ContactPoint

ContactPoint was a government database in England that provided a way for those working with children and young people to find out who else is working with the same child or young person, making it easier to deliver more coordinated support. It was created in response to the abuse and death of eight-year-old Victoria Climbié in 2000 in England. Various agencies involved in her care had failed to prevent her death, in particular by individually never realising other agencies had been in contact with Victoria.

ContactPoint aimed to improve child protection by improving the way information about children was shared between services. It was designed by Capgemini and previously had the working titles of Information Sharing Index (or IS Index or ISI) and the Children's Index. The database, created under the Children Act 2004, cost £224m to set up and £41m a year to run. It operated in 150 local authorities, and was accessible to at least 330,000 users.

The database was heavily criticised by a wide range of groups, mainly for privacy, security and child protection reasons. On 12 May 2010 the new UK Coalition Government announced plans to scrap ContactPoint<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and on 6 August 2010 the database was shut down. From that date the Children Act 2004 Information Database (England) Regulations 2007, as amended in 2010, no longer applies.<ref>Decommissioning ContactPoint, Department for Education, (22 July 2010). Retrieved 2 August 2010</ref>

Motivation

Template:See also In April 1999, Victoria Climbié (born 2 November 1991 in Abobo, Côte d'Ivoire, died 25 February 2000 at St. Mary's Hospital, London) and her great-aunt Marie-Thérèse Kouao arrived in London, sent by her parents for a chance of an education. A few months later, Kouao met Carl Manning on a bus which he was driving, and she and Victoria moved into his flat. It was here that she was abused, including being beaten with hammers, bike chains, and wires; being forced to sleep in a bin liner in the bath; and being tied up for periods of over 24 hours. In the period leading up to her death, the police, the social services of many local authorities, the NHS, the NSPCC, and local churches all had contact with her, and noted the signs of abuse. However, in what the judge in the trial following Victoria's death described as "blinding incompetence",<ref>"Inquiry into Climbie officials", BBC, 12 January 2001. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> all failed to properly investigate the abuse and little action was taken. On 24 February 2000, Victoria was admitted into an accident-and-emergency department, semi-unconscious and suffering from hypothermia, multiple organ failure and malnutrition. She died the next day, aged eight. On 20 November 2000, her guardians, Marie Thérèse Kouao and Carl Manning, were charged with child cruelty and murder; on 12 January 2001, both were found guilty, and sentenced to life imprisonment.<ref>"Timeline: Victoria Climbie", BBC, 28 January 2003. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref>

Victoria's death led to a public inquiry, launched on 31 May 2001<ref>"Victoria (Anna) Climbié inquiry is launched Template:Webarchive", The Victoria Climbié Inquiry, 31 May 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> and chaired by Herbert Laming, which investigated the role of the agencies involved in her care.<ref>"About the Inquiry Template:Webarchive", The Victoria Climbié Inquiry. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> The report, published on 28 January 2003,<ref>"Victoria Climbié Report Calls for Radical Change in the Management of Public Services for Children and Families Template:Webarchive", 28 January 2003; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}, 28 January 2003. The Victoria Climbié Inquiry. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> found that the agencies involved in her care failed to protect her and that on at least 12 occasions, workers involved in her case could have prevented her death. The Laming report led to, amongst other things, the creation of the Every Child Matters programme, which consists of three green papers: Every Child Matters, published in September 2003; Every Child Matters: The Next Steps, published in early 2004; and Every Child Matters: Change for Children, published in November 2004.<ref>"Every Child Matters: Change for Children Template:Webarchive", teachernet.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref><ref>"Background to Every Child Matters Template:Webarchive", everychildmatters.gov.uk. 10 May 2005. Retrieved 27 June 2007</ref> The database proposals were announced in September 2003,<ref>Batty, David; Carvel, John, "Plan to keep file on every child", The Guardian, 9 September 2003. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> alongside the publication of Every Child Matters, and was being created under Section 12 of the Children Act 2004. The idea of a child database, however, preceded the Laming report and was suggested in a report, Privacy and Data Sharing: The Way Forward for Public Services, by the Performance and Innovation Unit, published on 11 April 2002 – over a year before the Laming report – and was not related to child abuse.<ref name="Munro">Munro, Eileen, "National child database would increase risk", The Guardian, 6 April 2004. {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}, Performance and Innovation Unit, 11 April 2002. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref>

