Ministers approve proposed database of all children in the UK

Proposals to create a database of all UK children have been approved by government ministers and implementation is expected to start next Autumn.

The plan was first mooted following the public inquiry into the Victoria Climbie case and was included in the Childrens Bill, passed into law in November.

A report published by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) last week approved the scheme and confirmed the system will use a unique identifying number for all children. Relevant parties such as doctors and social workers will be able to 'flag' the files of young people deemed to be in danger of abuse.

The database plan, officially called the Information Sharing Index, is now at the design stage. The current model will create 150 indices, one for each major local authority, and a 151st system to co-ordinate it all.

'We have established an Index project to refine the high-level requirement, develop standards and solutions to the issues of integration and coordination, commission a detailed system design, and build the business case,' said a spokeswoman for the DfES.

There are currently 10 'trailblazer' pilots up and running in selected local authorities.

The scheme has drawn some criticism for its potential impact on childrens privacy.

'We had concerns about a universal database for every single child but now the bill is law we are interested in hearing about the practicalities of making this work,' said Assistant Information Commissioner Jane Durkin.