Database threat to Liverpool's children

Jun 18 2009 by Marc Waddington, Liverpool Daily Post

He added: “It goes against our policies against intrusive government.

“This is not about children at risk, it’s about collating data, and we need to find out what the data is to be used for and why they need it.

“What we are doing is lobbying the national party to ensure that council leaders in my position can make them reconsider.”

He also added that he was aware many teachers and professionals working with children did not know anything about the scheme.

One teacher, who did not wish to be named, said that they “worked with particularly vulnerable children and knew nothing about ContactPoint at all. For something so important, it’s not being communicated to those who need to know about it the most.”

During a risk assessment of the system, conducted last year, accountants Deloitte identified no “significant weaknesses” but noted that “risk can only be managed, not eliminated, and therefore there will always be a risk of data security incidents occurring.”

Cllr Bradley said he felt that, given the number of high-profile cases of government-held data being lost or misplaced, he did not want Liverpool to be at similar risk.

He added: “I think some of that data has been deliberately lost and I don’t want Liverpool to be one of the places at risk of that happening.”

A motion agreed by the council’s executive board states that it “believes that all parents have every right to demand that their children's personal details are not put at risk and believes that this expensive and unnecessary intrusion into our children's lives will not make them any safer.”

The board has asked city chief executive Colin Hilton to write to the Secretary of State.