Written question asked by David Davis (Conservative) on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 1 November 2010. It was answered by Tim Loughton (Conservative) on Tuesday, 9 November 2010 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Children: Databases

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what function the reformed ContactPoint database will have in respect of vulnerable children which is not undertaken by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that only details of children already identified as being at risk are stored on the database.

Answer: [holding answer 1 November 2010]: In line with our longstanding policy commitment, ContactPoint was switched off on 6 August 2010. The database is in the process of being permanently decommissioned and the data securely destroyed. Accordingly, the ContactPoint database is not being reformed. We are however exploring the feasibility of an alternative approach to help key professionals support and protect our most vulnerable children, particularly when these children move areas or access services in more than one area. Wherever practicable, we will seek to re-use investment made to date. We will provide an update in due course.

Secondary information