Hi all,
Please I need your advice.
Social Services want to talk to pre-school, medical services in regards to my child.
Can SS provide written consent to parents so we can sign? If so what information should be on the consent form?
How can I find out what information is shared between the doctor/teacher and social services after giving consent?
Many thanks.
Nor
Permission
-
Suzie, FRG Adviser
- Posts: 4996
- Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:57 pm
Re: Permission
Dear Nori3
Thank you for your post and welcome to the forum. My name is Suzie, I am an online adviser and will be replying to you today.
Children’s Services (formally known as Social Services) want your consent to contact your child’s pre-school and medical services for further information. They are seeking your consent to do this. You would like to know whether Children’s Services can provide written consent for parents to sign and if so, what should be included in the document. You also want to know what information will be shared between the professionals should you give your consent.
UK GDPR provides several bases for sharing personal information. It is not necessary to seek consent to share information for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of a child provided that there is a lawful basis to process any personal information required. The legal bases that may be appropriate for sharing data in these circumstances could be “legal obligation” or “public task”, which includes the performance of a task in the public interest or the exercise of official authority. Each of the lawful bases under UK GDPR has different requirements. In some circumstances, it may be appropriate to obtain consent to share data, but it is important to note that UK GDPR sets a high standard for consent which is specific, time limited and can be withdrawn (in which case the information would have to be deleted.
The Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR do not prohibit the collection and sharing of personal information, but rather provide a framework to ensure that personal information is shared appropriately. In particular, the Data Protection Act 2018 balances the rights of the information subject (the individual whom the information is about) and the possible need to share information about them. I have added a link HERE to Working Together to Safeguard Children which has detailed information on consent.
You do not say what type of assessment Children’s Services are proposing to undertake. An example is a child in need assessment
. When considering whether a child or their family may need extra support, children’s services will start with an assessment. This will look at the child’s needs and the family situation. It will assess whether the parents need help to meet the child’s needs.
Another example is child protection enquiries . Where a concern is raised about a child’s care, an assessment will be used to explore the family situation. This will help children’s services in deciding whether the child is at risk. Please click on the links for further information.
Children’s services should seek consent for an assessment. Sometimes, in an emergency situations they may ask for your verbal consent. If this is given, they should, when possible, follow up with the paperwork to confirm your consent. If you do not give consent for a Child in Need assessment, then children’s services cannot proceed with the assessment because this is a voluntary assessment. If they are completing a Section 47 Child Protection enquiry, they should seek your consent but do not need it to start the assessment because this is a mandatory process.
The consent document should be clear about what you are giving your consent for Often Children’s Services will provide a list and you will be able to tick what you are giving consent to. For example, Education, medical, housing. The form may be hand written or typed depending on the situation when you are being asked to provide consent. I think it would be a good idea to ask your local authority for their policy on seeking consent. This should set out clearly what the expectations are from them and you.
In respect of what information the professionals can share, this will be dependant on the circumstances of why they care completing a report. The Assessment Triangle is a model in the government's Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023) guidance that helps practitioners assess how a child's life and context interact and impact the child. The triangle is intended to help professionals understand the areas they should explore during an assessment and to help parents understand the process. Please click the link
HERE for a graphic of this.
I hope you find this information helpful. There are many ways to contact Family Rights Group, please do look at our website for further information about this or post again here if you have further questions.
Best wishes, Suzie
Thank you for your post and welcome to the forum. My name is Suzie, I am an online adviser and will be replying to you today.
Children’s Services (formally known as Social Services) want your consent to contact your child’s pre-school and medical services for further information. They are seeking your consent to do this. You would like to know whether Children’s Services can provide written consent for parents to sign and if so, what should be included in the document. You also want to know what information will be shared between the professionals should you give your consent.
UK GDPR provides several bases for sharing personal information. It is not necessary to seek consent to share information for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of a child provided that there is a lawful basis to process any personal information required. The legal bases that may be appropriate for sharing data in these circumstances could be “legal obligation” or “public task”, which includes the performance of a task in the public interest or the exercise of official authority. Each of the lawful bases under UK GDPR has different requirements. In some circumstances, it may be appropriate to obtain consent to share data, but it is important to note that UK GDPR sets a high standard for consent which is specific, time limited and can be withdrawn (in which case the information would have to be deleted.
The Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR do not prohibit the collection and sharing of personal information, but rather provide a framework to ensure that personal information is shared appropriately. In particular, the Data Protection Act 2018 balances the rights of the information subject (the individual whom the information is about) and the possible need to share information about them. I have added a link HERE to Working Together to Safeguard Children which has detailed information on consent.
You do not say what type of assessment Children’s Services are proposing to undertake. An example is a child in need assessment
. When considering whether a child or their family may need extra support, children’s services will start with an assessment. This will look at the child’s needs and the family situation. It will assess whether the parents need help to meet the child’s needs.
Another example is child protection enquiries . Where a concern is raised about a child’s care, an assessment will be used to explore the family situation. This will help children’s services in deciding whether the child is at risk. Please click on the links for further information.
Children’s services should seek consent for an assessment. Sometimes, in an emergency situations they may ask for your verbal consent. If this is given, they should, when possible, follow up with the paperwork to confirm your consent. If you do not give consent for a Child in Need assessment, then children’s services cannot proceed with the assessment because this is a voluntary assessment. If they are completing a Section 47 Child Protection enquiry, they should seek your consent but do not need it to start the assessment because this is a mandatory process.
The consent document should be clear about what you are giving your consent for Often Children’s Services will provide a list and you will be able to tick what you are giving consent to. For example, Education, medical, housing. The form may be hand written or typed depending on the situation when you are being asked to provide consent. I think it would be a good idea to ask your local authority for their policy on seeking consent. This should set out clearly what the expectations are from them and you.
In respect of what information the professionals can share, this will be dependant on the circumstances of why they care completing a report. The Assessment Triangle is a model in the government's Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023) guidance that helps practitioners assess how a child's life and context interact and impact the child. The triangle is intended to help professionals understand the areas they should explore during an assessment and to help parents understand the process. Please click the link
HERE for a graphic of this.
I hope you find this information helpful. There are many ways to contact Family Rights Group, please do look at our website for further information about this or post again here if you have further questions.
Best wishes, Suzie
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