Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board Multi-agency information sharing agreement March 2016
Introduction Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board (NSCB) is the strategic body for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young people in Newcastle and for ensuring that arrangements to do this are robust and effective. Information sharing is vital to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. Working Together to Safeguard Children (2015) states that, in order to ensure effective safeguardings arrangements are in place, all organisations should have arrangements in place which set out clearly the processes and the principles for sharing information between each other, with other professionals and with the local Safeguarding Children Board. The purpose of the agreement is to support effective and lawful information sharing to safeguard and protect children and young people from abuse and neglect (such as in the situations set out in appendix 1), and for the purpose of enabling or assisting NSCB to perform its functions as set out in its Learning and Improvement Framework e.g. serious case reviews and audits. The agreement is underpinned by key legislative duties and supporting practice guidance, which are set out in appendix 1. Responsibility of NSCB member organisations ( NSCB partners ) NSCB partners have a responsibility to have arrangements in place which set out clearly the principles and processes for sharing information internally and with partners to safeguard and protect children and young people at risk of abuse and neglect in accordance with legislation and guidance, which must include: consideration of how much information needs to be released; the sharing of information that is relevant to the purposes of those who need it in a timely fashion to reduce the risk of harm; that the information is adequate for its purpose, accurate and up to date and differentiates between fact and opinion; that the information is shared in a secure way;
that the information is stored securely and appropriate technical and organisational measures are in place to prevent unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and accidental loss or destruction of or damage to personal data; that appropriate timescales are in place for the retention and safe disposal of the information; keeping a record of information sharing decisions (including decisions not to disclose information); Clear guidance on consent and confidentiality In addition NSCB partners must ensure that: All relevant members of staff have access to, understand, and adhere to the duties for information sharing; Staff have access to up to date training on information sharing; Its Privacy Notice, which informs individuals about how their personal data will be used by the organisation, is consistent with this agreement Appropriate arrangements are also in place for the sharing of information with organisations and individuals who are not NSCB member organisations, where this is necessary to safeguard and protect a child or young person; Any organisation or individual it contracts with for work involving children or young people is given access to, understands and adheres to the information sharing policy; It undertakes appropriate periodic checks and audits to test compliance with this agreement; The NSCB Co-ordinator is made aware of any actual or suspected information security breach by the organisation within 24 hours of it being reported. The partner will investigate the breach promptly and update the NSCB regarding the progress of such investigations and action taken as reasonably requested; It reports on the effectiveness of its information sharing arrangements as reasonably requested by NSCB and cooperates with any audit work undertaken by NSCB in relation to this agreement
Responsibility of NSCB and its committees and sub working groups For the purpose of enabling or assisting NSCB to perform its functions as set out in its Learning and Improvement Framework e.g. serious case reviews and audits the Board will ensure that: All information received is secure and safely stored Any information that it publishes or shares is: Relevant to its functions Anonymised Proportionate Accurate Timely Freedom of information requests NSCB is a statutory partnership in its own right set up under the Children Act 2004 and is not a public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2002. It is therefore is exempt from the duty to provide information, although is minded to consider all requests in their own right. Section 3 of the Freedom of Information Act provides that: (2) For the purposes of this Act, information is held by a public authority if (a) it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person, or (b) it is held by another person on behalf of the authority. Where a NSCB partner which is deemed to be a public authority under the Act holds information for its own purposes, then it does so otherwise than on behalf of another person and the information held will be subject to the Act. However, partners in possession of NSCB minutes, documents, reports etc. are holding this information on behalf of another person (the NSCB) and it is therefore not liable to disclosure under a freedom of information request. In all instances no records of NSCB meetings will be produced or shared without the permission of the Independent Chairperson.
Partners to the agreement The information sharing agreement is between the following partners: Newcastle City Council Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust NHS Newcastle Gateshead CCG Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust Northumbria Police National Probation Service Northumbria Community Rehabilitation Company NHS England CAFCASS Any successor body (or bodies) of an organisation listed above will be automatically added as parties to the agreement. Review The agreement will be reviewed every two years. Partner agreement Partners signing up to this agreement acknowledge that it provides a secure framework for the sharing of information between their agencies in a manner compliant with their statutory and professional responsibilities. They undertake to: implement and adhere to the requirements set out in this agreement; and engage in the periodic review of this agreement with partners
Appendix 1 Underpinning legislation and guidance Children Act 1989 Access to Health Records Act 1990 Housing Act 1996 The Data Protection Act 1998 The common law duty of confidentiality The Human Rights Act 1998 Crime and Disorder Act 1998 Freedom of Information Act 2000 Homelessness Act 2002 Education Act 1996 and 2002 Criminal Justice Act 2003 Children Act 2004 (section 14B) The Mental Capacity Act 2005 LSCB Regulations 2006 Health and Social Care Act 2012 Practice guidance Data Sharing Code of Practice (Information Commissioners Office) (2011) Caldicott Review (2013) Information Sharing Advice for practitioners providing safeguarding services to children and young people, parents and carers (2015) Information Sharing Requirements relating to Offenders (Ministry of Justice/National Offender Management Service) Working Together to Safeguard Children. A guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children (2015) Keeping Safe in Education (2015) What to do if you re worried a child is being abused (2015) - 6 -
Appendix 2 Information sharing The list below is for guidance only. It may also be appropriate to share information for other reasons. Why might you need to share information to safeguard and protect children? To seek advice about a specific child protection situation or to establish grounds for progressing child protection procedures To make a child protection referral to children s social care To seek immediate protection for a child or young person through contact or referral to another service To notify agencies who may need to take action against alleged or known perpetrators (includes risks posed by a member of the public, worker, volunteer or a service user) To make a referral to agencies for purposes of requesting or amending services to people at risk of abuse or to those suspected of perpetrating abuse To complete a criminal investigation, an employment investigation or any other investigation, review, or assessment as part of a safeguarding adults enquiry To conduct serious case reviews and learning reviews, case audits and evaluations as part of NSCB s Learning and Improvement Framework To contribute to other review processes such as Domestic Homicide Reviews or Drug Related Death Reviews To review and develop multi-agency policies and procedures To deal with complaints, grievances and professional or administrative malpractice and incompetence Managing allegations of abuse made against staff What information might you need to share? Personal and sensitive information which identifies the alleged victim(s) or alleged perpetrator(s) of abuse or neglect e.g. name, date of birth, address; sensitive information about the alleged victim(s) or alleged perpetrator(s) of abuse or neglect e.g. gender, religion, ethnicity - 7 -
Reasons for concerns and details of the alleged concerns e.g. type of abuse, location of abuse, levels of risk or urgency. Information about the physical and or mental health of the alleged victim(s) or alleged perpetrator(s) e.g. mental capacity, communication needs Reports of any medical or social care assessments or examinations undertaken as part of the safeguarding adults procedures e.g. eligibility for community care, psychiatric assessment Personal data which identifies professionals involved with the alleged victim(s) or alleged perpetrator(s) Personal data which identifies other people who may be at risk Historical information held in records about the alleged victim(s) or alleged perpetrator(s) that may be relevant to the current concern Name and contact details of the referrer (unless they have stated they wish to remain anonymous and this anonymity would not have a detrimental impact upon the protection process) Name of employer or organisation if the concern relates to a paid worker or volunteer of a service provider The agreement also concerns aggregated data (e.g. statistics) which may be shared. In these situations, anonymised information should be used. - 8 -