Development and closure

The pilot schemes (designated as identification, referral and tracking (IRT) schemes) began with Bolton council in 2003<ref>Batty, David, "Bolton kick-starts child database pilot", The Guardian, 12 November 2003. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> and was used by eleven other local authorities.<ref>The twelve local authorities were Barnsley; Bolton; Coventry; Cumbria; Dorset with Bournemouth and Poole; Gateshead; Knowsley; Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland; Nottinghamshire; Sheffield; Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire; and Wandsworth. Children Act – The Index Template:Webarchive, Action on Rights for Children, April 2004. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> There were doubts as to the legality of Bolton council obtaining data of children from the local primary care trust to put on the database, but the council was eventually advised that it was legal. The other pilot areas followed, in different ways.<ref>Carvel, John, "All eyes on the child", The Guardian, 19 May 2004. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> On 8 December 2005, the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, Ruth Kelly, made the official announcement of the introduction of the database, confirmed by the Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families, Beverley Hughes.<ref>House of Commons Hansard Written Ministerial Statements for 8 December 2005 (pt 1), Column 114WS, United Kingdom Parliament, 8 December 2005. Retrieved 27 June 2007. Template:Webarchive</ref><ref>"Better services for children as government acts on Lord Laming recommendation", Department for Education and Skills, 8 December 2005. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref><ref>Lightfoot, Liz, "Information on every child to be kept in new database", The Daily Telegraph, 9 December 2005. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref>

To allow the introduction of the database, the government required all local authorities to implement the Integrated Children's System, a framework to help improve outcomes for children. The government set a deadline of 1 January 2007, and 92 out of the 150 local authorities failed to achieve this.<ref>Kablenet, "Councils to miss child database deadline", The Register, 11 December 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> The government began a consultation on the 2007 draft regulations<ref name="2007DR">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> on 21 September 2006 which ended on 14 December 2006.<ref>"ContactPoint*: Consultation on Draft Information Sharing Index (England) Regulations and Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment Template:Webarchive", Department for Education and Skills. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> In October 2006, the government selected Capgemini to design the database.<ref>McCue, Andy, "Capgemini to design £224m national child database Template:Webarchive", silicon.com, 12 October 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref><ref>Lipowicz, Alice, "Capgemini captures $400M UK database deal Template:Webarchive", washingtontechnology.com, 18 October 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2006.</ref> On 15 February 2007, the database was renamed from Information Sharing Index to ContactPoint, following research with stakeholder groups, including children and families, who decided that the name ContactPoint made clear what the purpose of the database was: to improve communication between those working with children.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>"ContactPoint – formerly known as the Information Sharing Index Template:Webarchive", Nottingham City Council, February/March 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> A consultation on a guide for database users<ref name="PG">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> was launched on 4 May 2007 and ended on 27 July 2007.<ref>"ContactPoint: Consultation on Draft Guidance Template:Webarchive", Department for Education and Skills. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref>

The database was expected to cost £224m to set up, spread over three years beginning December 2005 (therefore costing £81m a year for the first three years), and £41m a year thereafter. The database, which would be operating in 150 local authorities and would be accessible by at least 330,000 users,<ref>Ward, Lucy, "330,000 users to have access to database on England’s children", The Guardian, 27 June 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> was expected to be fully operational by the end of 2008; however, following the 2007 UK child benefit data scandal, the deadline was pushed back for five months to allow a security review prior to implementation.<ref>"Child database system postponed",BBC News,27 June 2007.</ref> Training for the workers had been planned begin in spring 2008.<ref>"Information sharing: Training on child index set for 2008 Template:Webarchive", Children Now, 23 May 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref>

Following the 2010 General Election the new government scrapped the database as one of their measures "to reverse the substantial erosion of civil liberties under the Labour Government and roll back state intrusion."<ref>Conservative Liberal Democrat Coalition Agreement Template:Webarchive, Conservative Party, Published 12 May 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010</ref><ref>Conservative Liberal Democrat Coalition Agreement Template:Webarchive, Liberal Democrats, Published 12 May 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010</ref> A YouGov poll found that there was no consensus over whether this was the correct or wrong decision.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Use

