6.2 Record of Children with a Child Protection Plan and Enquiries of the Record

Each Local Authority is required to have in place an IT system which meets Working Together guidance requirements of supporting the Integrated Children's System (ICS) and being capable of producing a list of all the children resident in the area (including those who have been placed there by another local authority or agency) who are considered to be at continuing risk of  Significant Harm, and for whom there is a Child Protection Plan.

The principal purpose of having the IT capacity to record that a child is the subject of a Child Protection Plan is to enable agencies and professionals to be aware of those children who are judged to be at continuing risk of Significant Harm and who are the subject of a Child Protection Plan.

It is equally important that agencies and professionals can obtain relevant information about other children who are known or have been known to the Local Authority. Consequently, agencies and professionals who have concerns about a child should be able to obtain information about a child that is recorded on the Local Authorities ICS IT system.

Arrangements are to be in place for legitimate enquirers such as police and health professionals to be able to obtain this information both in and outside office hours.

Children with a Child Protection Plan should be recorded as having been abused or neglected under one or more of the categories of

• Physical Abuse;
• Emotional Abuse; or
• Sexual Abuse; or
• Neglect.

according to a decision by the chair of the Child Protection Conference.

These categories help indicate the nature of the current concerns - (see Actions and Decisions of the Conference Procedure).

Recording information in this way also allows for the collation and analysis of information locally and nationally and for its use in planning the provision of services.

Each local authority should designate a manager, normally an experienced social worker, who has responsibility for:

• Ensuring that records on children who have a Child Protection Plan are kept up to date;
• Ensuring enquiries about children about whom there are concerns or who have Child Protection Plans are recorded;
• Managing other notifications of movements of children into or out of the local authority area such as children who have a Child Protection Plan and Looked After children;
• Managing notifications of people who may pose a risk of Significant Harm to children who are either identified within the local authority area or have moved into the local authority area; and
• Managing requests for checks to be made to ensure unsuitable people are prevented from working with children.

This manager should be accountable to the Director of Children's Services.

Information on each child known to Children's Social Care should be kept up-to-date on the Local Authorities ICS IT system, and the content of the child's record should be confidential, available only to legitimate enquirers.

This information should be accessible at all times to such enquirers. The details of enquirers should always be checked and recorded on the system before information is provided.

If an enquiry is made about a child and the child's case is open to Children's Social Care, the enquirer should be given the name of the child's Lead Social Worker and the Lead Social Worker informed of this enquiry so that they can follow it up. If an enquiry is made about a child at the same address as a child who is the subject of a Child Protection Plan, this information should be sent to the Lead Social Worker of the child who is the subject of the Child Protection Plan.

The Department for Education holds lists of the names of designated managers and should be notified of any changes in designated managers.