This information is brought to you by Slough Borough Council's Early Years team, on behalf of The Department for Education, for the attention of all Early Years settings.
The Government has introduced a new statutory duty to share information to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people. This duty, under Section 16LA of the Children Act 2004, strengthens expectations that organisations share relevant information when it may help protect or support a child. Link the statutory guidance is here: Information sharing to safeguard children and young people - GOV.UK
What has Changed?
Organisations must share information with other safeguarding partners when:
- They hold information about a child or someone connected to that child.
- The information is relevant to safeguarding or promoting welfare.
- Sharing may help another organisation assess need or risk, provide support, make decisions, or take safeguarding action.
The duty applies both when information is requested and when an organisation identifies relevant information itself.
Why This Matters
Previously, guidance focused on whether practitioners could share information. The new legislation establishes that organisations must share relevant information when the statutory conditions are met.
Importantly, information sharing is not limited to situations where there are child protection concerns or statutory thresholds have been reached. It also applies to:
- Early help and emerging concerns.
- Identifying unmet needs.
- Preventing escalation of difficulties.
- Promoting children's welfare.
Professional Judgement Still Applies
Staff must continue to consider:
- Relevance to safeguarding or welfare.
- Whether sharing will help another organisation support the child.
- What information is necessary and proportionate.
- Who needs to receive the information.
- Whether sharing could be more detrimental to the child than not sharing (expected to be a very rare circumstance).
All decisions and rationale should be appropriately recorded.
Consent and Working with Families
A significant clarification within the guidance is that:
- Consent is generally not the lawful basis for sharing safeguarding information.
- Practitioners should not seek consent if information will be shared regardless.
- Families should normally be informed about what information is being shared, why it is being shared, and with whom.
- There remain exceptions where informing a parent or carer could increase risk or undermine safeguarding activity.
It remains important to distinguish between:
- Consent to share information; and
- Consent to engage in a voluntary service such as Family Help.
Information Sharing and Data Protection
Data protection legislation continues to apply. Staff must ensure that information shared is:
- Necessary and proportionate.
- Accurate.
- Shared securely.
- Properly recorded.
Data protection should not be used as a reason to withhold information when the statutory duty applies.
All staff should:
- Familiarise themselves with the new guidance.
- Understand the distinction between consent for information sharing and consent for services.
- Ensure information-sharing decisions are clearly recorded.
Key Takeaway
The new duty reinforces that safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. Practitioners should be confident in sharing relevant information at the earliest opportunity when it may help safeguard a child, address emerging needs, or promote their welfare. Early, proportionate information sharing is now a statutory expectation, not simply a discretionary practice.