Government pilots unique number for every child to join up data between agencies

The Government says plans are progressing to test the NHS number as a unique identifier to help piece data together across frontline health, schools and police services to detect concerns about children before they escalate.

The Children’s Minister confirmed the plans as an extra £18 million was announced to roll out early intervention child protection reforms to councils in England to stop families from reaching crisis by strengthening leadership and speed up delivery.

A pilot between Wigan Council and NHS England is now live and testing the proposals, which will then be assessed to see how efficiently it helps to share information about safeguarding concerns with children before rolling it out further.

The Government hopes that the identifier will ensure there is a ‘more joined up and less piecemeal approach’ that ensures frontline safeguarding professionals share concerns about a child as early as possible to provide a holistic picture of when they may be, or are at risk of harm, before it escalates even further.

“Time and again we’re told how failing to share information and intervene early enough means vulnerable children fall through the cracks,” Janet Daby, Children and Families Minister said.

“These deep-rooted problems are symptomatic of a children’s social care system that has clearly been stretched to breaking point.

“We’re putting an end to sticking plaster solutions through our Plan for Change by investing even more focus and funding into preventative services and information sharing.”

Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said that the introduction could help to recognise difficulties sooner.

“The introduction of a unique ID for every child will help identify problems early on and prevent any child becoming invisible to services, so robust and effective implementation will be essential, using evidence of what does and doesn’t work through this first pilot.”

Earlier in the Summer, the Government began rolling out Best Start Family Hubs across every local authority to support 500,000 more children.

The hubs are hoped to be a focal point for parents seeking a range of support, including on difficulty breastfeeding, housing issues or children’s early development and language, reassuring families that they have convenient access to support in their local area or can be efficiently connected to specialist local services.