Confidentiality Guidance

Family Services recognises its common law duties to safeguard the confidentiality of all personal information. Wherever disclosure of confidential information to another person or organisation is being considered, a check will always be made to ensure that such disclosure is lawful.

All Council staff must attend Data Protection Training and make themselves familiar with the Corporate Policies, which can be found on the Information Management Team

Access to confidential information or anonymous data may be sought for research, audit or monitoring purposes, either by other council areas or by outside organisations or public bodies.

Internal requests related to research projects must be approved and a formal submission will be required; please see the council's information management policies for further guidance.

All external requests or enquiries should be directed to the FOI and Complaints Team and LINK officer for clarification and approval.

All media enquiries should be referred to the Corporate Communications Team.

The Police do not have automatic rights to personal information held by the Council about service users. The matter should always be referred to a manager and Family Services' LINK officer. Requests must be made in writing and must specify the information being requested and the purpose for which the information is needed.

Any requests for access to confidential information held by the Council for the purpose of any legal proceedings must be referred to Family Service's LINK officer for advice and the Council's Legal Services. Staff should also seek advice from their manager and Family Services LINK Officer to ensure that correct action is taken.

Personal information held about children is subject to a legal duty of confidence and should not normally be disclosed without the consent of the subject. The exceptions to this are set out in Paragraph 2.2 below.

The legal framework for confidentiality is contained in the common law duty of confidence, the Children Act 1989, the Human Rights Act 1998, the EU General Data Protection Regulations (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Whilst the general principle is that information obtained about children and their families must be shared with them and not with others, there are exceptions. The public interest in safeguarding the welfare of children overrides the public interest in maintaining confidentiality and the law permits the disclosure of confidential information where this is necessary to safeguard a child or children. Effective information-sharing underpins integrated working and is a vital element of both early intervention and safeguarding.

Disclosure of confidential information should be justifiable in each case, for example to provide information to professionals from other agencies working with the child, and where possible and appropriate, the agreement of the person concerned should be obtained.

Those working with children and families must make it clear to them that confidentiality may not be maintained if the disclosure of information is necessary in the interests of the child. Even in these circumstances, disclosure will be appropriate for the purpose and only to the extent necessary to achieve that purpose.

There may also be situations where third parties have a statutory right of access to the information or where a court order requires that access be given.

The circumstances in which information held in records on children and families can and should be disclosed and shared with others with or without consent are set out in the following sections.

In all other cases, where third parties such as advocates, solicitors or external researchers request access to information, this should only be given if written consent is given by the person concerned or if a Court Order requires it. All such requests should be passed to Family Services' LINK officer, who will check if it is a valid request and advise on how to process the request.

Children and families should be informed of the circumstances in which information about them will be shared with others, and their consent to this sharing obtained. They should also be helped to understand that, in some situations, sharing information without consent could be justified – for example to safeguard a child or adult at risk. It should be made clear that in each case the information passed on will only be what is relevant and on a 'need to know' basis.

Sharing information promptly with others working with the same child, or who may need to know, is invariably the key to safeguarding the child's interests.

Therefore, relevant information about children must be shared with colleagues, other professionals or agencies that may have a role to play in their care.

You must be aware of who you may share information with according to your role, team procedures and sharing agreements.

There are also situations where council employees have a legal duty to share information.

For example:

• Where professionals are undertaking a Section 47 Enquiry in relation to a child;
• Where information is requested in the furtherance of an inquiry or tribunal, or for the purposes of a Serious Case Review.

In such circumstances the person to whom the information relates should be informed that records have been requested unless to do so would prejudice the purpose of the request.

Any objections they have should be considered before responding to the person making the request.

Where information or records are passed to others it should be noted and confirmed in writing.

Information may also be disclosed to persons who have a statutory right of access to the information, for example:

• Where the Court directs that records be produced or a Children's Guardian is appointed;
• Where information is requested by Inspectors of the Regulatory Authority (who have specific statutory powers that permit access to records).

Where information is requested by telephone or electronically, great care must be taken to ensure that the recipient is entitled to receive the information requested. Where there is any doubt the information may not be provided without the approval of a manager.