Written question asked by Tim Loughton (Conservative) on Monday, 10 November 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 20 November 2003. It was answered by Baroness Hodge of Barking (Labour) on Thursday, 20 November 2003 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Dept for Education and Skills

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, if he will list the social services departments which have introduced a computer system (a) to monitor the activities of child-protection agencies and (b) to cross-reference knowledge held by other agencies as recommended by the Laming Report.

Answer: Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the social services departments that have introduced a computer system (a) to monitor the activities of child-protection agencies and (b) to cross-reference knowledge held by other agencies as recommended by the Laming Report. [138487] Margaret Hodge: Social Services Departments currently use a variety of methods for collecting and sharing information on children. The answer to ensuring child protection is not in the use of computer systems alone. We need practitioners to share information at an early stage about children who may be at risk of falling through the net. We propose in the Green Paper "Every Child Matters" to introduce local information sharing hubs in every local authority to help identify early indications that a child is in need of specialised support through the bringing together of the knowledge and expertise held by all local children's services. We are examining whether and how it is feasible to overcome the technical challenges in this area.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 138487; 413 c1463-4W;413 c1459-60W
Session: 2002-03
Subjects: Children Disclosure of information Databases Cooperation ICT Protection Monitoring Social services
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk