All police officers and police civilian staff will have access
to the controversial
ContactPoint children's database. There will also be widespread
access to the personal information on every English child amongst
school staff too, said the government.
Children's minister Beverley Hughes has released a list of job
positions to which an English local authority will provide access
to the system.
As well as all police officers and staff covering a specific
geographic area, the system will be available to health care
professionals and their assistants officers of local probation
boards and youth offending teams heads, officers and administrators
at prisons and secure training centres and all social care
workers.
In addition, ContactPoint will also be available to school
headteachers, deputy heads, heads of year, other teachers with
pastoral or child protection responsibilities, special needs
teachers and co-ordinators, and those working in similar posts at
further and higher education establishments.
The widespread access also extends to charities including
Barnardo's and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Children. Even fire and rescue authority employees working on
strategies for children and young people will have access.
The list was released after a parliamentary question was tabled
by Keith Vaz MP, the Labour chair of the home affairs select
committee.
Before the list was revealed, privacy campaigners had already
expressed concern about the security of the database.
The Conservative opposition says it will
scrap the database.