ContactPoint assessments are secret

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The children's minister Beverley Hughes has revealed that the monthly assessments of ContactPoint at the early adopter local authorities will remain secret.

In a parliamentary written answer, Hughes said ContactPoint assessments are internal documents and not intended for publication.

"The monthly assessments are undertaken by local authorities and are project documents internal to the local authorities themselves. Local authorities provide the information to the department on the basis that it will be used to enable the department to assess progress, provide targeted support where necessary and to share good practice. It is not collected for the purpose of publication. The assessments are not intended or designed for publication," she said.

Speaking to Public Servant Daily, the shadow children's minister Tim Loughton said: "ContactPoint has been shrouded in secrecy and confusion ever since it became law and this will fuel suspicions that the government has something to hide. Despite serious and widespread concerns that the new databse will actually dilute government efforts to protect vulnerable children, ministers seem determined to bulldoze it through come what may.

"The public have a right to know about any concerns local authorities raise and problems they may encounter in the pilot stage. If the government refuses to publish this information we will have no idea whether any arising issues have been properly addressed."

ContactPoint is a controversial database that stores the personal detail of every child in England and Wales. The database was conceived to prevent serious errors in child support following recommendations in the Climbie Inquiry. After facing a number of delays to implementation, ContactPoint went live in January.