The government said the database was set up to improve child protection by improving the way information about children was shared between services.Template:Citation needed Only professionals whose job involves supporting children would be able to access the database, and they would be required to undergo enhanced Criminal Records Bureau checks and training.Template:Citation needed Each local authority would decide who may access the database provided their role was listed in the ContactPoint Regulations. Users would need to provide a reason for accessing a record, and an audit trail would be kept on access to the database to help detect misuse.<ref>"Child index: Information sharing: your questions answered Template:Webarchive ", Children Now, 2 May 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> Professionals who have completed a Common Assessment Framework,<ref>See the Common Assessment Framework form at: {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}, everychildmatters.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> a tool used to identify the severity of a child's situation, would be able to record on a child's record that they had carried this out. No information discovered in this way would be held on ContactPoint. Under the Data Protection Act, all organisations supplying data to the database would have to inform children and guardians through fair-processing notices.<ref>"Children’s Database Guidance Consultation Launched Template:Webarchive", participationworks.org.uk, 31 May 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> Subjects of the database could make access requests, in writing, to view any personal data that organisations hold on them on the database and to correct any mistakes. The government estimated that the benefit of reducing unproductive work time using the database was valued at more than £88m.<ref>"Information Sharing Index Template:Webarchive", North Tyneside Council. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref>

Content

The entries for a child were to consist of:

• their name, address, gender and date of birth;
• a number identifying them;
• the name and contact details of any person with parental responsibility for them (within the meaning of section 3 of the Children Act 1989) or who had care of them at any time;
• details of any education being received by them (including the name and contact details of any educational institution attended by them);
• the name and contact details of any person providing primary medical services in relation to them under Part 1 of the National Health Service Act 1977;
• the name and contact details of any person providing to them services of such description as the Secretary of State may by regulations specify;

The database would not hold case or assessment material or any subjective observations. The database could include information of a sensitive nature, defined as issues relating to sexual health, mental health and substance abuse,<ref name="2007DR"/> although consent from the child or the child's guardians would have been needed, and it would not have appeared as such on the database; it would only note that the child was receiving help from "sensitive services" and would not say what this was. Refusal of consent could be overridden if this could be justified.<ref name="PG"/> Margaret Hodge, then children's minister, had said that drug or alcohol use by parents, relatives and neighbours, together with other aspects of their behaviour, may be recorded.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Government guidelines reveal that other information recorded may have included family routines, evidence of a disorganised or chaotic lifestyle, ways in which the family's income was used, signs of mental illness or alcohol misuse by relatives, and any serious difficulties in the parents' relationship.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In August 2006, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) announced that the database would not include telephone numbers or addresses of celebrities' children.<ref name="celebrity">Template:Cite news</ref> Records of children who may be at risk could be shielded; this would be determined on a case-by-case basis.

The technical specification for ContactPoint did not include the capacity to store biometric data.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Coverage

The database would hold information on about 11 million children in England. Records would be kept until six years after the child turns 18, or if they leave England and Wales with no intention of returning.<ref>Payne, Lisa, "Briefing: Crib sheet – Information sharing Template:Webarchive", Children Now, 13 June 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> The database could also apply to 18- to 25-year-olds who were care leavers or had learning disabilities (although the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child only applies to those under 18 in England and Wales), and their permission was needed.<ref>About ContactPoint Template:Webarchive, everychildmatters.gov.uk, 10 May 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref>

Criticism

There were significant privacy concerns about the database. The Foundation for Information Policy Research produced a report in November 2006, Children’s Databases – Privacy and Safety, saying the database guidelines ignored family values and privacy, and that the details on the database needs to be "looked at carefully".<ref>"IT systems designed to protect kids would put them at risk instead"; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}, Foundation for Information Policy Research, 22 November 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> The government responded by saying they had "serious reservations about [the] report's objectivity and evidence base". Terri Dowty, one of the report's authors, replied, "it's an appalling aspersion to throw at some of the leading academics in this field. I'm astonished they are challenging the evidence we used since much of the evidence in the report is from the Government itself."<ref>Donovan, Tristan, "Social Care News: Information sharing – Academics clash with DfES over report Template:Webarchive", Children Now, 29 November 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> Action on Rights for Children said that the proposals invaded a child's right to privacy given by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while the Joint Committee on Human Rights said that the "serious interference" with the rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights – the right to respect for private life – seemed to be "difficult to justify".<ref>Joint Committee On Human Rights – Nineteenth Report, Joint Committee on Human Rights, 21 September 2004. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> Liberty, a civil liberties interest group, said governments should not interfere with family life, warning against complacency 'about the importance of privacy in a free society'.<ref name="concerns">"Concerns over new child database", BBC, 27 June 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> The British Medical Association raised concerns that it may breach doctor–patient confidentiality.<ref>Batty, David, "BMA raises concern over child databases", The Guardian, 29 October 2003. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> The phrase 'any cause for concern' was criticised as being potential overly wide-ranging and intrusive,<ref>Ward, Lucy, "'Flags of concern' on child database", The Guardian, 28 October 2004. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> and there were fears of function creep.<ref>"Watchdog's Big Brother UK warning", BBC, 16 August 2004. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> A study by the Office of the Children's Commissioner, 'I think it’s about trust': The views of young people on information sharing, found that children themselves were concerned about invasions of their privacy, and that they would be reluctant to use sensitive services if this would go on the database.<ref>"I think it’s about trust: The views of young people on information sharing"; Hilton, Zoe; Mills, Chris, {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}, NSPCC, September 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2006.</ref><ref>Batty, David, "Children fear intrusion of national database, report finds", The Guardian, 8 September 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref>

