Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether parental consent is necessary for local authorities to share live birth data with Sure Start Children’s Centres.
Answered by Lord Nash
As set out in the Department for Education’s Sure Start Children’s Centres statutory guidance, health services and local authorities should share information, such as live birth data and data on families with children under five who have recently moved into the area, effectively with children’s centres on a regular basis. Local authorities and commissioners of health services should consider developing local partnership agreements or information sharing protocols to enable effective sharing of bulk data (such as live birth data), whilst ensuring that the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998, and other relevant legal provisions, are complied with.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that all local authorities share live birth data with children’s centres in their area.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government has no plans to review the statutory guidance on the sharing of live birth data.
The Department for Education’s statutory guidance for children’s centres is clear that health services and local authorities should share information, such as live birth data, with children’s centres on a regular basis. It is important that professionals work together to identify families who are in need of support and offer them that support.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to review the statutory guidance on the sharing of live birth data.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government has no plans to review the statutory guidance on the sharing of live birth data.
The Department for Education’s statutory guidance for children’s centres is clear that health services and local authorities should share information, such as live birth data, with children’s centres on a regular basis. It is important that professionals work together to identify families who are in need of support and offer them that support.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many local authorities are not currently sharing live birth data with children’s centres in their areas.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Department for Education does not hold data relating to local authority practice with regards to live birth data. The statutory guidance for children’s centres is clear that health services and local authorities should share information, such as live birth data, with children’s centres on a regular basis.