Sharing without consent

Getting it right for every child & young person in Highland: interagency practice model & child protection procedures 2024

Where there may be a child protection concern, information may be lawfully shared without the need for consent to be obtained from the individual(s) to whom the information relates. The following considerations will be helpful to support relevant, proportionate, timely, safe and effective information sharing.

  • If there is evidence that a child is at risk of significant harm, relevant information can be shared with a statutory agency without delay. Consent is not required or appropriate because the information must be shared in order to protect the child.                                                                                                                
  • Consent should only be sought when the individual has a real choice over the matter. However, where appropriate, agreement and understanding about the sharing of information may be helpful in engaging individuals in the process the needs, feelings, views and wishes of the child should be taken into account and documented.

They may also need additional support to understand and communicate information sharing decisions must be based not only upon considerations about the safety and wellbeing of the individual, but also the safety of others information can be shared without consent if, for example, a practitioner is unable to gain consent from the individual in time to prevent risk of harm, or if gaining consent could place a child at risk relevant personal information can be shared lawfully if, for example, it is to keep a child or individual at risk safe from neglect or physical, emotional or psychological harm. This must be done in a way that complies with the relevant areas of law such as data protection, human rights and confidentiality in all circumstances, it is important to be transparent with children and families so that they know what information is to be shared or has been shared and in what circumstances. In certain exceptional circumstances, it may not be appropriate to advise the individual that information is to be shared children and their families should also be aware that they can challenge whether sharing information is proportionate a record should be made of the reasons and considerations that informed the decision to share the information.

If, where there is a possible child protection concern, a decision is made not to share information, consider:

  • what are the reasons for deciding not to share information?
  • what harm could result if this information is not shared?
  • what are the possible risks for the child or young person or for others if information is not shared and how serious could those risks be?

   Reasons for not deciding not to share information should be recorded.

Should the child, young person or family be informed?

Individuals have the right to be informed about the collection and use of their personal data. This is a key transparency requirement under the UK GDPR. Therefore, the child, young person or their family should be informed about what information about them is being shared, with whom and for what purpose. There are circumstances where you may not have to inform the child, young person or family that you intend to share information. For example, where it would seriously impair the achievement of the objectives of the processing (e.g. you would not need to inform the child, young person or family that you intend to share information for the purposes of safeguarding a child or young person where the family members are being investigated for neglect of that child or young person).

You should not routinely rely on exemptions; you should consider them on a case-by-case basis. You should justify and document your reasons for relying on an exemption. There is more information on exemptions on the ICO’s website Exemptions.