Council Meeting
28 January 2025
Present
Dr George Fernie (Chair), Dr Faouzi Alam, Dr Neil Bhatia, Prof Martin Crook, Helen Dyer, Christopher Fincken, Mr Adrian Marchbank
Guests
Tabitha Tossell (DHSC), Gareth James (DHSC,) Deborah Landes (DHSC), Sean Kirwan (NHSE), Alex Clements (DfE), Kelley Khristie (DfE) Sheila Shuttlewood (DfE), Chelsea Calvert (DfE), Salomy Maromani (DfE), Viv Adams (ICO), Jennifer Childs (ICO), Sarah Goff (DfE)
Observers
Raz Edwards, Dr Jonathan Osborn, Colin Harper, Deborah Topping
Secretariat
Ryan Avison
Apologies
David Riley
Declarations of interest
Can be found on register of interests. No other new interests were declared.
Notes of previous meeting and matters arising
Council reviewed the notes of the 21 November 2024 Council meeting and accepted them as an accurate record. There were no matters arising.
Action log
The UKCGC Chair and Council members reviewed the action log. An update was provided by the Chair on the four open actions.
Chair and Vice Chair’s report
Carey Bloomer: Carey has resigned from Council following becoming a foster carer. Council recognised the contributions Cary has made to Council and thanked her for her service
Ryan Avison: Ryan is moving into NHS England on a 6-month secondment
Breakfast Clubs: The next breakfast club is tomorrow, 29 Jan 2025 at 8:00.
NDG Engagement: The UKCGC Chair advised that he attended the NDG’s panel on 12 November. The UKCGC Chair also had his first meeting with the NDG where they discussed the work of the Council, and new strategic objectives for the Council, aligned to the recently revised NGD. Vison, mission and strategic objectives.
Domestic Abuse Forum: Christopher Fincken provided an update of the domestic abuse forum that he attended in September.
Requests for advice to Council
Council discussed recent requests for advice. The Chair noted that requests were mostly routine questions where the secretariat signposted inquirers to the relevant guidance. Council did discuss in reference to a request the role of the CG and the role of the SIRO and the difference in responsibilities between the roles and how these are sometimes confused. Council considered using a survey to identify the tasks being requested of Caldicott Guardians.
Department for Education - proposals for sharing health and care data for child safeguarding
Various officials from DfE, DHSC, NHSE, and the ICO came together at this meeting of the Council to discuss the sharing of health and care information for the purpose of child safeguarding. DFE colleagues presented on the current barriers to effective sharing, touching on:
Confusion and concerns among practitioners about legislation.
Lack of knowledge and skills among practitioners regarding required information and effective sharing.
Fragmented and insufficient systems and processes for safeguarding information sharing.
Unfavourable organisational cultures and lack of networks/relationships between practitioners.
Limited capacity of practitioners due to role intensity and resource constraints.
DfE officials summarised the planned legislative measures, which aims to address some of the barriers identified. DfE have committed to improve data sharing by introducing a Single Unique Identifier (SUI). Two legislative changes are planned: enabling the specification of an SUI and clarifying the requirement to share information for safeguarding purposes. DfE officials summarised the aims and key elements of the single unique identifier and the proposes sharing duty:
Single Unique Identifier (SUI):
Aims to improve evidence, speed up decision-making, enhance service provision, improve family journeys, and reduce resource burdens.
Pilot to assess feasibility, impact, and cost-effectiveness of using the NHS number as an SUI across various sectors.
Enabling legislation through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
Proposed Information Sharing Duty (ISD):
Bi-directional duty on multi-agency partners, schools, and early years to share and request information for safeguarding and promoting welfare.
Applies only if sharing facilitates safeguarding functions and is not detrimental to the child.
Aligns with UK GDPR and Data Protection Act.
Ensures secure and controlled access to appropriate information.
Council welcomed the proposals. Council noted the pragmatism of using the NHS number as the SUI however, noted that the sharing of information needed to be relevant and necessary. Council members highlighted the information and context received as part of requests for information currently, which makes it challenging to make decisions on sharing information. Council noted it would be helpful if as part of these requests all relevant Information and context (what information is requested and why) could be shared which would enable health and care organisations to make better informed and timely decisions on the sharing of information for safeguarding purposes. Council questioned if there could be guidance for those requesting information. Council questioned what statutory partners would come under the auspices of the legislation, and questioned on how organisations would be educated on these changes. Council raised the system interrogability being an issue in sharing information, not just a SUI / duty to share. Vicky Chico stated the NDG’s remit regarding child safeguarding and summarised the NDG’s broad support to these proposals.
Council thanked all colleagues for joining the sessions and welcomed further discussions and engagement on this topic as proposals develop.
UKCGC constitution / consideration of UKCGC objectives / workplan for 25/26
Council members discussed a draft UKCGC constitution 2025/2028. Council members considered some minor alterations to the constitution but were overall content with the document. The draft constitution will come back to the UKCGC alongside a new sponsorship agreement between the NDG and the UKCGC. Council members supported overall the suggestions for UKCGC objectives and work elements. Council members also suggested the possibility of developing an appraisal template for Caldicott Guardians.
Action: UKCGC Chair to review the UKCGC constitution, and to finalise and agree the UKCGC workplan with the NDG.
Other Business
No other business.
Next meeting
The next meeting will be held virtually on 26 March 2025 from 13:00-16:00pm.