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Children: Databases

Answer

In response to question 190734, the risk assessment, recommended by Deloitte, which will look in detail at the contractor’s design, will be completed by May 2008. The report will not be made public, as it will contain details of specific security arrangements. However, the ContactPoint security statement, which is publicly available, will be updated to reflect any changes made to security arrangements.In response to question 190735, our plans for future risk assessment are based on key project milestones. These are:"at the end of detailed technical design;""before the system goes live;""at the end of the ‘Early Adopter’phase; and""when there is any significant change in the external threat level or any significant project change."These plans will be kept under review. Decisions about making the reports public will be taken on a case-by-case basis.In response to question 190736, the decision to publish only the executive summary of the Deloitte report was taken on 13 February 2008.In response to question 190737, the executive summary includes all the recommendations. The Government have accepted them all.In response to question 190738, ContactPoint is expected to be deployed to ‘Early Adopter’ local authorities and two of our seven national partners by the end of October 2008 and to all other local authorities and national partners in 2009.In response to question 190739, an interim assessment has been conducted which indicates that the recommendations can be implemented within the current planned budget and timescale. The full assessment can only be made once the updated risk assessment is completed.In response to question 190740, ContactPoint will continue to be reviewed by independent security experts during system build and before it is implemented. Security will, of course, be audited during operation. It has not yet been decided who will conduct further independent reviews.In response to question 190750, the Deloitte review did not identify any significant security issues, but made a number of minister recommendations for controls to be in place when the system goes live in addition to those already planned. The report observed that the importance of security appears to be ingrained within key areas of the ContactPoint Project. The first task, which is already under way, is to undertake an impact assessment of the detailed recommendations contained in the report.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

190740; 472 c2635-6W

Session

2007-08

Subjects

Children Databases

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk