Worries start to register

By Jon Silverman

It may sound far-fetched, but in trying to collect information about children who may be in danger, is the government trying to do parents' jobs for them?

Might parents find their role undermined?

Is the state making a takeover bid to replace the responsibility of parents for 11 million children in England?

It sounds like an absurd proposition but a host of childcare organisations are growing increasingly alarmed about the proposal in the Children Bill to set up a national database of children considered to be at risk.

The aim is to avoid a repetition of the professional failures which led to the appalling death of Victoria Climbie, the eight-year-old girl who died from abuse and neglect while living in London with her aunt and her aunt's boyfriend.

But many fear that it will have a host of adverse consequences which, ironically, could leave children more vulnerable to abuse.

The bill will substantially extend the right of professionals - social workers, doctors, health visitors etc - to flag up concerns about a child without a parent or carer being notified. At present, this can be done only if there is suspicion of abuse or neglect.

The government is proposing that children at risk of not fulfilling their potential and those who may become social problems should also be included.

In depth: Victoria Climbie

Terri Dowty, from Action on Rights for Children, says: "A lot of parents are profoundly insulted by the implication that they are untrustworthy and can't be left to do their job." Dr Eileen Munro, Reader in Social Policy at LSE, believes that many professionals will practise "defensive social work" and place a great deal of insignificant or inappropriate information on the database to avoid another Climbie case.

Organisations such as the Women's Aid Federation fear the move could set the clock back for wives and partners at risk of domestic violence.

They argue that if a child's school is recorded on the database, it could help locate a woman who has fled home with her children. And Jean Robinson, who represents those who practise maternity services, says: "Some women are already concealing post-natal depression for fear that it will be recorded and their child taken for adoption as a consequence.

"Health visitors are referred to as the 'health police' in some parts. This will make matters much worse. "

Missed opportunities

The Laming Inquiry into Victoria Climbie's death found that the authorities had had at least 12 opportunities to intervene to protect her.

Their failure to do so was partly a result of lack of information-sharing among professionals and it is this which the bill aims to address by the database.

A stack of data does not become valuable information until it is looked at by someone who can interpret it Mike Cushman

But Di McNeish, of Barnardos, said the real gap in information is not between professionals but between professionals and parents. " The key is to listen to the child. This is what we are very bad at. "

If the Laming report was the catalyst for the database, there are strong suspicions that the government was already looking for a vehicle to implement "blue skies" policies which have been developed over a longer period by the Cabinet Office's Performance and Innovation Unit.

This chimes with Tony Blair's belief that early intervention can identify children likely to be delinquents, excluded by schools or teenage parents. The question is :are they at risk of harm in the same clear-cut way that Victoria Climbie was ?

Information databases have proved to be the soft underbelly of public policy delivery. The Child Support Agency, Criminal Records Bureau and Passport Agency are all testament to the inefficiency and spiralling cost over-runs which invariably accompany major IT projects.

Can the children-at- risk database buck the trend? Mike Cushman, of LSE, who helped implement the Children Act, 1989, thinks not.

"Protecting children is about the cultural practices of organisations, like social services, for example. A stack of data does not become valuable information until it is looked at by someone who can interpret it.

"You don't protect children by computer. "