Information sharing - NEW Guidance for those providing safeguarding services to children, young people, parents and carers

Information Sharing - Advice for practitioners providing safeguarding services for children, young people, parents and carers - April 2024

This HM Government advice emphasises the critical role of sharing information about children, young people, and their families to ensure child safeguarding. It complements the statutory guidance "Working together to safeguard children 2023." The advice, though non-statutory, supersedes the previous guidance from July 2018.

The Seven Golden Rules to Information Sharing:

1. All children have a right to be protected from abuse and neglect. Protecting a child from such harm takes priority over protecting their privacy, or the privacy rights of the person(s) failing to protect them.
2. When you have a safeguarding concern, wherever it is practicable and safe to do so, engage with the child and/or their carer(s), and explain who you intend to share information with, what information you will be sharing and why.
3. You do not need consent to share personal information about a child and/or members of their family if a child is at risk or there is a perceived risk of harm.
4. Seek advice promptly whenever you are uncertain or do not fully understand how the legal framework supports information sharing in a particular case.
5. When sharing information, ensure you and the person or agency/organisation that receives the information take steps to protect the identities of any individuals (e.g., the child, a carer, a neighbour, or a colleague) who might suffer harm if their details became known to an abuser or one of their associates.
6. Only share relevant and accurate information with individuals or agencies/organisations that have a role in safeguarding the child and/or providing their family with support, and only share the information they need to support the provision of their services.
7. Record the reasons for your information sharing decision, irrespective of whether or not you decide to share information.

The Advice is for:

The guidance applies to all individuals engaged in safeguarding children, including frontline workers, managers, and senior leaders. It also encompasses individuals and organisations in various sectors like social care, education, health, justice, and voluntary services, who work with children, parents, carers, and families.

The Importance of Sharing Information

Sharing information is crucial for recognising behavioural patterns or situations in a child's life indicating potential harm or the need for support. This encompasses identifying child abuse, neglect, or exploitation, situations where early intervention could prevent escalation of concerns, instances of a child going missing or being at risk of it, cases where multiple children are connected to the same risk, and scenarios involving multiple authorities or organizations responsible for a child's care.

Data Protection Legislation DOES NOT Prevent Information Sharing

Data protection laws, including the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), do not prohibit sharing information for child safeguarding purposes if it is necessary, proportionate, and justified. In fact, these laws offer a framework that facilitates information sharing in such contexts.

Sharing Information and the Law

You can share personal information confidently for safeguarding purposes, as legislation permits such sharing. Understanding the correct lawful basis for sharing information is crucial. The legal framework might seem complex, leading practitioners to mistakenly believe no information can be shared without consent. Avoid this by ensuring you know the appropriate lawful basis to use.

Retain Trust with Children and Families

Trusted relationships are foundational in working with children and families. Effective communication and active listening foster understanding and meeting their needs. Openness is key in deciding whether to share information with others, ensuring individuals are aware of and consent to such actions. When addressing concerns about a child's safety, transparency and honesty can encourage children to communicate and parents or carers to engage with support services. This approach builds confidence and willingness to participate in family support services, ultimately enhancing the safeguarding and well-being of children and families.

Common Law Duty of Confidentiality affects Information Sharing

Under common law, sharing confidential information is permissible if certain conditions are met. These include legal obligations mandating information sharing or a belief in an overriding public interest, such as safeguarding, which outweighs the interest in confidentiality. Sharing must be proportionate, meaning only the minimum necessary information should be shared to aid in protecting a child.

Effective Information Sharing

Ensuring children's safety requires everyone to actively share information rather than assuming others will do so. Local safeguarding partners should establish positive relationships with neighbouring agencies or organisations, even across geographical borders. This ensures timely and proportionate sharing of relevant information for safeguarding purposes.

Senior Leaders of Organisations and Agencies with Safeguarding Responsibilities must:

• Foster an environment where practitioners feel empowered to share information when a child is at risk.
• Establish robust information sharing protocols, including data protection impact assessments, and support practitioners in understanding local processes and data safeguarding measures.
• Collaborate with senior leaders in partner organisations to create secure systems for sharing information.
• Provide transparent information to children and families regarding safeguarding information sharing and their rights.
• Ensure practitioners are trained in information governance, know whom to contact for advice, and can direct children and families to further support if needed.

Sharing Information with Colleagues Outside of your Organisation

The primary concern should be whether sharing information will aid in safeguarding the child.

Providing Feedback to Organisations about the Information Shared

Sharing information among agencies facilitates assembling the "jigsaw pieces" of a child's life, aiding in early identification of risks.

Justification for Sharing Information to Safeguard a Child

Trust your instincts, training, experience, and risk assessment skills when sharing information, and seek guidance if uncertain.

How much Information to Share?

When sharing personal information, ensure it is necessary, fair, and proportionate, only sharing what is adequate, relevant, and essential to safeguard a child. Clearly explain requests for information, specifying why it's needed and clarifying any terminology to avoid confusion. If unsure about required information, seek clarification from the requesting agency or organisation. If in doubt whether to share seek advice.

Informing the People whose Information you have Shared

When safe, prioritise transparency by being open and honest with the individual and their family, explaining the intention to share information and why. Engage with the child and/or their carers, detailing what information will be shared and with whom. Yet, in certain circumstances, it may not be safe or suitable to inform individuals of the intention to share their personal information. In an emergency share information without delay.

Benefits of Sharing Information Early

Practitioners should share information proactively and promptly to aid in identifying, assessing, and responding to risks or concerns regarding children's safety. This includes sharing when issues are just emerging, like persistent school absences, or when children are already known to local authority children's social care, such as being supported as a child in need or having a child protection plan.

Regular and proactive sharing of small pieces of information is often necessary for practitioners to construct a comprehensive understanding of a child's life.

Information Seeking

Practitioners should take an active approach and seek pertinent information from other practitioners and organisations to form a comprehensive understanding of a child and their family's life. Effective information seeking involves sharing, gathering, and triangulating information across various agencies or organizations involved with the child and family.

Being Alert to different forms of Abuse and Neglect and TAKE ACTION

All practitioners should be vigilant for signs and triggers of abuse and neglect, as children can be vulnerable to harm from family members or individuals they encounter daily. Sharing small pieces of information over time helps construct a more comprehensive understanding of the child or family's situation and fills any informational gaps.

Where to Report concerns about a Child’s Safety

Practitioners should promptly share concerns about a child's safety with local authority children's services, following established procedures, regardless of whether the child already has a social worker. Clear guidelines for reporting should be available in every organisation. While a multi-agency referral for social care intervention is standard, for lower-level concerns, the local early help process may be more suitable. Information security should be proportionate to the sensitivity of the shared information and the situation.

Appendix A – Data Protection – it’s meanings and definitions

Full Advice Document:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6620e7ba77a30aa0c4757d88/Information_sharing_advice_April_2024.pdf