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ContactPoint

ContactPoint is part of a government plan called 'Every Child Matters'. The plan involves everyone who works with children and young people, and is about making sure that they can have a good life, whoever they are, and no matter what problems they may face.

ContactPoint will help people who work with children to make contact more easily and quickly with each other. It will come into use across England during 2009.

It will only hold simple information such as:

• name, address, and date of birth of everyone in England up to their 18th birthday
• name and address for each child’s:
  • parents or carers
  • school and doctor
  • other services, such as health visitor

By law, ContactPoint cannot hold any details like doctors' notes or school records.

There are tough security standards and checks to make sure ContactPoint will always be used by the right people in the right way. Before people can start using it they must:

• be trained to make sure they know how to use it properly and securely
• have passed strict checks, and have their own user name, password and security token

Most young people's record will be removed from ContactPoint when they turn 18. In special cases, some young people will be able to choose to stay on it until they are 25. Children and young people - or parents or carers acting on a child's behalf (such as when a child is very young) - will be allowed to ask to see what is in their ContactPoint record and to have it corrected if they believe anything is wrong. We will tell everybody how they can do this when the system comes into use in 2009.

There is more information, including fact sheets, about ContactPoint on the Every Child Matters and the Portsmouth Children's Trust sites.

In the mean time if you have any questions please telephone our ContactPoint Manager, Karen Fill on 023 9284 1462 or email ChildrensTrust@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.