Commentators expressed concern about the country's increasing surveillance. In August 2004, the information commissioner, Richard Thomas, drawing a parallel with the way that governments in Eastern Europe and Spain gained too much power and information in the 20th century, expressed concern over this and other national databases, including the Citizen Information Project, NHS National Programme for IT, and the introduction of identity cards, warning that there was a danger of the country "sleepwalk[ing] into a surveillance society".<ref>"UK Information Commissioner Warns of ID Cards and Surveillance Society Template:Webarchive", Privacy International, 16 August 2004. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref><ref>"Watchdog's Big Brother UK warning", 16 August 2004; "Trust warning over personal data", 13 July 2006. BBC. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> On 18 April 2006, Des Browne, the Secretary of State for Defence, said "the Department for Education and Skills should also consider whether there is scope to realise further efficiency and effectiveness benefits through a child population register",<ref>House of Commons Hansard Written Ministerial Statements for 18 Apr 2006 (pt 1), Column 1WS, United Kingdom Parliament, 18 April 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2007. Template:Webarchive</ref> and it is thought that the database may be used in conjunction with the National Identity Register and other databases.<ref>"7. The Children's Index Template:Webarchive", Action on Rights for Children. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref><ref>Boggan, Steve, "No more secrets", The Guardian, 27 February 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> Phil Booth, national coordinator of NO2ID, a group opposing identity cards, said this was "cradle-to-grave surveillance".<ref>"Information sharing – Child index could link to ID cards Template:Webarchive", Children Now, 26 April 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> Conservative Party member of parliament Oliver Heald said, "there is already public concern at government plans for a compulsory identity card database, a nanny state children's database and a property database for the council tax revaluation".<ref>Priestley, Sally, "Template:Usurped", epolitix.com, 14 September 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> Liz Davies of London Metropolitan University argued that "ContactPoint, the new database for every child in the country, is in effect a population-surveillance tool" and that "for five years, the system to prevent child abuse has been vanishing before our eyes".<ref>Davies, Liz, "Our children have less protection now than did Victoria Climbié", The Guardian, 28 February 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> Fiona Nicholson of Education Otherwise, a home-education support group, agreed with this assessment and said that "frontline staff working to protect vulnerable children have also expressed disbelief that investing hundreds of millions in IT can be the best way to safeguard children". Laming, however, said that Davies' assertion was a "gross distortion of what is an intelligent application of technology aimed at ensuring every child benefits from the universal services".<ref>"Pros and cons of the children's database", The Guardian, 2 March 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> Privacy International awarded Hodge the 2004 Big Brother Award for "Worst Public Servant", partly due to her backing of the database.<ref>"Privacy International Announces Winners of 6th Annual Big Brother Awards Template:Webarchive", Privacy International, 28 July 2004. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref>

Security concerns about the database were significant, and commentators said that there was a large risk of abuse of the system.<ref>Meikle, James, "Schools warn of abuse risk from IT database", The Guardian, 22 June 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> Evidence presented in 2006 to the management board of the Leeds NHS Trust showed that in one month the 14,000 staff logged 70,000 incidents of inappropriate access.<ref>"ContactPoint is open to potential abuse", The Guardian, 22 June 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> Sex offenders targeting children might have used the database to find vulnerable victims.<ref>"Is the 'Children's Index' an invasion of privacy?Template:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore", The Daily Telegraph, 31 August 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> The celebrity exclusions were attacked, with critics saying that it underlined fears about security, and that government ministers could have decided to exclude their own children from the database.<ref name="celebrity"/><ref>Womack, Sarah, "Celebrity children would get database privacy", The Daily Telegraph, 2 September 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> The proposals might have broken data protection and human rights laws.

