved outcomes for children and
young people.

In response to your query, there are no exemptions from inclusion on the
ContactPoint database. 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 don't
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.

Although there is no opt-out option or exemption from ContactPoint,
records of some children, whose circumstances may mean that they, or
others, would be at increased risk of harm if their whereabouts became
known (for example, those fleeing domestic violence), may be subject to
`shielding'. Shielding hides the contact details of the child or young
person and their parent/carer, together with those of any practitioners
involved with them.

The decision to shield will be taken on a case-by-case basis and will be
based on the level of threat posed. Local authorities should also take
into account any views expressed by the child/young person and, where
appropriate, their parent/carers and any relevant involved practitioners.

Anyone who has a strong reason to believe their/their child's record
should be shielded on ContactPoint can contact their local authority
directly. Local authorities will apply the criteria set out in guidance to
determine whether it is appropriate to shield the record. Local
authorities should take into account any views expressed by the
child/young person and, where appropriate, their parent/carers and any
relevant involved practitioners.

Our over-riding goal is to improve the outcomes for children, young people
and families. ContactPoint is a vital part of delivering early
intervention and effective prevention, and is part of a much wider body of
reforms to improve children's services. I hope that my response has
answered your questions and thank you for your interest in ContactPoint.

Yours sincerely,

Qiraat Ghory
Improving Information Sharing and Management Programme
[email address]
[1]www.dcsf.gov.uk

Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2009/0057891.

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References

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1. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/