Details Of Every Child In
England To Go Into Database
By Richard Garner
Education Editor
The Independent - UK
3-5-4
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nurse becomes worried that the child is withdrawn or anxious, they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."
© 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=498034
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