Children and Young Persons Bill [HL]

I fear that my response to the noble Baroness will be the same as the one that I gave the last time we debated the issue. The Government’s position has not changed. We believe that the appropriate statutory framework already exists to ensure that adults who were looked after can access their case records. First, there is already an obligation to keep records. Regulation 8 of the Arrangements for Placement of Children (General) Regulations 1991 already requires local authorities and voluntary organisations to open a case record for each child whom they place. Details of what must be kept are set out in Regulation 8(2) and amplified in guidance. Local authorities are already required to retain records for 75 years after the date of birth, or for 15 years after death if the child dies before the age of 18. Secondly, there is, as the noble Baroness said, existing entitlement under the Data Protection Act for adults who were in care to have access to the personal data in their records. As she said, information relating to other persons must be handled in accordance with the principles of the Data Protection Act, and there is room for the exercise of discretion by the local authority to disclose information relevant to the individual’s understanding of the issues that they face because of their experience of being looked after. There is also provision for individuals to apply to the Information Commissioner if they are unhappy with the local authority’s response. There will, of course, be individual cases of adults who are trying to piece together information about their time in the care system several decades ago and who cannot do so because the records are incomplete. Sadly, no new legislative provision can address that. I say this with some feeling as a former child in care whose entire records over 13 years in care were destroyed when I sought to gain access to them. I am not one of the very old category of people in care whom the noble Baroness mentioned, but, alas, that is the past. I am glad to be told, however, that record keeping is now more consistent and the guidance clearer than it was in previous decades, as the Children Act 1989 set a better framework than existed previously. The integrated children’s system to which I referred yesterday and the detailed resources that have been produced to support it aim to improve record keeping still further. The ICS covers all children who are looked after, including those who are placed for adoption. I know that my response will not satisfy the noble Baroness, but I hope that it at least testifies to improved practice in this area.