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Information sharing is key to the Government's goal of delivering better, more efficient public services; that are coordinated around the needs of children, young people and families. It is essential for early intervention and preventative work, for safeguarding and promoting welfare and for wider public protection. Information sharing is vital for improving outcomes for all.
Guidance
As part of Every Child Matters (ECM), in December 2004, the Government made a commitment to produce clear guidance for all children's service practitioners on information sharing. The first cross-Government guidance was published in April 2006.
In October 2008 a new version of this guidance was published to reflect current policy, and was extended to cover practitioners working with adults and families as well as those working with children and young people. The DCSF and the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) worked in partnership to update the guidance, in consultation with a wide range of practitioners, national organisations and representative bodies. The guidance and associated materials (available below) aim to support good practice in information sharing by offering clarity on when and how information can be shared legally and professionally.
Guidance is for practitioners who have to make decisions about sharing personal information case by case, whether they are:
- providing services to children, young people, adults and families
- working in the public, private or voluntary sectors as employees, contractors or volunteers.
The guidance is also for managers and advisors who support these practitioners in their decisions. It does not deal in any detail with arrangements for planned or bulk sharing of personal information between ICT systems or organisations.
The guidance has been formally endorsed by a wide variety of organisations from all sectors. Details of these endorsements and what organisations have said on the guidance are available.
HM Government information sharing guidance (October 2008)
Suite of materials including guidance for practitioners and managers; a pocket guide; credit card sized quick reference guide; posters; case examples; further guidance on legal issues; endorsements and statements.
Training
Training materials have been updated to reflect the updates in the guidance and are available on the integrated working training page. These are designed for local multi-agency training, and for use by providers of initial training and continuous professional development for the children's workforce.
Information sharing: Introductory training course (March 2009).
In addition, an introductory training course based on the updated information sharing guidance has been developed by Barnardo's in partnership with the DCSF. The training course has been published on CD-ROM and is designed to be run from the CD or copied onto PCs for local use. It can be used by practitioners as self-study or by trainers as part of a classroom-based course.
Statement on information sharing agreements and protocols (August 2008)
This statement aims to summarise how information sharing governance can support good practice, and clarifies the role of information sharing protocols. It details why agreements and protocols are unnecessary for sharing information about individual children.
Information sharing Q&A (March 2009)
Information sharing factsheet: Embedding good practice (March 2009)
This factsheet describes the important organisational and cultural aspects that are required to ensure that good practice in information sharing is promoted and supported. It outlines the role of organisations, including children's trusts and the importance of appropriate policies and processes and gives examples of activities to embed good practice.
Better information sharing in practice
Case studies showing how the function of the lead professional, use of the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) and multi-agency working contribute to better information sharing.
Integrated working factsheets
This includes a factsheet on information sharing guidance.
The Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) supports the implementation of integrated working.
Associated documents
Statement IS protocols FINAL
(34.6Kb)
Download the contents of this page:
as a Word Document
Last updated on 15/05/2009
