Nearly two-thirds of local authorities will miss a government deadline to implement systems for sharing information about vulnerable children.
Of the 150 local authorities installing systems, 92 will not meet the 1 January deadline, according to a letter from the Department for Education and Skills to local authorities.
Councils have not been given enough resources to meet the deadline, says Bridget Robb, British Association of Social Workers professional officer for England.
‘In many cases it comes down to funding: many local authorities are strapped for cash. That means they are finding it difficult to recruit or keep enough people with the skills to maintain and deliver working systems,’ she said.
The Integrated Children’s System, recommended in the 2003 inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbié, is a national network of databases containing a record of every child.
Any officials – such as social workers or teachers – in contact with a child can flag up potential concerns to other agencies.
A significant number of the councils that will miss the deadline will be delayed until at least August 2007 because of problems involving a single supplier, says a senior social services source.
Communication between different councils’ systems is also a problem, says Andrew Webb, co-chairman of the Association of Directors of Social Services’ Children and Families Committee.
‘That alone has been extremely technically challenging for some local authorities,’ he said.
‘Different councils have used different technology to create their systems, which means there are huge numbers of interoperability issues to be solved to get them sharing.’
The database delays mean that more vulnerable children will remain at risk, says Socitm Consulting children’s IT systems expert Anna Smallwood.
‘It is important that the systems are implemented well, rather than put up quickly just to meet the deadline. But until they are, social services departments will not be able to improve the care they give,’ she said.
‘The sooner that systems are put in place, the likelier it is that vulnerable children will be noticed and appropriate actions taken to help them.’
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