ContactPoint

ContactPoint will be a basic online directory for child-serving professionals.

It will enable professionals delivering services to children to identify and contact one another easily and quickly in order to share relevant information about children who need help.

ContactPoint was created as a result of the death of Victoria Climbie.

The Climbie Report (2003) recommended that "the government should actively explore the benefit to children of setting up and operating a national children's database."

ContactPoint is a key part of the government's Every Child Matters programme and it involves everyone who works with children.

The programme aims to help all children and young people to have a good start in life, whoever they are and no matter what problems they face.

Types of information held on ContactPoint
All children in England will be included on the system and it will contain:

• the name, address, gender, date of birth and an identifying number for every child in England (up to their eighteenth birthday)
• the name and contact details for: parents or carers, educational setting (e.g. school), primary medical practitioner (e.g. GP), other services working with the child and whether a Common Assessment Framework (CAF) has been done (the assessment itself will not be held on ContactPoint).

ContactPoint will not contain any case information such as case notes, assessments, medical data or exam results.

The information that can be held on ContactPoint is set out in law in section 12 of the Children Act 2004, and the supporting regulations specify what information can be held on ContactPoint.

For further information please see our ContactPoint information leaflets for:

• adults (.pdf, 202Kb)
• young people (.pdf, 336Kb) 
• parents (.pdf, 240Kb).

 
You can also contact the Brent ContactPoint team.