Clare's Law/Sarah's Law and Information Sharing

This course is a reminder of both the law and guidance concerning under what circumstances you can share confidential information with third parties even if you don’t have consent to do so where it is a safeguarding matter. It looks at the established police procedures to do this and the pros and cons of these plus providing practical advice for other practitioners in safeguarding on when they may be able to do likewise and what law and national and local guidance exists to assist them with this decision. It includes guidance from the recent updates to “Working Together”, “Information Sharing: A Guide for Practitioners” and the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Learning Outcomes:

• The police’s responsibility under DVDS and CSODS (also known as Clare’s Law – Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme and Sarah’s Law – Child Sex Offenders Disclosure Scheme)
• Under what circumstances all professional agencies working with children and vulnerable adults have a responsibility to share information for safeguarding purposes
• When there is legal provision to share information without consent
• Guidance from the government and professional authorities about sharing information without consent
• Above all, it aims to engender confidence in staff to share information without consent (in line with their organisation’s policies when it is appropriate and lawful to do so) for safeguarding purposes.

Who is it for? 

This training session is aimed at social workers, safeguarding leads, health workers, teachers and those working in child care and any front-line practitioners working in safeguarding for both children and vulnerable adults.