New child register could put local children at risk
29 June 2009
Weston-super-Mare John Penrose has expressed his concern today over the government's ContactPoint database, which is being rolled out across North Somerset this summer and which will contain personal details of every child living in Weston and the villages.
The database aims to achieve better co-ordination of all the public services dealing with children at risk and will include every local child's name, address, gender, and date of birth, as well as the names and contact details of their parents, and details of all public services (such as schools, GP practices and children services) coming into contact with them. The information will be accessible to at least 390,000 people nationwide, such as health visitors and social workers.
But the MP has warned that, while the database has been set-up with good intentions, local parents have not been kept informed about the risks.
MP John Penrose said: "The Government launched this database to prevent a repeat of the Victoria Climbie or Baby P cases and I'm sure everyone would support any reforms which might prevent tragic cases like those from happening in future. "
"But ContactPoint will cover every single child in the entire country and, given the Government's record on holding personal data, I doubt parents will be confident that their children's information is safe. If it falls in to the wrong hands, children could be at risk. "
"Parents aren't being told what the database is for, or that their child will be included whether they want it or not. I've contacted North Somerset Council who will be administering the database locally and, while they have said it's legally possible to 'shield' your child, this is only under exceptional circumstances and even then the child's name, date of birth and gender will still be visible."
"Rather than exposing all of Britain's eleven million children, the majority of whom will never need help from social workers, to the risk that the Government won't keep their data safe, we should have a much smaller 'signposting' database which focuses on genuinely vulnerable children - like those in care or on the 'At Risk' Register."
"I will be writing to ask the Government about the security measures they are taking to protect local children's data, and to urge them to raise awareness of the database. Parents should be told their children's data is being kept, and that they can 'shield' the data if they want to."