Some had said that the database might lead to self-fulfilling prophecies, where children from difficult backgrounds were treated as potential delinquents.<ref>Goodwin, Bill, "Experts criticise government child database plans", Computer Weekly, 22 November 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> The government was accused of using the public's response to the death of Victoria Climbié to force through the unpopular proposal and to curb civil liberties.<ref>Clements, David, "Every Child Matters – but so does our privacy", Spiked, 16 October 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> There were concerns that the database would undermine child protection and parents, weakening the power of parents to look after children, and would "do more harm than good".<ref>Batty, David, "Database 'would undermine child protection'", The Guardian, 24 January 2005. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref><ref>Searing, Hilary, "Why Social Workers Oppose the Child Database", radical.org.uk, June 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> The sheer size of the database could have meant that serious cases would be overlooked due to the abundance of minor incidents.<ref>Batty, David, "Child protection overhaul ‘could lead to false alarms", The Guardian, 4 March 2004. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> There were doubts towards the government's estimate of the cost of the database. The information commissioner estimates it at £1bn,<ref name="fiasco">"Child database could be new IT fiasco, says Hodge", The Guardian, 9 February 2005. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> which Hodge said was 'absurd',<ref>Ward, Lucy, "Hodge defends IT project", The Guardian, 10 February 2005. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> and others raised concerns over the cost,<ref>Batty, David, "Information overload", The Guardian, 18 February 2005. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> noting that government projects tend to go over-budget. Some questioned children's ability to give informed consent in their own right. Mary Marsh, chief executive of the NSPCC, wanted the database to cover the whole of the United Kingdom, not just England and Wales, saying "the information held would be only partial and potentially worse than useless".<ref>"Child index: NSPCC demands a UK-wide database Template:Webarchive", Children Now, 4 October 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> On 27 June 2006, a child protection conference, "Children: Over Surveilled, Under Protected",<ref>Children: Over Surveilled, Under Protected Template:Webarchive, London School of Economics. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> held at the London School of Economics, reached the conclusion that the database would do nothing to prevent child abuse, and that it would undermine parents' ability to look after their children.<ref>Bristow, Jennie, "Children: over-surveilled, under-protected", Spiked, 20 July 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref><ref>Donovan, Tristan, "Information sharing: Government faces growing opposition to child index Template:Webarchive", Children Now, 5 July 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref>

The government rejected most of the negative criticism. The DfES said that the database would only contain basic information and "will certainly not be including any information on children's diet or school attainment".<ref name="concerns" /> Laming had said that information for every child needs to be kept so that they would not be at risk.<ref>"'Children at risk without database'", BBC, 28 June 2005. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> The government denied any possibility of function creep. They rebutted the concerns over privacy, with a spokesman for the DfES saying "we are conscious of the need to respect personal privacy".<ref>"Database details 'harm children'", BBC, 22 November 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> Hodge said that the database would be secure, that it would not undermine child protection and that it would help various agencies share information.<ref name="fiasco" /> Hughes said that the database would be secure and that "we are confident we are doing all we could to ensure security".<ref>"The ContactPoint system is secure", The Guardian, 26 June 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> The government said that they were confident that the database complied with the Data Protection Act and the Human Rights Act.<ref>ContactPoint: legislation Template:Webarchive, everychildmatters.gov.uk, 16 February 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.</ref> Paul Ennals, chief executive of the National Children's Bureau, said, "the index is a proportionate response to a continuing problem and any action that helps reduce the number of children who slip through the net must be welcome".<ref>"Analysis: Information sharing – Index plans get a warm welcome Template:Webarchive", Children Now, 11 January 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2006.</ref>

With the publication of the accreditation procedures for organisations to access ContactPoint, it became clear that the vast majority of voluntary organisations would not have been able to access ContactPoint. This meant that the majority of organisations that work with children or young people e.g. sports groups, uniformed groups and faith groups, would not be able to register their involvement, representing a real challenge for practitioners who wanted to see who was working with a particular child or young person.

External links

• ContactPoint
• Children Act 2004, Part 2, Section 12 • Children Act 2004 • Explanatory Notes to Children Act 2004
• The Information Sharing Index (England) Regulations 2006 • {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• Action on Rights for Children – The Children’s Information Sharing (IS) Index • The ARCH Blog
• The Guardian – list of articles at the bottom
• Every Child Matters
• The Victoria Climbié Inquiry • BBC: Victoria Climbié inquiry • The Guardian: The Climbié inquiry